Lilac in bloom

I was born in the kingdom of lilacs and it is less about a fairytale or a magical city and more about botanic history. In fact, I learned quite late that the origins of lilacs are not "persian" but somewhere in the Balkans, between Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. In the past the land where I was born was filled with lilac forests. Nowadays it's less poetic but yesterday, during a short walk after the rain, I noticed how many types with different fragrances grow wild in my town. There are at least 6 types: the white, the blue, the pink, the lilac, the purple and then with simple and multiple flowers and all are variations of the same Syringa vulgaris, Oleaceae family (like the jasmine). The scent of the lilac is very different with the age of the flower (it becomes very animalic), the day (but not as much as the jasmine) and most of all, with the color. Also, their scent changes dramatically if the flower is cut. Some lilacs can create the "breeze" - a very diffusive fragrance that scents the air and is different from what the flower smells on a close examination.

There are several major types of lilacs, that I studied last week.
- the very anisic type (like the anisic acetate and alcohol on a sweet background)
- the powdery heliotrope type
- the jasmine creamy, indolic and fresh but spicy
- the soft hyacinth, benzyl acetate and green
- the pungent terpenic and slightly green aldehydic - lily of the valley

Some types are very surprising, they do not smell like the "regular" lilac blossoms and I'm sure that on a blind test, they would be mistaken with other flowers.
Smelling lilacs and their shade one can understand the different accords in classic perfumery. One lilac, very humble and almost purple, has a special jasmine powdery note that recalls with precision 2 perfumes - Magie (Lancôme) and Charlie (Revlon). Others have a vanilla - foody note contrasted with very green shades.
In a bouquet, lilacs can do a magnificent scent when mixed with lily of the valley. They compliment each other and the rosy lemony muguet brings even more diffusion to the flower arrangement.
Lilac used to be a universal flower - it is an harmony of many different notes (unlike rose/violet/orange flower that are fundamental notes) and was used like "universal harmonizer" in complex compositions.
Lilac is not an easy theme today in fine fragrance. The note has been used so much in functional products and for white soaps / lotions that a new interpretation is very challenging. A modern type, very marine and almost not sweet is En Passant (Frédéric Malle).

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art