interview with Geza Schöen on Escentric Molecules Cologne One

Escentric Molecules Cologne One Behind The Bottle image by J Wearescentient

In 2006, perfumer Geza Schöen changed the olfactory landscape with his introduction of Escentric 01 and Molecule01 ÇaFleureBon modern Masterpiece, (read former Managing Editor Mark Behnke’s piece). I have interviewed numerous times over the years for ÇaFleureBon and other publications (read the interview from 2010, it’s my favorite) and most recently on the 20^th anniversary of Escentric Molecules. Geza doesn’t hold back, candid and non-scripted and he still manages to surprise me in every interview.- Michelyn Camen, Editor-in Chief (with contributions from Hernando Courtright, Brand Ambassador)

Geza Schöen courtesy of the brand

Michelyn Camen: What was the genesis for Escentric Molecules Cologne One, from a creative standpoint? How long was this in the making?

Geza Schöen: This particular freshness has been with me for years, longer than the bottle suggests. i kept circling back to one sensation: that first cold sip of a gin and tonic. the crackle of it. the bitterness that instantly refreshes you, i wanted something with teeth.  A cologne is the right home for that. it is the oldest idea in perfumery, the classic eau de cologne, and i wanted to strip it back to what makes it sing. with a scent like this it is more about what you leave out than what you put in. so it is lime, lemon, bergamot, mandarin, juniper, a cool cucumber edge, and then iso e super holding the center the way it always does for me. no clutter. Juniper is expensive, so it is often rationed in fragrance, here I went for it, which let me use it in the amount the idea actually needs and deserves. you smell the berry, the green crackle, not an impression of it. Cologne is often associated with being weaker but our Cologne One has a 15% concentration. It’s freshness that lasts. 

So how long in the making? in truth, twenty-five years. i created my first gin and tonic fragrance a quarter of a century ago. this is me coming back to that idea and making it better, more valuable in what it offers. the concept is old. the realization, once the freedom was there, was fast.

Escentric Molecules Cologne One bottle via the brand

Michelyn Camen: In the press release, it says “Cologne One captures the freshness of a gin and tonic in a single, sparkling gesture: effervescent, bright, unmistakably clean.” How does this fit with the Escentric brand? Does it share any DNA in common?

Geza Schöen: Well, perhaps the linearity of it reflects one of our strongest features, simplicity, yes. that is the thread through everything we do. with a scent like cologne one it is more about what you leave out than what you put in. nothing pretentious. one idea, stated clearly, and the confidence to leave it alone. It shares the literal DNA too. iso e Super sits in the dry-down, the same molecule at the heart of molecule 01, just enough to carry the freshness through. so it belongs to the family by blood, not only by attitude. what is different is the gesture. instead of something brooding and cocooning, here it is bright and effervescent, the cold snap of a gin and tonic, and the structure stays honest to how we work.

Michelyn Camen: Why a cologne?

Geza Schöen: I thought it just fits the brand’s DNA. An independent fragrance house should have a cologne. it is one of the very few true categories of fragrance there are, one of the foundations, and it had been missing from our shelf. so, yes please.  Cologne is the oldest fresh idea in perfumery. it goes back centuries, long before the industry got complicated. and it is honest. there is nowhere to hide in a cologne, no heavy base to cover your mistakes. that is exactly the kind of discipline this house was built on. less, done properly.

Michelyn Camen: An obvious question: Do you drink Gin & Tonic? And if so, which style or brand of gin influenced you?

Geza Schöen: I have one occasionally, yes, and for me it is tied to summer. but as a drinker, no single brand really moves me. Gins do not vary so much that one suddenly puts you in a different ballpark. it is juniper, mainly, come on. what matters more is the right proportion of everything, and a slice of lime rather than lemon. lime is sharper, greener, colder. people get that wrong.

Michelyn Camen: The Gin & Tonic cocktail has inspired many fragrances; how does Escentric Molecules Cologne One differ?

Geza Schöen: What I have smelled so far is timider. With us you get the full monty, wrapped EM style. that means juniper in the amount the idea deserves, not a polite suggestion, it means pushing the concentration to 15 percent, so the freshness actually lasts instead of evaporating in twenty minutes. and it means our discipline, stripping the thing back to its bones, more about what you leave out than what you put in. the scent lives in its top notes, bright and effervescent, and the dry-down stays linear and calm, just enough musk, ambroxan, and iso e super to carry it through. clean, honest, nowhere to hide. That is the difference. most do a faint impression of a gin and tonic. we made the cold, sparkling thing itself.

Escentric Molecules Cologne One pack shot via the brand

Michelyn Camen: Will there be a Cologne Two?

Geza Schöen: Ah, now you want me to give the game away. that one is a mystery you will have to wait and see for yourself.

Michelyn Camen: It was our 16th anniversary in March. What is your message regarding who we are and what we represent to you as a perfumer?

 Geza Schöen: Congratulations on sixteen years, that is no small thing. as always, you are a fabulous resource when it comes to news in perfumery, but it is more than that. you actually care about scent. you take it seriously, as a craft and an art, not just as a product to push out the door. In an industry that drowns in noise and launches without any soul, it matters to have people who pay attention, who give the independents and the stranger ideas a place to be seen and understood. that is rare, and it is exactly what perfumery needs. so thank you for sixteen years of it, and here is to many more. keep being curious, keep being honest. as always.

Disclosure: Hernando attended the launch party in NYC and received a bottle. Michelyn was sent a bottle of Escentric Molecules Cologne One

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