O/E

Like any great architect, Antonio Gardoni is obsessed with structure and balance, and the concept that any fragrance, no matter how big and complex, can stand on the head of a pin if the engineering is sound. So it should come as no surprise that O/E, Bogue Profumo's followup to last year's sensational Maai and Cologne Reloaded, is, like its predecessors, a paradox- an elaborately structured, hugely complicated edifice of bright, shining citruses, naturally green spices and florals, warm natural wood notes and sheer synthetic ones, and an underpinning of smoky animalic notes- all of which somehow lock together to form something bright, surprisingly light, and cheerfully uncategorizable.

The combinations are exquisite- an ultra-fresh bergamot opening stands atop a spicy, fresh herb garden of rosemary and thyme. Balsamic camphor cools off a bough of juniper, pine and cypress. A lilt of lush florals offset a benzoin-tinged resinousness, and a transluscent layer of iso-E super wraps it all together and marks the composition as unmistakably 21st century. Each bold stroke is effortlessly complimented with the kind of artistic and architectural virtuosity that balances, but never overlaps, leaving the finished product as impressive in its scope as it is wonderfully enjoyable. Halfway between acoustic and electric, digital and analogue, artisanal and industrial, indoors and outdoors, O/E is another triumph from a truly contemporary talent.

New 2025 Edition After a decade the O/E formula went under a careful revision, the new batch is pure O/E with extra smoothness.