There are links to a further 29 Perfume: Best of 2013 Lists further down the page.
The Fragrant Man is presenting Perfume: Best Of 2013 (which will include Highly Favoured Fragrances from previous years) as follows:
The Jatamansi Awards 2013
New Releases, Highly Favoured Fragrances and Most Interesting Comments
The Jatamansi Awards are subjectively selected, and the fragrances have been wafted and judged by The Fragrant Man.
Jatamansi Awards – Fragrance
Award Name
– Recipient
The Atmospheric Award
– Amouage Fate Man
The Best in Show Award
– Puredistance BLACK
The Best New Publication Award
– ODOU magazine
The Best Perfume Fiction Award
– Aphrodesia by John Oehler – Perfume Thriller set in the ISIPCA Perfume School in Versailles.
The Best Perfume Non-Fiction Award
– Scent & Subversion – Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume by Barbara Herman
The Best Presentation Award
– Ineke Scent Library
Best Presentation – Special Mention
– Arquiste
I especially like the black band on the boxes for ease of entry and light-free storage. Mr Huber also presented himself well in Australia and New Zealand this year.
The Classic-to-be Award
– Amouage Fate Women
The Classic Vetiver Award
– Lalique Encre Noir (2006 release)
The Enchanting Award
– The Vagabond Prince The Enchanted Forest – a stroll through the wilderness (2012 release).
The Everyday Everywhere Award
– Le Labo Cuir 28
The Fair Trade Award
– The 7 Virtues Blend Box – hours of fragrant fun.
The Feral Award
– Phoenicia Perfumes RealOud Feral – although I think that this should have been called RealOud Rank.
The Fragrant Garden Award
– a private garden designed to be fragrant by day and by night. An outdoor bath with hot and cold running water and a privacy gate are features along with the scented air. St Andrews Escape in Havelock North, New Zealand.
The Fragrant Ingredient Award
– Kampot Peppercorns now have geographic appellation status because of their unique taste and scent.
The Great Writing Award
– Kafkaesque for Perfume Review: Absolue Pour Le Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian
The Hot Award
– Arquiste Anima Dulcis (2012 release)
The Innovative Award
– Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia – Olfactory Orgasm
The Into the Night Award
– Boutonnière No. 7 The Male Gardenia for steppin’ out (2012 release).
The Justified and Ancient Award
– Aftelier Ancient Resins – contains The Secret Accord.
The Man Rose Award
– Le Labo Rose 31 (2006 release)
The Masterpiece Award
– Neela Vermeire Créations Trayee (2011 release, but I have not yet found another masterpiece since).
The Modern Vetiver Award
– Olfactive Studio Autoportrait is Encre Noire released from the woods and flying above the clouds. The vetiver smells like the roots have been washed by a waterfall leaving a clear hint of something that is usually more vegetal. (2011 release).
The Muse Award
– The Grain de Musc herself, Denyse Beaulieu for musing around with my head. An inspiration to me and to many others.
The Natural Award
– Sonoma Scent Studio Spiced Citrus Vetiver
The New Perfume House
– David Falsberg, The Man with the Alpha-Dog Nose for Phoenicia Perfumes. Skank, skunk and real Oud.
The Olfactive Scribe Award
– Katheleen Tessaro for The Perfume Collector
The Oud Oil Award
– The Khao Yai Experiment. Incense grade agarwood, resinous of the kind reserved usually reserved for carving, gave a dense blend. I open the bottle every 6 months for a swipe; it’s scent profile is ageing beautifully into scents that I have never smelt before or even dreamed of.
The Oud Wood Award
– Oud Wood chips from Brunei, Khai Yai forest and other traceable sources from Ensar Oud.
The Powerhouse Award
– a drop of EnVoyage Zelda is sufficient. 3 drops will fill the room.
The Scented Candle Award
– Mérida – this xxx based candle, composed by Carlos Huber of Arquiste for Cire Trudon, is worth sniffing out to see how you react to this unique scent. I do not mean x-rated, I just do not want to be a
The Showgirl Award
– this showstopper magnolia blooms and dances. EnVoyage; Her name was Zelda, she was a showgirl…
The Sleep Scent Award
– Neela Vermeire Créations Mohur for the sweetest dreams (2011 release). As scent has an immediate brain connection I have found that dreams can be induced by perfume.
