Flowers that bloom with only three petals are known as trimerous flowers. Such as the aloof and mysterious iris, pale mauve or ivory flags reaching for the skies while an unprepossessing gnarly rhizome gestates in the earth, to be harvested and transmuted into the ormolu beauty of orris. This magical process, further enhanced by two to four years of maturation produces one of the most ephemeral and influential materials in perfumery. Iris is the dark princess at the floral christening, hiding in shadows, beautiful in a way that perturbs and intoxicates, quietly aware that she will eternally inspire devotion and bruised dreams.

The chilly hex of Trimerous by Jorum Studio, manifests both as an orris perfume but also as an examination of the effects of orris in a composition. There is a sly sweetness to quality orris perfumes. The maturation of the rhizome increases the level of irones, the violaceous molecules that give orris its distinctive steel and powder personality. The price of orris is enormous, making it one of the most expensive materials in the perfumer’s palette.

Rather than simply showcase the beauty of orris, Jorum perfumer Euan McCall has looked at the rhizome’s strange biography from knobbly assemblage of starches and proteins to refined concrète, resinoid and absolute. Rhizomes are odd things, growing horizontally they are strictly speaking modified stems that emit nodes, internodes and auxiliary buds.

As with all the Jorum perfumes, Euan maps out the genetics and psyche of orris within Trimerous, choosing to play against the expected bruised boudoir ghosts of many compositions by adding a kombucha note. Kombucha is a spiritous, slightly fizzy rendition of black tea, created by the symbiotic fermentation of yeasts and bacteria. In Trimerous, it adds an yeasty spumante vibe to the orris and the delicious accompaniment of nectarine, juniper, vanilla, resins and cold angelica root.

Suede and carrot seed compliment the orris, adding suppleness to the ashen fade out. It is only fitting too that Trimerous has a wild, Scottish vernal vibe, grassy, berried, stony and lashed with sea winds. Against the soft power and regalness of the Florentine iris, the local flora and eternally shifting meteorology create a orris perfume of outstanding beauty.