Volutes, it’s a shape and a scent, intimately linked: the volute¹ and tobacco. It’s also the scent of the labyrinth of waxed corridors and panelled lounges, the mysterious, and elegant ladies leaning on the ship’s rail smoking their Khedive cigarettes.

I have an abiding fondness for the French niche line Diptyque. They made three of my early perfumista favorites, all of which are still regulars in my rotation: Philosykos, Tam Dao and L’Ombre dans L’Eau. Olène and Oyedo are old friends that I still visit when I’m in the right mood, and if I had not long since drained my decants of Virgilio and L’Eau Trois, they’d get an occasional nod too.

All of those fragrances, of course, are pre-2005. The newer Diptyque fragrances have not moved me to open my wallet;² as I said when I reviewed Eau Duelle,

Since Tam Dao, Diptyque has become a kind of go-to house for muted fragrances on familiar themes. They’re well done, in fact some of them are fantastically well done, but they aren’t often surprising, and with the current glut of niche fragrances — it’s hard to think of a single theme, vanilla included, that hasn’t been explored to the heavens and back again in the last year or two — a little surprise is a welcome thing.

Eau Mage had a bit more heft and personality than some of the brand’s recent offerings, but never made it to my buy list, and nor did 34 Boulevard Saint Germain or Eau Rose.

Which brings us to Volutes, the brand’s latest…

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