Vivid: Spain in a bottle
By Jo Phillips
Between 1939 to 1978, Spain was ruled by the Fascist, Franco. At this time only Spanish goods were allowed and therefore items like perfume from say France, were not allowed. Not only were goods from outside Spain not permitted but anything created in Spain had to use Spanish content only. That meant any fragrance had to be made from Spanish ingredients and had to to bottled packaged and marketed in Spain. When the British travelled to Spain Costa del Sol for their slice of sun and sand, they could walk in to any chemist and buy quite frankly excellent perfumes. This was because the Spanish were unable to rely on anyone else to help the in producing scent. Ingredients had to be grown in the country so many scents were heavy with citrus which grew with ease. The Spanish basically had to learn how to create wonderful perfumes from within.
This doesn’t mean that the history of Spanish perfume only started after 1939. Perfumer Ramón Monegal, belongs to the most important family of perfumers in Spain. He is in fact the fourth generation of the founders of Myrurgia, the house that supplies the Spanish Royal House, and Ramón was their most important and international representative. Monegal then licensed perfumes for brands like Adolfo Dominguez, Antonio Miro and Massimo Duti. In 2000, the Puig Group acquired Myrurgia and Ramón was asked to continue creating successful new fragrances for the group.
In 2007 he left the company in order to start a personal project, one he had dreamed of for many years, because for him perfume becomes art only when accompanied with absolute creative freedom, something he could only achieve working on his own.
The collection now boasts over 17 fragrances all created with utter love and passion. The newest one to the story and the most personal which sums up Ramón ‘s love for his native Spain, the new fragrance, Fiesta. From rose petals to leather hides the perfume infuses the many strata of Spanish life. Starting with top notes of raspberry, aldehyde complex, carrot, sea molecule and peach. With middle notes consisting of tuberose, rose iris, osmanthus and cedarwood, with base notes of amber, leather oakmoss, musk, helitrope alongside cotton candy. This is not a fragrance for the light hearted it is a full-bodied, rich, luxurious perfume that is complex in its layering. The undertones of leather come through to create something reminiscent of sun-baked earth; after all this is Ramon’s ode to his beloved country.
In fact, the perfume is very much on trend. Fragrance seems at the moment to be splitting into two clear sectors. Those that are seemingly light fresh and green and those that are heady full bodied and unapologetically ‘loud’. These are fragrances for those that not just understand the complex world of niche fragrance but also for those lovers of scent. Those not afraid to walk in a room and announce they have arrived. It is worth noting this is limited edition with each bottle being numbered with only 2016 being created. It has launched this July so if you are a fragrance fanatic go and get this now.
