Maître Parfumeur et Gantier
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The caipirinha lemon bursts forth with an almost aggressive tartness, immediately joined by the slightly bitter Brazilian orange—you're hit with that bruised-fruit quality that makes your mouth water. Within minutes, the leaf green note emerges, cutting through the citrus with a faintly herbal, almost green-tea-like sharpness that prevents the opening from feeling purely fruity.
As the initial citrus begins its fade, the elemi resin and gaiac wood emerge with surprising clarity, lending a slightly resinous, woody dryness to proceedings. The leaf green deepens rather than disappears, creating an interesting tension between the woody backbone and persistent herbaceous character—think dried bay leaf meeting weathered cedar. The rosewood adds a subtle rose-like roundness without ever becoming floral.
What remains is predominantly the gaiac wood and rosewood, now stripped of citric distraction and reduced to their most austere selves—dry, faintly dusty, with a whisper of coconut providing the only remaining sweetness. The musk and amber are present but diffuse, adding a skin-scent creaminess rather than projection, making this feel more like a personal second skin than a statement fragrance.
Bahiana arrives as a jolt of Brazilian humidity captured in a bottle—not the polished citrus of European perfumery, but something more feral and sun-drunk. The caipirinha lemon doesn't smell of refined bergamot; it's sharp, slightly funky, the kind of citrus that clings to your fingers after you've squeezed it fresh. Paired with Brazilian orange, there's a subtle bitterness beneath the sweetness, as though the fruit itself hasn't been fully domesticated.
What distinguishes Bahiana from the countless other fresh-citrus fragrances is its insistence on green architecture. The elemi resin and leaf green notes don't settle for being mere supporting players—they push forward with a slightly medicinal, almost herbaceous intensity that prevents this from becoming another sunny beach cliché. There's something slightly vegetal here, a crushed-leaf quality that suggests tropical undergrowth rather than manicured gardens.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
4.0/5 (819)