Le Labo
Le Labo
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A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bergamot's bright zest collides with bay leaf's almost medicinal, eucalyptus-tinged aromatics whilst fig contributes an unusual greenness—not fruity sweetness but rather the smell of snapped stems and milky sap. The tea materialises quickly, tannin-rich and slightly astringent, already hinting at the dusty, fermented character that will define the composition.
The black tea becomes the undeniable anchor, dry and matte rather than sweetened, complicated by hay's honey-tobacco warmth and jasmine's subtle indolic hum that adds just enough floralcy to soften the edges. Cedar begins its slow ascent, bringing pencil-shaving woodiness that reinforces the intellectual, library-like atmosphere, whilst vetiver adds an earthy, root-like quality beneath the aromatic canopy.
A beautiful convergence of tobacco leaf, skin-close musks, and persistent cedarwood creates a warm, papery finish that smells like aged books and wool. The vetiver's earthiness lingers at the base, grounding what remains of the tea's tannins, whilst the whole composition sits tight to the skin with a quiet, cultivated confidence that rewards close encounters.
Thé Noir 29 is Le Labo's meditation on tea as a material of surprising earthiness and depth, eschewing the bright, citric interpretations that dominate the category. Annabelle Wallin treats black tea not as a clean, minimalist note but as something dusty and fermented, grounded by bay leaf's camphoraceous bite and fig's milky latex greenness in the opening. This isn't afternoon tea in a salon; it's the humid back room of an apothecary where dried botanicals share shelf space with tobacco leaves and cedarwood shavings.
The jasmine here acts as a counterpoint rather than a focal point—its indolic richness prevents the composition from becoming too austere, whilst the hay accord adds a coumarin-laced sweetness that smells like sunbaked grasses and old paper. The woody-aromatic structure is persistent, with cedar and vetiver forming a skeletal framework that keeps the blend from drifting into gourmand territory despite the fig and hay. The tobacco in the base isn't honeyed or vanillic; it's dry leaf matter, slightly bitter, woven through with clean musks that prevent the earthiness from becoming heavy.
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