Immortelle Corse

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is no stranger to calling back on old perfume codes. In fact he seems to revel in it, putting his own unique style on them by making them smell modern, and with startling clarity and precision. Immortelle Corse calls back to one of those old greats, Sables by Goutal, a gorgeous immortelle perfume that, unfortunately, has not really stood the test of time except with perfumistas. There are some differentiators, of course, and I won’t spend time comparing it to Sables except to say that you can find the summary of the differences in the word Corse, which means Corsica. This is immortelle as you’d encounter it on that arid island in the Med. You immediately get a sense of this in the opening with the yellow tree fruit and saffron. They smell as if they have been completely dehydrated. The fruit is reminiscent of peaches and apricots that are all pith and zesty skins, no juice, no sugars, just some piquant tartness in the skins and parched flesh. The saffron smells of dried and aromatic wisps of grass in the breeze, bringing a bit of a pale woody facet. This is about the wettest Immortelle Corse gets, and introduces an absolutely gorgeous immortelle accord in the heart. It’s stunning. It has a texture of powdered spices, and carries a preserved yellow floral note like you found the flower dried-up on a cliffside, a translucent and hardened and dried honey note, and plenty of red-gold and brown earthy elements. And heat. You can smell and feel the cool yet relentless Mediterranean sun radiating from your skin. The balance to this immortelle accord is superb. And, somehow, Immortelle Corse gets drier and hotter still! In the final skin scent the immortelle has lost what little golden yellow pollen sweetness it had and presents dark brown and spicy earth dry enough to float away in the breeze. Accenting it is an oakmoss note that is not green and damp as we usually get it, instead it has turned pale brown, retaining only a touch of its aromatic woody qualities, and feels as though it would crumple at the slightest touch from the exasperating aridity. Unusually for an immortelle perfume of this type, you could wear this in the summer (just spray it conservatively). Though it is quite powerful and spicy, its near complete lack of wetness and sweetness means that it will never be too cloying or close. This certainly makes Immortelle Corse stand out amongst the majority of immortelle perfumes since very few dare to be this bold in their dryness, yet it is just as tenacious as those others with more durable ambery-type materials in their bases. Additionally, as Marc-Antoine Corticchiato always does, the dry down is given ample attention. Every stage of this perfume’s life is excellent, a compelling presentation of experiencing Corsican immortelle from start to finish. I’ve never felt the need to find a backup for my vintage bottle of Sables, though I’ve been tempted, nor really any of my other immortelle perfumes, but with Immortelle Corse I do. That says a lot for me, that it stands above and separate from a timeless classic and most others. I cannot imagine ever being without this.

Immortelle Corse from Parfum D'Empire. I love Immortelle as a material, but when it comes to perfumes, I am very picky about its usage in the composition. I owned many perfumes based around it and ended up selling all of them. Recently, I picked this one up after deciding I needed an Immortelle scent in my collection. After much contemplation, this is the most beautiful take on Immortelle from all I have tried and the one I have chosen. I owned two bottles of the original Sables from Goutal and loved them dearly. However, the dry down was too sweet and ambery for my preference. Moreover, it had a weird retro air that didn't sit well with me. But for an Immortelle-themed perfume, it is the golden standard. That said, Marc Antoine managed to better it with his spin in Immortelle Corse. I find it very similar to Sables, yet with a modern touch, a more stretched-out olfactory dimension, not as sweet and syrupy (drier, actually), and more dynamic. And I think it is an improvement of an already near-perfect Immortelle-centered composition. The opening of Immortelle Corse feels spicy, fiery, and pleasantly fruity and juicy at the same time. Citruses are listed, but what jumps out to me is the apricot. The saffron provides that fiery glaze, like the last rays of the sun blazing the horizon at dusk on an early Autumn afternoon. This introduction quickly makes way for the main player, the Immortelle. In all its glory, naked and unashamed. You need to love it to appreciate this perfume. What I like about it here is that it doesn't go super syrupy and sweet. It stays true to the more dry and shrub-like facets, playing on the tobacco, boozy, and caramel-like nuances. Furthermore, the hefty dose of oakmoss (another favorite material of mine) anchors and further prevents it from going into that licorice-syrupy-sweet direction as it does in Sables. The latter perpetuates the dryness and adds a touch of bitterness to balance the composition. In the late dry-down, you get the Corticchiato signature musk cocktail evepresent in his compositions and easily identifiable in perfumes like Tabac Tabou and Ruade. It smells salty, creamy, and slightly leathery, providing a brilliant finishing touch to an already cleverly crafted perfume. For me, it checks all the boxes. It delivers the huge Immortelle kick that I am craving, is complex and dynamic, vintage with modern touches, spans several genres, and provides that perfect amount of funk that makes all perfumes better (or at least more interesting). I believe the color palette in this picture is a good suggestion of how the perfume smells. I like to think of a late day at dusk in early Autumn when the sunset is golden right before it changes to shades of red and pink. Golden is a good color for it. IG:@memory.of.scents

