NOTES FROM THE SEED VAULT

Eau de Parfum

Notes From The Seed Vault is one of the most distinctive and engrossing/spellbinding fragrances to materialise in years. Along with Aigue Monème and Fauve Evertue, it completes the dazzling debut triptych of perfumes from Iroise, all created by Julie Barretta.

Phantasmal and still, beautifully suggestive of botanical life in cold stasis, Notes From The Seed Vault echoes all the mystery and remoteness of the extraordinary Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located in the Arctic ocean. Opened in 2008, the vault extends 130m into a sandstone mountain under strata of rock, and the startling opening resembles sharp debris fallen to earth, poking out of the landscape. Perpetual Repercussion, a striking artwork of illuminated fibre-optics, prisms, mirrors and highly reflective steel, by Danish artist Dyveke Sanne creates appropriate oddity and power at the entrance.

Julie’s hymn of seeds and grains is unlike anything else in perfumery. 1.3 million duplicate seeds have already been accessioned to the vault, (potential storage of 4.5 million) stored in aluminium bags, these replacing the original storage method of glass tubes.

What makes Notes From The Seed Vault so fascinating is the genuine sense of gelid, aloof location. It is almost impossible to read information about the seed vault without defaulting to pondering odours, conjuring up, despite the sealed seed storage, how such a vast project might smell, an imagined mingling of botanical and man-made edifices. All this set against the icy backdrop of Svalbard, snow, ice, midnight sun and arctic darkness.

Much of the fascination of Notes From The Seed Vault lies in the slow melting of glacial exposure to brumal warm reach. The suggestion of suspended animation and the metallic tang of iced water, that becomes a glorious embrace of powdered grains, finger crushed seeds and malted earth. There are a few more indications of notes with this composition. Carrot and ambrette seed have a delicious tellurian mood, suggesting powder dusted over private skin. Amaranth adds a sweet grassy note, touched by the warmth of steamed grains, while cotton seed suggests ground walnuts, pale musk and powdered earth.

The mix has a quiet yet persistent ambience. It is a joy to smell the shifts in structure as Notes From The Seed Vault evolves. One might argue that the hush and ambiguity are puzzling, but this would be a mistake. As with the Svalbard vault itself, with its arresting opening, we are led deeper into a compelling vault of modern necessity and precious hoarding. Notes From The Seed Vault may challenge the senses, but held within its ambiguity is a perfume of comfort and algid grace.

Composition:

• Carrot Seed
• Amaranth
• Ambrette Seed, Cotton Seed

Perfumer: Julie Barretta, 2025