I find that certain jasmines already carry a naturally leathery quality—especially Night-Blooming Jasmine, along with certain vintage jasmine oils, if you are fortunate enough to encounter a good batch. I did. The idea of a jasmine leather composition was later confirmed during a trip to Jabal Akhdar in Oman, where I encountered a small Night-Blooming Jasmine growing in its natural environment. Experiencing it on the stem removed any abstraction. It was no longer a theory—it became certainty. There, it clearly expressed a creamy, slightly animalic leather facet. I kept thinking: jasmine is leathery. From that point, I began developing my own leather accord. After many iterations, it evolved into a genre of its own, of which this is the first release. It would later also lead to Castore Rouge. Back to this one. At the heart of the composition lies a triad of jasmine materials: a vintage jasmine acquired from a respected collector in Oman, Night-Blooming Jasmine, and Juhi. Around them sit osmanthus, peach, apricot, and a touch of saffron. The foundation is built on Prachin, Merauke, and Trat ouds. At one stage, the composition became too still and heavy. I wanted to preserve that Night-Blooming Jasmine’s weighted, perhaps slow-moving nocturnal quality. I turned to Kewra and Moroccan Neroli. The effect was immediate. The composition shifted toward a curious fermented-fruit character—rich and expressive, yet without sweetness. It was a clear improvement, though it still lacked definition in movement. That is what Moroccan Neroli did: it brought air into the composition, sharpened the transitions, and ultimately sealed the blend into its final form. A needed update: I could not resist adding a generous amount of breathtaking Italian Jasmine (grandiflorum) that I recently managed to get my hands on. Thank God, the oil arrived just before I was preparing to release this blend. Since the labels had already been produced, I had a choice to make: keep the composition as it was, create new labels to mention the Italian jasmine, or move forward with incorporating the jasmine while using the existing labels. I chose to incorporate the jasmine and move forward with the existing labels. The decision was ultimately about elevating the blend into a far more exceptional jasmine composition—one that is truly worthy of a place on your shelf.
