Niche Perfumes, and why should you care about them?

Molinard is a French perfume company founded in 1849.  Located in Grasse, France, one of the historical centers of perfume, Molinard continues to be run entirely by the family.

Queen Victoria was a customer of Molinard perfumes in 1891 when she visited Grasse.  In 1900, the company relocated to a factory that had been previously owned by another company. The equipment they used to make their perfumes was designed by Gustave Eiffel – yes!  The Eiffel Tower Gustave Eiffel!

Molinard created one perfume that is probably still their best known and is on the top of every perfume must-sniff list for historical perfumes as well as being a French Perfume Legend – Habanita.  Over the years, Molinard has had Lalique, Viard and Baccarat create bottles for their perfumes.

Molinard has a museum in Grasse that showcases how perfumes were distilled a few decades ago.  I took this tour in 2010, and it is a fascinating look back in time, and I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to learn more about the history of perfume-making.  They show you the soap room, the distillery, the cream room and the sales room.

Molinard has a number of single-note perfumes like vanille, patchouli, musk, as well as some less complex fragrances that are not just single notes, like vanille patchouli, Tendre Friandise, Nirmala, Iles D’Or, and Fleur de Chocolat.

Habanita is an oriental perfume with notes of orange blossom, raspberry, peach, bergamot, lilac, orris, jasmine, heliotrope, ylang, rose, leather, amber, musk, benzoin, vanilla, oakmoss and cedar.

In 2007, Molinard perfumes created Une Histoire de Chypre, a floral chypre, with limited distribution, with notes of mandarin, orange, galbanum, jasmine, neroli, bergamot, iris, osmanthus, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, amber, patchouli, musk and oakmoss.

Try a Molinard perfume sample of Habanita to experience one of the oldest perfumes around and a French Perfume legend.