The Sustainable Ingredient Award
– TFS Australia for the 14 year project planting and harvesting Santalum album Sandalwood.
The Sweetest Story Award
– Drakkar Noir – are you responsible for this happy marriage?
Sweetest Story – Special Mention
– Scent & Autism
The Peace Correspondent Award
– Amer for Riot Spring
The Warm and Embracing Award
– Neela Vermeire Créations Ashoka – Buddhism in a Bottle, Fig in a Floral Forest.
The Welcome Back Award
– Luca Turin for Message in a Bottle at Style.com/Arabia
The Vintage Award
– Vintage Chloe
Jatamansi Awards – Commentators
The “I am a 21st Century Woman” comment
The Jatamansi Award for the best comment from a Fragrance Commentator goes to…
Poodle on Australian Perfume Junkies in response to this:
Spikenard
If you would like to encounter this scent and look after your own or your loved one’s feet leave a comment….
Never mind my loved ones feet. My loved one massaging my feet sounds like a much better idea to me.
Poodle
Perfumery Insight comment
Vetiver has been terribly mistreated in mainstream perfumery.
Amer
Cross Cultural Comment
…lunch is not a regular thing in Poland. Sure it’s getting more and more popular but it’s not in our eating routine.
Lucas
Chemist in the Bottle
There are a thousand or more opinions in Perfumeland on most perfumes. I love the manners of the on-line Perfume Community. They are courtly manners in the sense that they bespeak of an old fashioned salon for discussion and edification. The occasional flare-up, ‘your nose is smelling the wrong notes‘, the boycott of a perfumer and other such matters are usually handled with aplomb and a cheerful and respectful ability to disagree considering the diversity of strongly held opinions. Usually, but not always, these opinions are backed up by a wealth of knowledge, study and experience. The disagreements only highlight the usual smoothness of communication.
In a moment we will roam around the world and see the variety of opinions on The Best of 2013. I thought this to be a great year for perfume releases. There were over 1,330 perfumes released in 2012; I do not have the stats for the current year yet. Rather than reviewing 3.64 reviews per day most Olfactive Scribes bring you the best as well as warn you of the worst and the most boring. These scribes write their passion and also their knowledge into words that are read across The Fragrant Stratosphere.
There is so much diffusion of Perfume knowledge, more so than at any time in the history of the world. There is a theory* in perfume circles that each writer has a dedicated core readership of 99 people who read everything that they write. 10% of these readers comment and engage a blog or website and other readers prefer to just read. Other readers may zoom in periodically or catch up with a site on weekly basis, usually the weekend. Of course many websites have 100’s and even 1000’s of readers every day or every week and the same theoretical percentage may still apply. And some of us have tried to read everything! Over time you tend to read the people that resonate with your own tastes or the writers that slake your own thirst for knowledge as well as the ones that you love to disagree with.
The Fragrant Man covers male-interest ‘fumes as well as Olfactory Science, Art, Gardens, Fragrant Ingredients, Myths and Legends. For a more comprehensive view of all perfumes there are many websites to discover then explore and enjoy, a selection of which you will find below.
There are storytellers, poets, historians and analysts who review perfume. There are also writers who work within the Perfume industry as well as students, several architects, a marine, a lawyer, a movie star, a DJ, a Perfume Theorist and even a chemist or 3 and at least 2 accountants that I know of. All of these people I call Olfactive Scribes. Some of these Olfactive Scribes have been writing for many years and have treasure chests of knowledge stored on their websites and available for you to read should you wish to know more. Some have several degrees across many disciplines and some are students of the world and especially of Perfumeland. We can go armchair traveling right now from London to Texas then New York and Greece, carry on up to Sweden and then sweep down to Down Under in Sydney. Fasten your web-belts; this is a journey of several days reading. These links are but a few that will give your access to the wealth of Perfume knowledge that is now available on this world-wide-web. Lists have been made. Let’s go aroaming…
Happy Reading and Merry Holidays to you Perfumistas. Which ‘fumes did you reach for the most in 2013?
