Arquiste Boutonniere No.7

By Deborah Fulsang

Imagine a night at the Opera. More specifically a clutch of young and charming men about town dressed in black-tie finery, the scent of their colognes mingling with the vivid greenness of their gardenia boutonnieres. One can almost smell the brandy, the spice—the chemistry—as they flirt with the beauties in their circle. The women’s perfumes thrown into the sparkling mix.
Then imagine it all with the veil of richness afforded by that scene as cast in 1899 at the Paris Opera.

That is the moment summoned by perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux with Arquiste founder Carlos Huber in Boutonniere No.7, the seventh perfume in this boutique brand’s olfactory range.
This is gardenia of a different sort—less earnest, more nuanced than any single-note take on the classic white boom. Heady still, opinionated; cut with lavender and citrus, and warmed with vetiver and oakmoss.
Boutonniere No.7 smells warm and sexy like the inside of a man’s white dress shirt collar at 2am.
Very fine.

As part of a limited-edition deluxe set, Boutonniere No.7 is also being sold with a bespoke boutonniere and cufflinks designed by New York-based fine-jewellery creators M. de Phocas for $195.

Arquiste Boutonniere No.7 Eau de Parfum, $175 (55 ml), www.arquiste.com, www.holtrenfrew.com