256, Inspired by Blonde Amber

Late dinner, the plates cleared, a glass of dark rum on the table and a bowl of dried fruit nobody has touched. Someone peels an orange and the whole table smells of it. That's the opening here, bitter orange and pink pepper over rum. Pink pepper is the dried berry of a South American tree, unrelated to black pepper, and it smells rosy and bright more than hot. The heart is heavy with flowers: tuberose, jasmine and osmanthus, a small Chinese flower with a fruity, leathery scent. Saffron and blonde tobacco sit with them. Later it turns dry and smoky with vetiver, incense and labdanum, and tonka adds a soft sweetness right at the end.