Further Reading
- Theory
Interaction Law of Content Social Media
There is an Interaction Law of Social Media called 90-9-1
The Alembicated Genie summarises it as follows:
We shall for the sake of argument state that the readership of blogs and web content is 100%. Ninety percent of blog readers will simply enjoy the content they find there. They will not comment nor participate in any ongoing debates. In blogger-speak, they’re known as lurkers. This is by no means a perjorative word in this context. Nine percent more will choose to participate in any ongoing conversations by commenting, liking, linking, retweeting and so on.
And then, we have the (other) One Percent. These are the content creators, who write blogs, create websites, e-zines, FB pages and groups, the Twitter profiles and Instagram accounts and Pinterest boards etc. etc.
All told, this is not a static group – some bloggers will lurk on other blogs. Regardless of the subject matter or topic, this is a maxim that seems to hold true across the entire field of social media.
I elaborated on these and other concepts as regards Planet Perfume in:
And continued that conversation here:
The Emotional Engineering Society
– Tarleisio
– The Alembicated Genie
The Fragrant Man 
I would comment if I wasn’t so busy reading Shantaram. xxx
ha, ha – we have lost you then til Monday I suspect! Happy Reading to you.
Thank you for the inclusion, Jordan, and the huge compliment about my Absolue Pour Le Soir piece. I’m very touched.
I have to say, I rather wish you would keep a running tally of ALL the funny comments in a particular year, because a few of those crack me up. Next year, for 2014, please have a list of best blog comments or responses. I think it would be hilarious.
Lists compiled by people who don’t like making lists for people who don’t llke reading lists! LOL. A tally will be kept as a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.
Or to quote Alex Taylor:
“a day without a laugh is a day wasted”.
Hope your coffee spills with many laughs for the remains of the year and into 2014 and beyond.
Thank you for stinking of us.
Lol; what a clever comment! I will be beach combing tomorrow (ambergris season here) and stinking of you,
LOL at my lunch comment 😀
Whew, we are laughing with you. I had no idea that culinary customs were so varied. All very interesting Lucas.
I LOVE lists. They are always fun. You name things I adore, think meh and some I don’t even know. Excellent selection.
Portia xx
I think that it is always good to have more than one opinion on the table. Important even. Today we have a virtual cornucopia of opinions! Interesting how few perfumes cross over between all these listed links.
That will be my next list!
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A different approach to listing things, ha, thank you!! (and for leaping to the invitation in the first place!)
I have to say that you possibly view the scented universe with more benevolence than actually existing thanks to your very sweet and kind nature, but surely the conversation between the online amateurs is fun to watch and smooth for the most part.
The sheer volume of releases blinds me in its earnestness though and I managed to miss quite a bit. Hilarious commentary on the duds would be most welcome, therefore, if you can compile the list!
Thanks again and happy New Year to you. You have been χρηστός! 😉
Ah Elena! Your invitation was a thrill and a delight but most of all it was an honour to be included as a new kid on the block in such august company. What good eyesight you must have to be so panoramic. I have a lot of respect for the many writers that have been sharing their knowledge and opinions for many many years now. I have entered your beautifully kept shrine for many years and learnt about so many things that are not mentioned elsewhere. Yes, I will develop the commentary list for 2014 O Kind and Helpful One. Khrēstos!
Clearly I also need to develop my vocabulary beyond the word ‘many’ which became repetitious in this comment, lol.
Thank you so much for including Ancient Resins in your terrific awards Jordan, I am truly honored!
xo Mandy
And I am thrilled that you took the time to read and comment as I know you are supposed to be on holiday! Happy Holidays to you Mandy. May your days become a daze this Holiday Season.
“Holiday” means getting to do what I want, so… here I am also thanking you for your fantastic support for Cuir de Gardenia – I am still awestruck by the magnificent slide show you ran of the antique cases I have for solid perfumes.
Thanks for the double honor, and Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Just for the record, I still have not received a foot massage from my loved one.
I am shocked at this news Poodle.
ODOU magazine was such a welcome spot of wonderful in 2013. I’m still savoring it. I hope it’s a sign of more to come. Great list.
It was wasn’t it. I took great delight in teasing the publisher that the expectations of the readers is that ODOU would be a weekly magazine. ODOU will be published twice a year.
