LE LABO
OSMANTHUS 19
2024
incense
lavender
osmanthus
woody notes
resins
Osmanthus 19 is a Kyoto exclusive. The Le Labo City Exclusives are available in all the Le Labo boutiques every year in August & September.
‘In early winter when most plants have gone dormant, gardeners await the arrival of the Osmanthus flower. Let your eyes wander and you’ll miss it: the momentary bloom of this delicate flower, treasured for its ethereal, sensual fragrance. Until it can surprise us again, we offer OSMANTHUS 19. First impressions are notes of incense and aromatic lavender, before the titular flower emerges… creamy and uplifting, with woody, resinous tonalities close behind. The composition is pure Kyoto, a nuanced scent for a town where traditional machiya houses sometimes harmonize with concrete and neon, where video game arcades can be found a stone’s throw from the gardens of emperors long past.’ – Le Labo
Osmanthus 19 is a surprising scent for me. I went in with different expectations for sure; figuring that it would be a greener scent and would also highlight the peachy fruitiness that osmanthus can have. Instead, I would never have guessed that osmanthus was even in this fragrance if I’m being totally honest.
Especially not in the ‘creamy’ sense that the brand’s description mentioned. This is a very dry, leafy fragrance to my nose. Dry tea leaf, dry tobacco leaf is the main vibe that I get from start to finish, maybe so papyrus, driftwood.
There’s some sweetness, but it feels quite earthy and chalky. Muddy even at times, with what I would’ve guessed patchouli or cypriol being prominent. It smells somewhat familier, but I can’t pinpoint it; my mind went to Memo Shams Oud, but take that with a grain of salt; the Le Labo feel much less brazen, less daring, more sophisticated. It has a contemplative, zen-like feeling to the earthiness; grounded for lack of a better double-meaning word. Actually, what Osmanthus 19 reminds me of the most, is when you wear a strong, woody, patchouli-heavy fragrance (can also be a tobacco or spicy fragrance) and you take a quick shower… that leftover, muted earthiness is what this entire drydown reminds me of.
Far removed from what I know of osmanthus. I’ve smelled pure osmanthus oil and the solid osmanthus Grand Cru by Les Indemodables, so I’m aware that it’s not the mass appealing scent that a lot of people may think it is; the Grand Cru in particular smelled like rancid shoe polish up close. But that leathery side is not present in Osmanthus 19 either.
Overall, this isn’t up my alley, but I like it quite a lot for what it is. It seems like a weird result for the osmanthus theme, but maybe I don’t know osmanthus in all its facets. Either way, a thumbs up for Osmanthus 19.