As the in-house fragrance expert, Liam is constantly smelling many different scents. In order to calibrate his nose, Liam likes to smell 1740 (Histoires de Parfums), which showcases the joys of good blending and harmony, where the intense coarseness of immortelle flower, pine needles, and bitter leather are constrained to a spicy amber base. Similarly, Melograno (Santa Maria Novella) represents an understated elegance, where the tart sweet and sour notes of pomegranate is softened with the sieved powder note of orris, and rubbed with moss and resins, oozing of quiet refinement. 1899 (Histoires de Parfums) is a charming and gregarious fragrance as herbal alpine juniper berry is joined with the muted heat of cinnamon and washed in creamy vanilla, tempered with citrus and herb notes reminiscent of vintage Eau de Colognes. A green herbal quality is added through earthy rooty angelica in Creed's Royal Oud, like a salubrious bitter tonic that blends a polite oud with fruity pink pepper and austere cedar wood.
For an uncomplicated meditation on a single note, Marquis de Sade (Etat Libre d'Orange) champions cistus labdanum, a warm and sundrenched resin that is a fragrance in itself, bittersweet, textured, and herbal, given complexity with incense: reminiscent of hot dry sand. Moreover, Eau de Protection (Etat Libre d'Orange) pays homage to the full picture of rose: stems and leaves included, as if pricking your thumb on a thorn, moving rose into the dark territory of black pepper, ginger, patchouli and cumin. This is a symphony though multiplicity. For a guilty treat, there is Incense Rose (Tauer), which hypercharges rose and plays a game of contrasts, as reviving cardamon and clementine are grounded with the dark gothic notes of incense, patchouli, and castoreum. And finally, there is Like This (Etat Libre d'Orange), a beautiful picture of the Scottish Highlands, blending Scotch whisky, pumpkin, neroli, ginger, tangerine, and immortelle to create what can only be described as a spicy gourmand cologne.
