Nissaba Andevalo

Sebastien Tissot of Nissaba and Nissaba Andevalo

The Swiss perfume house Nissaba has done all the right things since launching in 2023. With each new fragrance – from Berbera to Les Alpes and now Andevalo – they’ve expanded on their ethos, introduced new hero ingredients and shine high-quality olfactive lights on new destinations. If you’re new to the brand, this is their modus operandi; and it makes Nissaba truly unique. To understate their process, they use ingredients harvested in a particular location (say lavender, hyssop, clary sage from Provence in France) to create a considered, perfumed portrait of that geographical area. They give their perfumers carte blanche to create once the requisite research to define the material palette has been carried out and once again, perfumers Fabrice Pellegrin and Coralie Spicher return, working in tandem on Andevalo: a tribute to both the Spanish region of Andalusia and the delightfully sticky-smelling, balsamic gum produced by the rock rose: labdanum.

“While labdanum grows all across the Mediterranean basin from Lebanon to Morocco, the Andévalo region of Spain accounts for more than 70% of the labdanum extracts used in perfumery,” Nissaba’s founder and Creative Director Sebastien Tissot tells me.  And I’m inclined to trust his statistics considering that he previously worked for Swiss giant Firmenich, heading up their sustainable sourcing program. It’s what has always attracted me to his way of thinking; the fact that he’s so close to the raw materials that he can probably tell you the names of the people who harvested them and the Firmenich batch codes associated with the extracts.

“Labdanum is one of perfumery’s oldest and most essential materials,” he continues, acknowledging a part of an earlier exchange about labdanum’s prominence in the amber accords it’s traditionally associated with. “It’s a cornerstone of many important accords, yes, but it is rarely celebrated on its own. It’s often relegated to supporting roles… “With this creation, we’re honoring labdanum as a solo protagonist while highlighting a distinctive European terroir in Andalusia: an origin of remarkable character that remains surprisingly underrecognized by the public.”

As the southernmost part of Spain, Andalusia has a hot, dry climate, and its terroir is typically covered in Mediterranean woodland whose forest floor is predominantly made up of thorny, aromatic, woody plants like thyme, rosemary and – most importantly – cistus (the rock rose that produces labdanum gum). If only to quell the remorseless spewing of Andalusian facts freshly lifted from Wikipedia, I asked Tissot what other materials he looked to help define the perfume’s sense of place?

“When we looked for other iconic, locally produced naturals to pair the labdanum with, none stood out. So we built the rest of the composition with more figurative elements. In Puebla de Guzmán, where cistus is extracted, there are roughly 1000 horses for the 3000 inhabitants and the most emblematic celebration is the Romería de la Virgen de la Peña, (a festive, religious procession) which is led on horseback. So we chose leather as the labdanum’s counterpart, inspired by the region’s deep equestrian tradition.”

Andevalo Ingredients

This leather accord is definitely a titan note within the composition of the perfume. It’s coarse and dry (with a hint of saffron’s mineral qualities) and seemingly pitched as dark and blackened as Andevalo’s smoked glass bottle. But there’s definitely a moreish heat to the heart of the composition that is undoubtedly the influence of the labdanum: so resinous and dense, yet so ambery and inviting.

“A playful red-fruit facet became our third pillar,” Tissot continues, relaying a further slice of his creative thinking. “Andalusia produces approximately 25–30% of all strawberries in the European Union, so we introduced a strawberry CO2 extract and layered it with black cherry and raspberry nuances to create a vivid red-fruit twist in the top note.”

It’s this latter ‘twist’ that really comes to define the timbre of the perfume for it’s impossible for one’s nose to read the stacked, parched core combination of labdanum and leather without breathing through the vibrant cloud of red fruits. The richness of these fruits pervades all, softening some of the more arid extremities of the leather whilst engorging and lifting the ambery facets of the labdanum. They give Nissaba Andevalo a proper pivot point, elevating it from brooding and dry, dark brown to something more ruby in hue. Thankfully there’s nothing too artificial or overtly child-like about the cherries and berries, it’s grown up, serious stuff that’s handled very deftly creating a tenacious fruity leather extrait that manages to slot itself perfectly into the brand’s conceptual arc.

Notes: Black cherry, strawberry c02, pink pepper, leather, rose, raspberry, saffron, cistus labdanum absolute, patchouli

Disclaimer: A sample of Nissaba Andevalo was provided by Jovoy Mayfair.

 – Oli Marlow, Senior Editor

All photos courtesy of Nissaba unless otherwise stated.

Note: Total natural origin content: 90%

Thanks to the generosity of Sebastien and Nissaba we have a 100ml bottle of Andevalo extrait available for USA/EU giveaway. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a meaningful comment saying what sparks your interest based on Oli’s interview with Sebastien Tissot of Nissaba, you can take a quote as well as  his mini review and where you live. Draw closes  9/20/2026

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