MEMO PARIS
INVERNESS

2023

PERFUMER
Nadege Le Garlantezec

mate
orris

amyris
sandalwood

cedarwood
guaiac wood

‘Its very name is intriguing, languorous: Inverness. A land of peat, heather and golden rain, beyond the senses, aptly known as the capital of the Highlands, the largest region in Scotland. Nature reigns free, unspoilt, extraordinary, and the River Ness forges its curves and mysteries. The odours of different varieties of wood rising up from this endless green and bracing empire, each more captivating and fragrant than the last.’ – Memo Paris

Inverness is an interesting release. Mostly woody and very powdery at first, but more and more fruity in a fig-rhubarb way as it goes along on my skin.

The opening reminded me of liquorice a bit, with some leathery touches, but it soon becomes wood and surprisingly acidic.

It’s powdery, but also rather sweet. The whole thing reminds me of immortelle, but sweeter. There’s a roasted, slightly fiery and charred quality to the woods, like the smoky palo santo from Maison Violet Abime. I found this fragrance a lot more substantial and rich than most Fragrantica reviews seem to state.

As it dries, I get more and more hints of Marc-Antoine Barrois Encelade from Inverness. It’s not as nuclear and it has a different kind of woodiness than the vetiver from Encelade, but that smoky fruity fig-like core is very similar.

Quite pleasant and easily one of the better recent releases that I’ve tried from Memo.