Immortelle Corse is aptly-named - immortelle takes centre-stage here, and the other notes serve to enhance it. Overall, this scent is a warm, spicy-herbal chypre, aromatic throughout and fairly typical of M. Corticchiato's style, featuring the his trademark earthy, green base. As frequently seems to be the case with this house in general, it is an unusual scent that focuses on less common notes - case in point being immortelle. Immortelle is multifaceted, oscillating between being sweet/smoky/grassy/herbal. It is rare that it is placed at the forefront of a scent, but in this case it is, and the composition is beautiful. IC is immortelle-dominant from initial spray, with its initial sweetness enhanced by the fruity notes. It becomes increasingly dry and grassy as it develops, somewhat hay-like. It reminds me a little of narcissus too, just less polleny and floral. The saffron emerges after a little while, adding warm, rich spice. Alongside the apricot note, it creates a sweet-yet-dry amber-like accord that complements the immortelle to perfection. The mossy chypre base comes to the fore as it dries down, enhancing the immortelle beautifully with its mossiness. It is dry, spicy and earthy here, the herbal nature of the immortelle set off to perfection. It remains pretty linear throughout, becoming more ambery and mossy as it progresses, fading to a mossy, faintly spicy skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. An immortelle-led chypre, bolstered by apricot and saffron, IC is a creative yet wearable scent, best worn on autumn days. It is perfectly unisex. Aromatic and made with natural-smelling ingredients, it is deeply satisfying - the olfactory equivalent to walking in through an autumnal forest. It is a testament to the quality of this house that this scent doesn't stand out among the other Parfum d'Empire scents I've tried. 4/5.

This is a member of Parfum d’Empire’s L’Héritage Corse line. You might be aware that the perfumer of Parfum d’Empire fragrances is Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, who is a Corsican himself. So, the collection L’Héritage Corse is a tribute to the beauty of this historical Island. Its bottle's pattern showcases an old tower pattern which reminds us of the Genoese towers placed in Corsica. And the juice is golden like an immortal glow in the sky just before sunset. . It opens with a bit apricot’s fruity aspect which doesn’t last long and gets sheltered under a tall wall of Immortelle tower. Saffron with its special spicy and leather like effect adds a strong spicy accord to this blend. I get obviously leathery and smoky facets just like a soft leather jacket that is covered with some ashes of burnt tobacco. Meanwhile there is an adorable and spectacular backdrop of mossy smell in the base. I prefer it on men’s skin but I couldn’t close my eyes when it was dancing on my skin! I LOVE IT.

Oh my, since i saw some of his creations became identical to each others (mostly citrus blends) i stopped checking his new creations, but this one! oh MY... I just got a sample of this one (beside others of this brand) and i was surprised how i didn't find out about it! This is camel color velvet, soft and tense. It's like a camel color velvet cushion in an open Arabian terrace its view on a cooling desert. It is like "On the Terrace" painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman but instead of the town view, it's a plain desert view. This blend is like a variation of "Ambre Russe" by the same house but more immortelle, and apricot, and minus the champagne. I believe it is spicy, with musk mellow, cognac, and sweet rum woods. Brilliant dark blend that has the camel color embedded within. Beautiful.