Guerlain Iris Ganache

Notes: bergamot, cinnamon, white chocolate, iris butter, patchouli, cedar, amber, vanilla, musks

An iris-flavored ganache doesn't seem like something that would taste very good at all.  Ganache, in cooking terms, is a rich and fatty concoction made from a blend of melted butter and chocolate that is allowed to thicken and cool.  It is the primary ingredient of chocolate truffles.  I've had some rhizome-flavored truffles in my day (hello, ginger!), but I'm pretty sure an iris wouldn't be as yummy. As far as smell, however, Iris Ganache is a good thing.  The iris note has the usual dry and rooty vegetal tone...but wait, there's more!  There's a sweet, almost candied violet-y quality to Iris Ganache, and a warm creaminess that must be the white chocolate.  Like white chocolate, it's not actually chocolatey, and, disappointingly, it doesn't smell of cocoa butter (the primary ingredient of high quality white chocolate) either.  But it gives the iris note an uncharacteristic unctuous quality that is quite pleasant for a iris non-fan like myself.

The drydown has a pinch of patchouli to keep it grounded and earthy, so the amber and vanilla don't take the scent completely into gourmand territory (although they veer dangerously close), and the musks are light and sweet.  To my nose, there's an overall Guerlain-ness to the scent, and something that reminds me a little (very little, but still) of Insolence (but nicer, since I'm not a fan of that one).  Not sure if this one is full bottle-worthy for me, but I do like it quite a bit.

(Image: Iris Garden at Korikiri by Ando Hiroshige)