In an interview conducted in 2001, Jean Claude Ellena, the house nose at Hèrmes, states:
I admit that there are some materials I dislike, with which I feel uncomfortable, vanillin, heliotropin, all that is sweetened in general. I prefer salty and bitter. Anyway, I always made sure not to confuse cuisine with perfumery.
Did his tastes change between that interview and the release of the Hermessences last year? I find Ambre Narguile downright foody, and Vetiver Tonka is nothing if not sweet and vanillic…
