17/17 Irisss by Xerjoff, 2007

Irisss is a stellar orris butter perfumethe first and only one that I have found to be in league with the great ISM (this comparison alone speaks volumes). Although the two are similar in their strongly dominant orris butter tone, Irisss is more floral (esp. rose) and feminine; ISM is more crisp and bracing, which is largely why I prefer it. Still, if you like orris butter perfumes even a bit, then I strongly recommend that you sample Irisss. As for me, given its astronomical price, I will not be purchasing a full size bottle, though I would if I could.

If 1717 Homme is a wonderful leathery Iris, Xerjoff 1717 Irisss, as well as its name evokes, is a stress over the noble note of iris. The other reviewers told what is soon utterly  notable, namely that Irisss is immediately a sort of almost pure, earthy-rooty, botanic and realistic iris oil garnished with angular, hydrolytic, harsh and lymphatic elements as violets, carrots, vetiver and bergamot, all over a smooth final bed of musk, powdery cedarwood and balsams. I also catch the similarities with the crisper, less realistic and more monothematic Lutens Iris Silver Mist in the sense that both are able to reproduce a really close smell to the pure natural iris oil. Irisss is a more finally complex, powdery and floral royal creation with a closing aristocratic and austere incensey atmosphere projected around. Another noble and luxurious fragrance for us, unfortunately so expensive to be hardly approachable by many.

Smells like the Xerjoff team ran Serge Lutens' Iris Silver Mist through a chromatograph, decoded it, put it in an exquisite bottle and marked it up 200%. That being said, this is still a terrific fragrance based on the noblest of perfume ingredients, the iris.

In general, fragrances centered on iris are focused on some aspects. Or they will have a powdery aroma (Dior Homme), or they`ll evoke a linen sensation (Prada Infusion Iris), or will have a sort of metallic aroma, or even a earthy, raw aroma. Irisss by Xerjoff focus in this last one, and it`s an exercise of exploring the earthy aroma of iris without making the wearer smell like a raw potatoe. At first, you have a carroty and rooty aroma, that seems challenging and linked with one of the most brutal iris created so far, Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist. But while Iris Silver Mist forces the aroma in a caricature way, Irisss seems to give it a noble treatment, wrapping it in a creamy musk base, some incensed notes and a woody aroma that seems to be sandalwood. The base works quite well, giving a sensation that envolves cleanness, creaminess and woody. If it wasn`t so expensive, i`d have this creamy earthy iris. But it is, so someone lucky, which is not me, will have it...

IRISSs. Parfum Concentration. Sampled twice.Yes- it's spelt that way - not one of my usual spelling errors. It lives up to its name. Oh My - this is GORGEOUS iris. Notes of iris,carrot seeds,rose ,ylang,ylang, rare woods,resins, incenses and musks.This was created with one of the most exclusive varieties of iris butter - as is stated on the card.
People- if you love iris, you will adore this. On my skin, this is iris,iris, iris- it's beautiful. Almost a soliflore .Wonderfully iris and slightly carroty opening - I mean I swooned. The carrot aspect goes quickly and it becomes powdery ,then buttery ,deeper and deeper. it's magic. I love this one very much.

Up to the time I tried Irisss, I was 100% sure, there is no possibility for another scent, aside the wonderful Iris Silver Mist, to come closer to the original Iris note. Once again I was wrong. In this business you can never be 100% sure. Having smelled the original raw pure Iris extract, I can now tell that at last Iris SM found an equal rival. Irisss is almost a soliflore. Just add the purest, most rooty and earthy iris smell you can imagine to a perfectly balanced floral, woody and powdery background and you have, along with ISM probably the best Iris scents in the world. Extra bonus comes from the unbelievable for an Iris scent, power and longevity (no wonder that the 3 ss at the end of its name represent the purity and the intensity of the key note as I was told from the SA). However, as with everything truly great in this world, this one as well has a flaw. A really incredible price! My advice : Dont miss the opportunity to smell it once you find it, but for your wardrobe go for ISM.