Why is iris perfume so expensive?

By Arthur Cukier

Short answer: the scent of iris is not in the flower. It is in the root. The root grows for about three years, then dries for two to three more before it smells of anything. Hundreds of kilos of root make one kilo of orris butter, one of the most expensive materials in perfumery.

Iris is at the heart of Borsalino Black Iris and White Iris. Here is why it costs so much, and why we chose it anyway.

The smell is in the root, not the flower

Perfumers do not use the iris flower. They use the rhizome, the thick root of Iris pallida. In Italy it grows mainly in Tuscany, in the hills of Chianti and Pratomagno (dsm-firmenich). A fresh root has almost no smell. The scent appears slowly, while the root dries, as molecules called irones form.

Years of patience

First the plant grows for about three years before the roots are harvested. Then the roots are peeled, sliced and dried, and left to mature for two to three years (dsm-firmenich). Only then are they distilled into a soft, waxy paste called orris butter. From planting to perfume, that is five to six years.

A tiny yield

The yield is very small. Only about 0.1 to 0.2% of the dried root becomes orris butter (Première Peau). In other words, it takes hundreds of kilos of root to make a single kilo.

What does it cost?

Prices are not public and they move with each harvest. Published estimates give an idea:

• Orris butter: from around €12,000 per kilo (ScenTree) to several tens of thousands of euros, depending on quality, origin and irone content.
• Orris absolute (the most concentrated form): up to €40,000 per kilo and more, with some sources quoting close to €100,000 for the rarest qualities.

Gram for gram, the best orris can cost more than gold. That is why many perfumes use synthetic iris molecules instead.

Why Black Iris uses Italian iris

I focus on the mood and the DNA. The perfumer chooses the ingredients. Perfumers have carte blanche to build something as close as possible to the brief. For Black Iris, Nicolas Bonneville of dsm-firmenich chose Italian iris. It is one of his favourite materials to work with.

It also makes the perfume hard to imitate. Thousands of perfumes launch every year. A rare natural ingredient, used with skill, is one way to stand apart.

The smell of a Borsalino hat

When we first visited Borsalino in Alessandria, the first thing we noticed was the smell of the felt. Borsalino felt is worked by hand, over many steps. It smelled animalic and powdery.

Those are the two main facets of natural iris butter. That is what inspired us. Iris also stands for what Borsalino stands for: time, patience and craftsmanship. A hat takes around fifty steps. An iris root takes five to six years.

How iris feels on skin

Iris is not sweet like rose or bright like jasmine. It is soft, powdery and slightly earthy, close to suede or felt. It feels calm and elegant, and it sits close to the skin.

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