A Grove by The Sea

Mediterranean vacation, sun kissed skin, linens, leather sandals and no phone. This has got my attention chic, sultry, effortlessly elegant and androgynous. The androgyny here is really difficult to achieve because on a woman this will startle you as it is classically a male profile however it’s well done and balanced it won’t feel out of place and on a man although this typically male it’s pretty and dandy enough that it feels a little feminine for this profile. This little bit of mystique and allure is the head turning bit. My only gripe with this is as I obviously identify as heterosexual male the brand’s vocal support for “pride” is probably the only thing between multiple bottles being purchased and me. I just wish everyone in the industry stuck to the fragrance in the bottle and stopped pushing propaganda. Why would you publish your support for LGBTQ at your business? If all the brands realize you as a perfume brand don’t matter politically to force change to such a controversial issue you will just lose the people on the other side of that issue. Same for the brands that are pro baby killers. I had to blurt this out because it’s good creative direction and well executed perfumery coupled with absolutely crap brand positioning. You see even if my comment offends you had the brand not gone down this alley this wouldn’t be here. To make another point, I’m rating this as a love 5/5 because it’s genuinely good the ratings are for fellow fragheads not to vent your anger. I am also giving a good value vote because for the creativity the price I think is justified.

On my skin the opening begins with the Adriatic fig leaves and the fennel cut with the bitterness of black olive. I think I can smell the sun-warmed clementine. It eventually settles down into a clean earthy pine forest smell. Salty, thyme and rosemary herbal, resinous, and mineral-rich earthy reminiscent of Tom Ford's Oud Minerale. It's layered in a way that feels almost tactile. I was last in the Dalmation Islands back in 2017, so I am stretching my olfactory memory here when I say the texture is a progression that mirrors walking from the shoreline into the shaded heart of a Mediterranean pine grove. After further thought later in the day as the scent become more linear, an opening oyster or fish note would push this composition towards a rawer, more maritime realism. A fishy nuance similar to Masque Milano's White Whale ambergris opening, if done carefully, could add an animalic undertone that mimics the scent of fishing nets drying on a dock or the faint trace of sea life carried on the wind along the shoreline. It would give the opening a slightly funky, organic quality before yielding to the fig, olive, and herbs. This would make the transition into the creamy olive oil and resinous woods even more striking like moving from the chaotic vitality of the Dalmation shoreline to the calm, cultivated order of the Mediterranean pine grove.

I am not sure I am even capable of describing how much I love this scent, but I will try. It was a bit out of my comfort zone -- I've been heard to say that I dislike fig scents, and I stay away from aromatics as the more traditional "masculine" colognes with lavender and such always felt too harsh on me. I dared to sample A Grove by the Sea because I was so curious about the olive note. It was an immediate yes to get a sample vial, and I wore it practically every day until I had a good excuse to splurge on the full size. The brand description of the lush grove on Lopud overlooking the Adriatic comes across incredibly well - the scent is fresh and airy like a summer breeze. The woodsy notes like cypress and fir are understated, but very realistic - just like standing in the grove itself. The olive note is really unique: not too savoury (tempered by the clementine I suppose), but fresh, warm, and appealing. The longevity is impressive on my skin, easily 7+ hours, but balanced by a relatively intimate sillage which is my preference. Overall, this is definitely a new every day favourite and I'm excited to see how it preforms as a warm weather perfume!

I have to say that it’d been a while since a perfume made me pause like this. My grandparents came on boats to Central America from the Mediterranean, and I’ve always felt instinctively and inexorably bound to that geography, its climate, its physical milieu, its soil and everything that comes out of it: from the oranges of Valencia and the olives of Salonika, to the figs and dates of the Levant, and the wine from the grapes that grow around the entire basin, from Jerez to Yafo. Rodrigo Flores-Roux, whose work for his own house, Xinú, I found to be lovely but not enough to splurge on a bottle, has created with Carlos Huber something (to me) memorable here: a uniquely Mesoamerican vision of the Mediterranean. I love that it’s bracingly fresh without a citrus note in sight. It’s resinous and old-school terpenic. I distinctly get black olives and olive oil, a delicious novelty to me in a fragrance. What follows is an evocation of sea salt and fig leafs and thyme and pine needles and cypress and fir balsam and earthy red clay and bright sunlight under a cloudless blue sky. Oh my! I ordered a full bottle after going through my decant. Just great.

A very nice marriage between green and aquatic. For all the herbs and conifers, it's not too aromatic or harsh. Even though I can smell both the rosemary and the thyme they're done with a light, skillful hand and don't overwhelm. There's only a very slight tinge of fennel underneath: a little oily, a little anise, but not spicy. I think it combines with the olive to create a surprisingly pleasant oily undertone. The fir is the strongest evergreen note, but it ties in with the more aquatic notes and creates a bridge. The strongest note to me is fig; it's a nice, watery, luscious fig, which contributes to the blue tone to this fragrance, along with the salt. I feel like I smell coconut, but Philosykos may have ruined my nose there. Quite nice, I might pick up a travel size. 8/10.