Pepper is a fleeting ingredient that adds a lively warmth to fragrances that melts into the top and middle notes. It is typically spicy and fresh, with deep, woody facets. It is both fresh and warm, engaging notes with an evocative undertone. A note of dry, spicy-warm intensity.
Otherwise known as “black gold,” pepper is loved the world over. Its ability to enhance flavor and aid digestion have ushered the humble fruit to the top of the modern spice trade. While it originates from India, pepper can today be found growing in Indonesia, Madagascar and even across Europe. In perfumery, the pungent scent of pepper is captured through steam distillation or by extracting an absolute from crushed, dried berries using volatile solvents after a process of natural fermentation and sun-drying.
Truly a spice of power and prestige, the seemingly unassuming condiment has long teased at the fringes of human history. Pepper made its first debut in 4th century BC Sanskrit, and then entered stage once more when Alexander the Great shipped the spice from India to the West. During the Sack of Rome in 410 AD, the Visigoths demanded gold, silver and pepper as recompense for their ransacking. Fast forward a few centuries, and the Dutch East India Company were paving the way for global pepper domination, putting an end to the Portuguese monopoly and ensuring the rise of the iconic salt-and-pepper duo that we’ve come to love today.
Jean-Claude Ellena relates: "An oak grew in front of my house and hid the view of the Mediterranean. When it had to be cut down, the peppery, musky, slightly smoky smell of cut wood stuck in my memory. The oak, combined with pepper, has kept its soul in this fragrance. "
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