Ermenegildo Zegna Essenze Florentine Iris

Conceived as a showcase of perfumery’s finest raw materials, each unified by the inclusion of bergamot – an olfactory signature of Zegna who harvest their own bergamot from groves in Calabria – Ermenegildo Zegna’s Essenze collection is a standout in the oftentimes cacophonous “designer” fragrance space. From Italian Bergamot’s classical brilliance to the truffle-like decadence of Indonesian Oud, there is an Essenze release to best most designer categories: woody, citrus, spicy oriental, oud and floral. Florentine Iris is that floral.

Imbuing a sombre, languorous earthen refinement to the compositions in which it is employed, orris is a favourite note of mine in perfumery. The root (rhizomes) of the perennial iris plant, orris production is laborious and lengthy, making orris one of the costliest materials to use in perfumery, and pushing it beyond the scope of many designer fragrance briefs and budgets. In Florence, the traditional home of orris production, iris rhizomes are harvested cleaned, cut, dried, and aged for up to 8 years before the rhizomes are steam-distilled to produce orris butter, the thick essential oil that has been prized for use in perfumery and cosmetics for millennia. This rarefied material is that which Zegna and perfumer Jacques Cavallier have crafted their Essenze floral around.

Zegna’s own notes list for Florentine Iris includes:

orris, bergamot, jasmine, violet leaves, musk

My experience would suggest a slightly expanded list that includes:

orris, bergamot, green notes, jasmine, violet leaves, ambrette, white musk

Florentine Iris opens with one of the single most beautiful iris accords I have smelled. A purple-hued opus of orris, green notes, jasmine and bergamot from Zegna’s own citrus groves, Florentine Iris’ opening is an exquisitely velvety rendering of iris in all its earthen-floral-woody refinement. Spared the lipstickiness or violet leaning ionones of many orris perfumes (Dior Homme Parfum, for example), the iris here is naturalistic, soft and delicate – an evocation of the iris flower itself. Into the heart, this iris delicacy finds contrast by way of the sharp-edged steely greenness of violet leaf. Here, Florentine Iris is at its most masculine, though it should be noted that the composition feels entirely androgynous from beginning to end. Later, crystalline white musk and warm, fleshy ambrette round out the base with a washed linen freshness that cushions the now fading iris floralcy.

True to my experience with the majority of the Essenze fragrances, Florentine Iris is not a complex scent. Neither should it be. The intention here is to showcase iris, and Florentine Iris does this unreservedly. Few other designer fragrance houses do iris the justice Zegna has achieved here.

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Year of Release: 2012 before being reconcentrated in 2018

Perfumer: Jacques Cavallier

Alternatives: Prada L’Homme Eau de Toilette, Dior Homme Parfum

Available: David Jones and www.zegna.com for $305, 100ml