Hiram Green Voyage: A Precious Peacock
The breathtaking palace populated by beautiful women in the classic Bond film is no less dazzling in real life, even if Bond beauty Maud Adams doesn’t live there and in spite of the fact that it’s actually built on a small island and only appears to float. Now a luxury hotel operated by the Taj Group, the Lake Palace in Udaipur is revered for its hospitality and old-world charm, offering a tranquil (and romantic) getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban Indian life.
The latest fragrance from Hiram Green, Voyage, cites India as its inspiration: “An ode to the exotic mysteries of India, our new fragrance is as atmospheric and thrilling as a Mysore street market and as opulent as Octopussy’s floating palace on Lake Pichola.”
My memories of the trip are a colorful cavalcade of exotic sites, smells and flavors. Beautiful people with warm and friendly smiles greeted me everywhere. The Taj Mahal looks just as magical in person as it does in photographs, shimmering like a pearl in the afternoon sun.Though the hotel is unique, such beauty can be found throughout India. I was fortunate to have the opportunity for business travel in India back in 2010, and it has been one of the high points of my life.
As part of the business connection with India, I also had an opportunity to host and work with a small team of visitors from India for several weeks. I was still in Nebraska at that time, and while it certainly can’t compete with cities like Philadelphia or New York as far as attractions go, my Indian guests found much about the state of Nebraska that was delightful and exotic to them. A highlight of their stay was a trip to Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, one of the top zoos in the world (yes, really!), where the attraction that captured their hearts was not the elephants, nor the cat house with its lions and tigers.
It was the peacocks which freely roamed the ground in certain parts of the zoo. Tame and well-accustomed to visitors, they looked you in the eye, approached you with confidence, sat next to you on park benches (probably hoping you had food for them). I learned that day that the peacock is the national bird of India, and enjoys protected status there. My visitors had few opportunities to encounter the precious bird back in India so they took full advantage and many photos in Omaha that day.
Sorry if it seems I’m taking the long way ’round, but this brings me to the topic of Hiram Green’s Voyage.
When we first published the announcement of this scent, a couple members responded with questions. Why is it a limited edition, and how does Hiram Green define “natural?” I reached out to Hiram for more information.
“I just wanted to make something special, a fragrance that when you wear it you know that it will not be available for very long and that only a very select number of people around the world have it,” says Hiram. “I think Voyage and the limited edition idea will make a nice holiday present for someone who enjoys my other two fragrances.” [Hiram, having tried your other two fragrances, I couldn’t agree more.—jb]
Perfumer Hiram Green
Voyage is a perfume composed entirely of natural ingredients, as were Moon Bloom and Shangri La. “When I say entirely natural, I mean just that. There are no synthetic ingredients in our fragrances,” replies Hiram. “To get slightly more technical, I can also say that I only use European certified natural ingredients and that the alcohol I use is certified natural and organic. Not many people realize that most fragrances contain synthetic ingredients and that creating a fragrance with only natural ingredients is in fact a bit of a challenge and very unique.”
As a devotee of natural perfumes, and someone who briefly tried her hand at composing them, I can honestly say I am astonished by the craftsmanship in Voyage and all of the house’s scents. They are unique creations that stand apart from other natural scents I have tried, both for their aromas and for their longevity. Hiram Green’s fragrances have a density and presence, along with a distinctive vanilla/coconut accord that appears to be the hallmark of their maker.
Which is not to say Voyage is a gourmand scent. Perhaps we’ll see a true gourmand from Hiram Green someday, but in the meantime, the vanilla/coconut is simply a warm, golden thread linking all three scents. Where Moon Bloom takes a turn for the floral, and Shangri La evokes a fruity chypre, Voyage is a deep, plush oriental. A whoosh of citrus notes quickly yields to a spicy heart (saffron? My mind conjures a gulab jamun dessert with saffron sauce that I ate in India when I smell this.) Voyage reaches its depth about 30 minutes after application, becoming a warm, sweet amber that holds for several hours. By hour six, the fragrance lies close to the skin, with the sweetness fading a bit and a creamy suede now closing the show.
With its limited run of 250 bottles, Voyage will become for many the precious peacock my Indian friends found in Nebraska. You’ll have heard about its beauty and majesty. You can read about it and see pictures of it online, but your chance to experience it for yourself is going to be rare. No doubt those who have snapped up a bottle already will closely guard this rare beauty, so if you want this precious peacock for your very own, you must seize the opportunity when it presents itself.
Thank you to Hiram Green and to Indigo Perfumery for the opportunity to try this fragrance. Voyage is available from both websites and at select retailers in Europe and the United States.
