Fired up by immortelle, tobacco envelops the spirited spray of narcissus with its yellow-brown wisps. A hint of savannah, honey, heated skin, wild grass...
A tribute to a plant revered as sacred by the Native Americans of North and South America. Shamanic and beguiling.
The story of Tabac Tabou...
Few fragrance houses offer tobacco notes a starring role: nowadays, tobacco is somewhat surrounded by a sulphurous smell. Despite this taboo, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato believes that it is a perfect fit for Parfum d'Empire, as tobacco is associated with the most original use of perfume: sacred rituals. And thus also with the origin of its name: per fumum, through smoke.
The French cult singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg was certainly right when he sang that God smokes Havana cigars. In North and South America, gods, spirits and shamans have been smoking for thousands of years. Long before Columbus arrived, indigenous peoples used tobacco for purification, healing or to induce visions. Smoking was a ritual to feed the gods or carry people's prayers to them. In the New World, the sacred plant took on the role of incense: a connection between heaven and earth through fire...
In ‘Tabac Tabou’, tobacco unfolds swathes of fresh hay and yellow-brown savannah in a haunting fragrance that is so rich in rich essences that it almost seems oily. Narcissus adds notes of green plant sap, white flowers, leather and horse mane. And the honey-like, warm fruit accents of sun-baked immortelle blend with the tobacco.