This was fun to read through. I believe I have only tried two scents from this list. I still have a long way to go when it comes to experience with fragrances.
And which two were they Lean S? Reading all the other lists linked above I feel the same as you do here. Some great leads though to some fragrant roads which I will travel soon. Hope your fragrant journey has nice surprises and some pleasant plateaus. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Jordan this is such a lovely, comprehensive list, especially because I particularly enjoy when personal awards are given.
The Man Rose award? – Great award (and a perfect choice). 🙂
Ines, thank you! May I ask if your man wears Rose 31 or maybe you gave it to him and it has now vanished from his collection and it is stashed in yours?
My man is not much into rose (neither for himself, nor on me). So, it’s all mine! 🙂 Besides, most of my perfume wearing is at work so it doesn’t bother him.
Thank you for linking, I’m flattered, and for the intresting and unusual best of list. Wish you a Happy 2014!
And to you Parfumista! Which city are you in please? I can then add you to the Perfume Portals on the right hand side of this page. Sweden is taken, hence I need a city unless you prefer Sweden 2 in which case I will change Sweden to Sweden 1. Perfume Portals are my version of a blogg roll as I find the term to be clunky.
I hope your 2014 is interesting and unusual!
Loved this, Jordan. Wonderful, innovative categories.
Ancient Resins and Enchanted Forest are total lemmings for me.
For a beardess woman like you Tara, I would recommend using Ancient Resins as a comb-through hair oil. When you sashay your hair, as I know you will, then you will create zephyrs made of ancient resins. For me it is a beard oil but others massage it into their skin.
I have a wander through the world once a week with The Enchanted Forest. Not everybody liked that one which is often but not always the sign of an interesting perfume. The wild Blackcurrent notes, of which their are 3 accords, give this a sense of adventure especially if you have gathered these wild berries in your childhood.
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I love your list of perfumes (not that I’ve tried very many of them) and I intend to use it as an exploratory guide – as well as the other Best Of by other bloggers. Also liked that you included books – I’m just starting on Scent and Subversion and of course I’ve had a good flick through first and love the old advertisements that are featured.
Personally I don’t think I’m going to go down the vintage rabbit hole though – there’s so much to try in the modern world and it seems like another addiction that I could do without – and it seems like an expensive one as well.
The fiction book I hadn’t heard of so I’ve added that to my list.
Just a question – as you live in NZ, is it difficult to come by perfumes there and online with the postage regulations? This is from a kiwi who intends to return at some point – maybe later in 2014 and I’m already feeling slightly anxious about perfumes. Let alone finding a house, job etc! I really like the style of your blog … it challenges my thinking.
Kia Ora Megan,
On your homecoming you will find Word Beauty will cater to your niche needs. They also run Perfume Masterclasses with Guest Speakers from time to time. Smith & Caughey have all the mainstream and designer releases. I often receive ‘glass figurines’ in the mail. Most perfume houses will mail to NZ. There are also the two sampling sites, Surrender to Chance and Lucky Scent to keep yourself acquainted with new releases.
Thrilled to challenge your thinking. I am always challenging my own thinking too.
I agree about Vintage. Nice that your can choose your addictions!
Home shopping: Millwater is a new suburb near the Whangaparaoa Pennisula and close to the redeveloped Silverdale area.
Here are some NZ Perfumed Tales;
What do NZ Women Smell Like?
Arquiste Auckland Action
Smelling Waiheke Island
Kia ora!
Thanks SO much for all of the NZ info and the lovely pohutukawa and Rangitoto photo. I’m so glad there are more options than I thought and that even Carlos Huber visits on occasion. Lovely pics at World of the two of you BTW. My perfumed interest has only gained traction in France so I have to say I would probably have never even noticed the perfume in World in my PPL (pre perfume life). Home shopping – is that the Fragrant Man abode? And yes I can see some glass figurines in my future.
I have to say that the CH’s Waiheke feature brings back memories of black and white photos of my mum and dad when they were uni students having their summer holidays there. It used to be quite hippy back in the day (so my mother tells me) – things have certainly changed now. The vineyards, the restaurants, the ‘box’ houses …. it’s really a different type of paradise now but still retains that older kiwi charm as well. And just a ferry ride away. Ahhh.
and an Oyster Bar!
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