It’s been a while since I last wrote an “I bought this for the bottle” post—in fact, almost 3 years! I take that as a good sign.

Applying the phrase here is also a bit disingenuous, because Osmanthus by The Different Company is a perfume I’ve been curious about for a long time. I am an absolute lover of osmanthus absolute and always hopeful to discover another fragrance based on this note to love. However, as I’ve mentioned before, its execution often disappoints, possibly because other ingredients that are meant to bring out certain facets end up too loud.

Osmanthus, created by Jean-Claude Ellena, has been described by Luca Turin in Perfumes: The A-Z Guide as “[captured with] a touch of lemony notes up top to give a delicious, almost gardenia-like effect, and a soapy-woody drydown.” Neil Chapman in Perfume: In Search of Your Signature Scent wrote thus: “As a straight, and faithfully rendered literal osmanthus, The Different Company’s take on the flower, Osmanthus (2000) is probably unbeatable, placing the delicate but enticing orange-petalled scent of kinmokusei onto a gentle, hay-laced dry down.”

It’s been difficult to obtain a sample over 20 years later, so I forgot about it for a while, and then recently was reminded of it again by a piece on the brand in Nez magazine, issue #16. “In this fragrance inspired by a trip to the Forbidden City, the delicacy of the osmanthus flower is revealed between facets of apricot and white leather.”

This last phrase is probably what truly spurred my search in earnest, as apricot and leather are the facets I wish were more prominent in many osmanthus perfumes. Still, I wouldn’t have bought a full bottle without knowing how it smelled. Luckily, a perfect compromise greeted me upon my search—a used travel bottle at a good price. It was the design of the bottle, or more accurately, the bottle’s container, that sold me on it.

Mimicking the top part of the full-sized, refillable bottles, this “48-hour dose” aluminum container houses a 10-mL, also refillable, mini bottle. I’m not sure who uses up 10 mL of perfume in 48 hours (is that a naive statement among perfumistas?)—in any case, the set I bought was less than half full. The container unscrews into 3 parts for easy loading.

Verdict on the fragrance itself?

The opening is like that of a much richer vintage perfume whose top notes have gone off, so that’s probably what’s happened here as well. Then a hint of the green citrus followed by light florals. Fabric seems to capture the bergamot and orange notes in better clarity.

From the nozzle and initial swirl of scent, I’m briefly worried that this osmanthus will be paired with freesia like many others are, although the listed accompanying notes are rose and pink pepper, which take it in a more sophisticated direction. It shares some of the serious, watercolor effect of Hermès Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, which grows on me. It may have a hint of salt as well, in a savory rather than aquatic way.

I don’t really get the leather despite castoreum being listed as a base note. A soft musk envelops the fragrance throughout its development. Osmanthus doesn’t quite manage to escape the soap or lotion connotations of this type of light floral scent, except perhaps in the drydown, where I wish I could turn up its volume with a dial switch. Alas, it doesn’t become a personal favorite, but I appreciate the education.

Do you have a favorite osmanthus fragrance? How much perfume do you use in one day? (For me, 3 mL is probably the max, and even 2 mL can be a stretch…)