Panorama
Eau de Parfum, Olfactive Studio (2015)

If there is a perfume to wear during the summer for maximum cooling, refreshing, bracing, and innervating effects, it is probably Panorama. The wasabi opening gets the most attention from wearers of this perfume and for good reason: it is astonishingly accurate, delivering all of the piquancy and pepperiness, energy, and fresh green citrus notes of the real thing. It's combined with smooth bitter bergamot, and green accords of fig, bamboo, violet leaves and cut grass. The effect is profound, a greenness that flashes neon before your eyes, tickles your nose, and radiates a cold but bright sunshine as if reflecting off of a polished aluminum surface. Amidst all of this is a lot of clever work going on that is a bit out-of-reach of my olfactory receptors; there are more ingredients and notes here that are 'imperceptible' compared to perceptible ones, but they present a unified accord that is truly original and remarkable. For example, I definitely want to say there is a cardamom or coriander note to this that is not dried and savory but fresh and bright, but the unity of the accord makes it hard to pick-out from the crowd.

As it dries down, cue the next wave of notes that were lying in wait and gearing-up up at the base, namely myrrh. Incenses are no strangers to green perfumes because, at least in the hands of a master perfumer, their sticky, resinous, sharp and slightly fungal qualities lend it to a greenness that doesn't come across in incense smoke. Myrrh is indeed used in the masterful sense here with Panorama. Nestled on a bed of clean, mildly soapy musks the myrrh has been coaxed to let loose its resinous, fresh, green qualities to be the segue from the wasabi and green notes that came before it. It's not a slow dance, it's the electric slide! Electric is a great way to describe Panorama in all of its neon greenness. The closest perfume that I've experienced is probably Cristalle, but for all of Cristalle's crystalline, brittle, cold light and color bending energy, there's a softness to it that's very much Chanel. Cristalle works as if you're seeing the crystalline, bending, explosive light and color through a soft-focus filter. Panorama is like that but with the filter removed. Look too long or too closely at the light and it will leave stars in your eyes and temporary blindness. It's been a very long time since I smelled a perfume with such a palpable, infectious, and explosive energy. Simply stunning. I look forward to many years of many warm days wearing this gem.

Your astrologer friend has just made a smoothie for you. Time to detox your nostrils. Spicy invigorating green opening that doesn't stick around long. Celery stalks (or celeriac root) and various green notes. Maybe horse raddish. The rest isn't interesting, but I don't feel comfortable smelling like a celery smoothie for the initial 30-60 minutes even if it is refreshing, so I'm not sure if it's an improvement.

Nice to smell for novelty and an invigorating feel, but I fail to see why I would want a bottle, or when I would want to wear this, especially considering the poor evolution.

Another pepper galbanum fragrance that starts off very much like balsamic vinegar, after a couple of minutes it improves into a VERY grassy violet with the cardamom and cut grass. There's a slight tea accord with the fir balm. The violet turns a little jammy with the tonka, myrrh, vanilla, and musk. It's a strange savoury experience that quickly turns into a sweet grassy outdoor experience. Odd, but pleasant experience. It's hard to recommend. It's more like an art collection. You want to smell it and analyze it, because of its complexity, but I wouldn't find this conducive to casual wear. It would definitely be a good comparison to Fahrenheit, or something to layer with it. Very interesting to sample.

I cannot possibly locate half the stated ingredients in Panorama, but it opens up as an accessible green fragrance with a good helping of peppery spice - I suppose we could attribute some of this to the wasabi, although there are plenty of other candidates.

Later on, it becomes more incensy and slightly smoky; now, near the end, grassy with an almost mentholated edge. The end, by the way, comes quicker than I would like, with below average performance.

It smells good, I can't deny, although there seems little rhyme or reason to how it progresses.

Not without faults, but had I a bottle in my collection, I would be spending happy hours coming to comprehend it further. Full of good stuff ("though not necessarily in the right order") so gets a thumbs up from me.

The opening is that of a fresh summer meadow. Bergamot, fresh grass, a touch of citrus and leaves of bushes aound fields of grass in the sunshine - beautiful, bright, capturing the sun.

The drydown adds galbanum and an herbal touch, mainly a nice myrrh by with minimal spice. In the drydown al the sunniness is gone and replaced a very restrained vanilla background with a superimposed beautiful balasamic note; the latter is light, a touch airy and neither dark nor boozy. There is discretely balanced sweetness that fits in well with the balsamic impression.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and an astounding fourteen hours of longevity, with the balsam gently fading at the end.

A gorgeously summery green scent, a bit on the light and airy side, but very well blended of high-quality ingredients and performing splendidly. 3.5/5

What we've come to expect from this line, really. Panorama is another shallow, superficial release from the ever-cynical Olfactive Studio that splurges on first impressions but cuts corners where it matters. And, given the name of the scent, it's especially ironic that the olfactory scope of reference is utterly myopic.

It opens with a crisp galbanum that splits the difference between vegetal and grassy. There's nothing that resembles wasabi at all – it's just galbanum and sweetened grass. The opening is airy and clean with a slight dampness, and it would be good in warm weather as it's notably cooling. A mere 15 minutes in, it starts to turn sweet and figgy, reminding me a little of the kind of peas that come canned and marinating in sugar-water. It retains some of the astringency of the opening for the first 30 minutes or so, but it starts to come apart soon after in a way that's utterly predictable – consistent, at least, with the brand's other releases as many of them do the same.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing untoward about the scent per se, but my beef is that the line has little problem charging big money for nicely packaged uninspired gimmickry. Just like the green dye that was added, the listing of wasabi is pure gimmick – which isn't a bad thing as I'd assume that an actual wasabi note would be painful to both skin and nose (as materials like capsicum can be). The more I think about it, the more I suspect that what Olfactive is claiming to be wasabi is simply just the name of the dye they used for the colorant as, if any impression of wasabi of generated at all (as we all know that "notes lists" are not "ingredients lists" in the actual formula), it's coming from the color and not the scent. Bottom line: it's not hideous, but there's nothing standout about it. It's a merely adequate green scent that leans more grassy than stemmy, clearly marketed for a spring / summer release as if it were an item of clothing. By the time the fall comes around, it'll be long forgotten and something equally superficial will replace it next spring.

Disposable luxury.