Red Sun, Perris Monte Carlo Arancia di Sicilia

Year ago in September I departed for my summer holidays. I flew all the way to the South of Italy to spend a week in Sicily. Little did I know that it’s going to be one of my most memorable vacations. Waking up at 5 AM almost every day wasn’t my best idea for dolce vita but the weather and all the sights compensated shorter sleep. It was also a naturally fragrant time as ripe fruit, orange granita and freshly pressed orange juice were available at almost every corner, first announced by their scent. Iconic blood orange from Sicily deserves a perfume. Perris Monte Carlo just did one!

Arancia di Sicilia welcomes you with a great bounty only a Mediterranean country like Italy could offer. First impression – a refreshing, full-bodied and photorealistic scent of blood orange. Zesty aroma of the peel and sweetness of the ruby-tinted fruit light up the senses, wake you up and create a craving for the juiciest & most delightful bite ever that will drip down from your chin onto a t-shirt that you’re wearing. It’s this kind of scent that feels lustful and mouth-watering at the same time. There’s a beautiful complexity and dimension to this inconspicuously simple Sicilian orange opening. This effect has been achieved by using two varieties of Sanguinella Orange essential oils.

Brown essential oil comes just from the rind while Sfuma Torchio oil comes from a full fruit pressing followed by separation of the oil from the juice. Right from the beginning Arancia di Sicilia is a very sunny perfume but after a little while it really starts to warm up. This warmth gradually evolves into a sweet smoothness of almond. This new facet intrigues me because initially it smells to me like limoncello, I swear, but then after a couple minutes more it becomes more like an amaretto, with a fine liqueur smell to it and some booziness. Don’t expect something very alcoholic here as it’s only just a hint. But this hint is exactly what this perfume needs to be different among citrus fragrances.

Following after this liquory almond trail is a small portion of cinnamon. Just a small bit is enough to spark a delicate tingle of spiciness in one’s nose and to give Arancia di Sicilia a twist nobody would expect from a perfume dedicated to blood orange. It’s not a prominent element of this fragrances but is noticeable among other ingredients. Shortly after vanilla joins the composition, only this one smells quite unusual too. It’s got some airiness to it and volume, like a creme chantilly which combines whipped cream, sugar and vanilla. Like a more sophisticated way of presenting a perfume note to the wearer, if you know what I mean. It’s delicious but you can still eat some more.

Drydown of Arancia di Sicilia is a toned down combination of notes that via their olfactive profiles evoke the ending of a long and sunny day in paradise. Labdanum enriches the perfume with balsamic, slightly gooey smokiness. It has elegance and charm. When I inhale the perfume on my skin I can still pick the scent of orange and how well it combines with cistus. Then there’s some powdery iris, not much but it still grabs my heart, an absolute of coffee that adds a little bit of darkness. Last but not least there are some ambery tones that add delicate oriental touch to new Perris Monte Carlo scent. Fluffy musky sensuality is what brings the perfume to its finale.

Perris Monte Carlo surely deserve praise for creating Arancia di Sicilia. You simply cannot be indifferent to something so delightful and mouth-watering. It’s a citrus elevated to a new level due to unusual use of ingredients like almond, cinnamon or labdanum that are normally not associated with fresh perfume for summer. Arancia di Sicilia is a beautiful and honest homage to the Island of Sicily and its iconic Sanguinella Orange. It brought back memories from year ago when I visited Etna, Lipari Islands and Palermo among other places. Perfumer Gian Luca Perris did a great job sharing a part of Italy with us. This eau de parfum has nice longevity and sillage. Available in 100 ml bottles.