Created by renowned Canadian perfumer, Isabelle Michaud, for her niche line Monsillage, Route du Quai was launched in 2019. It's the first of a trilogy of fragrances in the Les Routes Monsillage collection. ‘The “Route du Quai” is the road that leads to the cottage where the perfumer Isabelle Michaud spent her childhood Summer vacations. Filled with joy, freedom and excitement for the good times ahead, the perfume tells the story of the fauna and flora and breathtaking landscapes of the Kamouraska region.' Named by the Algonquin people, Kamouraska means "where rushes grow at the water's edge". Route du Quai opens with a pop of bergamot, backed by herbaceous clary sage and the freshness of juniper berry. I smell the distinctive basket-like scent of seagrass. My mind shifts as I process it all. I know this smell. I am cast back in time: this is the smell of opening up a summer cottage for the first time since being closed for the winter. It’s beautiful. A note of salty air rises from the heart. Yes, the St. Lawrence is a river, but at Île d’Orléans, south of Rivière-Ouelle, saltwater from the ocean starts to mix with the freshwater of the river. The salty air carries a floral bouquet of fragrant Swamp rose, honeyed lilac, and iris. The smell of the salty, floral air is mesmerizing – I have never smelled anything like it in a fragrance. At the base, a note of driftwood, smelling of water and wood is supported by cedar. They mingle with the distinctive scent of sweetgrass – vanilla faceted and hay-like. Benzoin bolsters the vanilla of the sweetgrass, while myrrh adds warmth to the blend. A note of musk completes the EDP. It dries down to a beautiful, haunting fragrance of gently sweetened dry grass, warm hay and salty summer air. Perfect in any season and any weather.Notes: bergamot, clary sage, juniper berry, sea grass, salty sea air, rose, iris, lilac, driftwood, sweetgrass, myrrh, cedar, benzoin, musk.
