Athenaeum is the distillation of a once forgotten yet fond olfactory memory, awakened upon a chance encounter at the local athenaeum. Upon entering the athenaeum one is struck by the overwhelming aroma of degrading pulp and ink, shrouded in a haze of sun-kissed dust and the smell transports you to arable mid-summer fields and days lost in swaying pastures, nose buried in hundreds of papery leaves, crops and mulchy woodland. Like gauzy sunshine whistling through rugged lands, it is as comforting as it is solitary. A fragrance crafted for reflection.
This is the first master-crafted perfume to make use of Scottish-grown, harvested and distilled biodynamic perfume materials and expertly showcases sustainably-sourced, hand-harvested Scottish lavender. The perfumer wanted to present a distant and forgotten memory from childhood, growing up in rural Scotland, more specifically, reading books and newspapers under an old oak that sat on the edge of a field and bluebell wood. This memory was awakened when he visited the National Library and Archives in Edinburgh and as soon as he entered the archives, childhood memories of lazily thumbing through texts in a field came flooding back. Sensorally, Athenaeum is like the drizzle of honey fresh from the hive, the smear of beeswax on aged cabinet, the first sip of cold cider savored in the orchard from which it came to be. It is the cloudburst of lavender-thick pollen ricocheting from delicate wing in flight and the history of the creator sewn together with gilded thread. With notes of Scottish lavender, beeswax (synthetic), fennel, apple, honey, neroli, hyacinth, flouve, patchouli, Moroccan leather (synthetic), gurjun balsam, oak and ink. Athenaeum is an eau de parfum, edp.
JORUM STUDIO ATHENAEUM REVIEWS
Fragrantica: Athenaeum, is a beautiful lavender, and beeswax fragrance with leather, hay, oak, and mineral tones from ink that comes off almost similar to the smell of pebbles or rocks found while hiking. The lavender gives a slight soapiness to the composition that tames the raw animalic facets of the leather and beeswax. This perfume is the sweet but not in the usual gourmand fashion. The sweetness smells of things made by little creatures like bees, or worms. The dark soil being worked by the worms, and insects eating what has died. Taking the decay of death and turning it into the sweet aroma of new life. I really like this one along with Elegy. This is a house to watch for interesting, unique creations that smell connected to nature but they don't smell like a herbal health food store. The perfumes are just that real perfumes. There is a Bohemian style here that I adore but executed with a sophisticated flair. Bravo.
Fragrantica: After reading reviews to me it sounds like people are only reporting their first whiff of the scent. Because at the first few minutes on skin it does come across sort of damp and heavy, I'm giving that to the beeswax, oak, & leather. I do agree that the ink does give off a mineral tone through the perfume but after an hour this becomes a very warm springtime/summer scent for me. I get the hay and honey bringing the base with the uplifting notes of lavender and fennel. To me it settles in on my skin like an overpriced sunscreen vibe especially with the ink providing the mineralic properties you get in sunscreens. It reminds me of when I have my windows open after a spring cleaning and the farmers are bailing hay outside my window. Full bottle worthy to me 80/10.
Fragrantica: There’s a certain pleasant and comforting nostalgia about this perfume. It reminds me of a smell from a now distant feeling childhood. Perhaps it is the dominant ink note that recalls those Bic pens in elementary school. Or perhaps carefree summers with the notes of hay and lavender wafting in the breeze. While objectively not a beautiful scent, it is nonetheless fascinating, complex and evocative, as so many Jorum perfumes are.
Fragrantica: Dusty, waxy, honeyed petrichor. Sometimes it depicts the French calanques (immortelle, stones, pine, miel de provence, mediterranean sea), sometimes it reminds me of a a little dusty wooden house after the rain. I love it, it is very melancholic to me.
Fragrantica: Super impressed by this! Gives me a specific, familiar feeling of peace and connection to earth that I had as a day-dreamy, bookish kid. I feel like there is a memory on the tip of my brain related to this smell. As someone else said, this has a "natural" sweetness and manages to be green and airy, while also sticky, but also powdery. There's something in here that reminds me of a past Lush bubble bar I had. It also reminds me of working in the garden with my dad as a kid, mixing the compost pile of lawn clippings and smelling the combination of slowly self-baking moist grass and dry dirt. The ink note is strong to my nose, as is the beeswax. Who knew these two would be so compelling!
Fragrantica: This is an interesting one for sure. It opens with a lovely beeswax note that's powdery with a natural sweetness to it. The fennel note is interesting here too, as it's prominent but enjoyable, esp mixed with the lavender it creates an aromatic and herbal aroma. As the scent develops you get a dry and earthy hay with a bit of floral touch thanks to the neroli, with remnants of that aromatic smell from the opening. This scent changes pretty drastically as time goes on as you get a strong ink note and dry woods.The ink reads like a ballpoint pen's ink specifically, it's odd but it works mixed with the woods in the base and an earthy patchouli in the background. This smells like an old book with fresh prose written in its pages hidden away in a library with oak walls and covered by tall trees.
Fragrantica: This conjures a scene of an ancient architectural ruin in a fantasy setting, the builders memories long faded in time. The scent of overgrowth, trees and weeds mixes with rubble and ruins, the sun's heat bearing down on the old stonework as the scent of wood, stone and dirt fills your nostrils. Green and vibrant at first - almost echoing the excitement of the discovery - fills the senses. You traverse the strange landscape, the scent leading into more soil and brick. Jorum's Atheneaum is a narrative, as the scent leads into the middle and base notes so too does the story. What will you find at the end of the scent journey? What mysteries await in the ancient scripts and shapes you see before you in the ruins? The air becomes still, as you continue to ponder and daydream about an ancient civilisation and the scent of oak, stone, and balsam sit in the air. A transformative experience, one that each spray will leave you yearning for more.
