Smelling as much new perfume as I do each year it is frustrating to smell the amount of repetition I do. When a brief calls for a “fresh” perfume the brand rounds up the usual suspects. That this style of fragrance has remained popular for thirty years is proof that the tried and true has an audience. Part of what makes independent perfumery interesting is when those brands hear “fresh” it seems like they exclude those usual suspects. In these fragrances “fresh” is a starting point for diversity. That’s what I found in Mizensir Blue Gin.
Mizensir is the brand owned by perfumer Alberto Morillas. If there has been a consistent aesthetic, I would say it has to do with M. Morillas displaying a couple of synthetic ingredients per release. He shows that when these maligned ingredients are given some space, they are equally compelling to any of the essential oils.
Alberto Morillas
In Blue Gin, the featured components are Irone Alpha and Cetalox. Irone Alpha is one of the molecules present in natural iris. When isolated it has a more diffuse presence than when joined by its other isomers. Cetalox is another of the molecules which are used in laundry detergents. The concept of Blue Gin is of clean denim accompanied by a gin and tonic.
Juniper berry is the keynote throughout. In the early going a bit of mandarin provides the lime substitute. Szechuan pepper and cardamom provide fuller profile for the juniper berry. Finally the freshwater analog of Calone, Cascalone provides the tonic, sans fizz. That comprises the gin half of things.
The denim half comes from the expansive powderiness of Irone Alpha and the laundry fresh Cetalox. Together they form that scent of clean cotton. Hidden within is a just a bit of tonka bean which uses its inherent coumarin to make the jeans lived in, just a bit.
Blue Gin has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
Mrs. C and I spend a lot of summer evenings sipping on a gin and tonic. Some of those evenings the fabric softener scent can be carried to us on the deck. This is a lot of what Blue Gin reminded me of. As might be expected this is a fantastic fragrance for the summer. This is a different version of “fresh”; one which comes through jeans and gin.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample from Mizensir.
–Mark Behnke
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