Tilleul by Le Galion

Hey posse, Le Galion doesn’t get the love it deserves. Beautifully crafted, elegant, seamless fragrances that are so refined and balanced. It’s easy to miss how gorgeous they are in the rush for new and weird. I’m seriously surprised that they don’t headline many a perfumistas collection. They are as close to perfection in perfumery that I have found. Tilleul is the first I have fallen deeply for in my sample set.

Original Le Galion perfumer Paul Vacher cosigned Arpege, then went on to create his own house. There he not only created for himself but also created the Christian Dior fragrances from Miss Dior to Diorling. After the companies demise at the hands of USA buyers my friend Nicolas bought the recipes and name and has done his utmost to recreate the fragrances with modern technology and within guidelines. In 2020 Le Galion celebrated 90 years with the release of nine new fragrances.

Tilleul by Le Galion 2020

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Linden tree
Heart: Honey, Ambroxan
Base: Musk

From the Le Galion site:
Reminiscent of the great trees adorning the garden at the Galion private mansion, and of the tree of freedom and love with heart-shaped leaves: the lime tree symbolises Paris, where many of them are planted. Fascinated by this magnificent tree’s June blooming, Quentin Bisch pays it tribute with this new creation for Le Galion. 

How does Tilleul smell? Honey and a heavily feral flower, both fluffy and breathy. It smells like it should be a white floral but created by someone remembering it from childhood rather than having it in person. Skewed towards mimosa but the smell of a furry bees ass. It also smells like bees wax, those expensive candles that are a rolled scroll of flattened bees wax with a wick. Plus, it’s kind of burnt, not smoky as such, like yesterdays charred through log gone cold. Cold too, maybe even cold and wet like sand at the beach on the shoreline when you pick up handfuls and it drops back, splat. Is that a hint of broken tomato leaf?

OMG! So many laters of scent. Tilleul is an ever evolving panoply of fragrance. By far the best new thing I’ve smelled this year. Jaw droopingly weird up close but perfectly beautiful at arms length. Quentin Bisch at Givaudan has created a truly niche perfume. This is the equal of Vero and Bertrand at their best. I’m utterly gobsmacked that this freak of fragrance has come from le Galion. I’m smiling from ear to ear at the audacity to release something as bold and out there as Tilleul. BRAVO!

Unisex, moderate projection, excellent longevity.

I also love Cologne Nocturne by the Le Galion crew.

Have you? Would you try Tilleul?
Portia xx