The moody downstairs bar of Riley Street Garage in Sydney’s Darlinghurst was the perfect venue for an afternoon presentation by French distillers of fine cognac and elegant fragrances P Frapin & Cie.
Creative director of cognac and fragrance David Frossard was visiting Australia to talk about his unique French company founded in 1270 and to launch two new fragrances: Laskarina and L’Ile de Man.
The venerable family-owned Frapin promotes itself as “an emblem of the French art de vivre, quality, art and tradition”. It began producing fragrances in 2004. David explained that each carefully crafted scent is created around an elaborate story.
Most of the fragrances are marketed as being unisex and all have the same austere but elegant packaging with a stopper made of wood reminiscent of the casks used to age cognac.
However, Laskarina is described as a strong-willed perfume inspired by a romantic and fearless woman pirate who was a heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. It has notes of Italian bergamot, pink grapefruit, Tunisian orange blossom and rose that can be feminine but not flowery.
L’Ile de Man has a story that revolves around a Frapin family member and motorsport enthusiast who loved the dangerous competition held every year on the Isle of Man. It’s a celebration of the fearless and intrepid. Grapefruit, bitter orange and basil blend with salt, ironwood and vetiver for a memorable but discreet signature for the sporting man.
Media guests were encouraged to try and to compare all of the house fragrances that were grouped in charming little still-life arrangements down the centre of a long table.
