There are certain products that, with the best will in the world, seem to defy reinvention. Companies are constantly tweaking bestsellers, adapting award-winners, even persuading customers that the same offering is somehow “new and improved”. It takes a real visionary to look beyond the tried-and-tested, and create something that pushes the accepted norm into a whole new realm. Unsurprisingly, the latest break-through product comes from an independent creator. Jonathan Ward has reinvented the diffuser, thrown in a generous splash of creativity, and is set to scent the season with his new Hermitage Noel Pourri Mouillé.
Who doesn’t remember the ever-present bowl of pot pourri that used to grace the dining table, the coffee table, the dressing table…? basically every table! Particularly popular in the 1980s, the collection of heavily dyed and dried ingredients would be perfumed with scents that seemed to alternate from delicate right through to alien. Who can forget the butterscotch-coloured peach concoctions, the burgundy rose bombs, or even the bleached-white linen florals? Pot pourri was a product that I never dreamed could be reinvented for a new audience, but that’s exactly what Jonathan Ward has expertly managed to do.
Jonathan Ward has built a reputation as one of the finest candle makers in today’s market. His evocatively bold fragrances, mixed with a precision-perfected wax blend, has meant his candles and diffusers are trusted equally in luxury hotels and living rooms. Since moving out of London and relocating to Glasgow, Jonathan’s output has seen him becoming more experimental with ways to scent. The candles were joined by diffusers, then came the room mists and body duos, and these were seamlessly followed by an original range of perfumes. Many people would have happily paused at this point, but Jonathan had other plans.
His Pourri Mouillé combines the ideas of the diffuser and the traditional pot pourri, but creates something truly unique. Jonathan has taken the key dried ingredients from the fragrance - in the case of Hermitage Noel this is organic pine needles, cinnamon sticks, Agarwood chips, clementine rind and ginger - and accompanied it with two 100ml bottles of oil. The first is an unscented carrier oil, which you add to help the ingredients become absorbent, and the second is the concentrated Hermitage Noel fragrance oil, which is added after the carrier oil. This combination of direct evaporation and ingredient-diffused scent produces the most incredible aroma and a wonderfully circling effect in the room.
Hermitage Noel is based on the scent of Lucien Olivier’s Christmas pudding, and so this liquid diffuser is pure decadence. You get enlivening clementine mixing with spicy saffron, followed by cognac soaked dates, but an incredible texture is added to the scent thanks to the addition of spearmint, star anise and ginger. However, the depth of Hermitage Noel is thanks to a celebratory amber accord that contains frankincense and myrrh, alongside resinous labdanum and the smoothest wash of oud. With a final touch of pine and cedarwood, this is the perfect room scent for autumn, winter, and definitely Christmas morning,
The Hermitage Noel Pourri Mouillé is available from the Jonathan Ward website at thejonathanward.com, and also from Brown Thomas in Dublin, priced at £55. The fragrance is also available as candle priced at £52 for 615g. [Sample provided by Jonathan Ward]
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