The Different Company GIN-SENG Review

The Different Company GIN-SENG  by Oli

There’s always been a clue in their brand name; and for someone like me – a millennial who’s obsessed with the process and construction of perfume – The Different Company has always been… just fascinating. Early releases allowed perfumers like Jean-Claude Ellena, his daughter Celine and Emilie Copperman to create perfume without boundaries, overload ingredients and work in pursuit of olfactory perfection – as a result Jean-Claude Ellena’s 2003 Bergamote for The Different Company is unrivalled in my eyes, with its huge overdose of the Calabrian fruit, its support structure of orange blossom and accent of woody rhubarb.

There are multiple high points dotted throughout their collection. Alexandra Monnet’s 2013 released Santo Incienso Sillage Sacre made me fall deeply in love with incense and is a rare instance of a perfumer mastering the use of palo santo in fine fragrance. Celine Ellena’s Pure eVe (2011) is a tour de force in almond focused musk, Christine Nagel’s Une Nuit Magnetique (2014) is permanently on the tip of my tongue when someone mentions blueberry as a fragrance note and last year’s Emilie Copperman signed Azhi Ardara is a zenith for that style of thick, raspberry, wood and vanilla that is everywhere, all of the time.

The Different Company Extraits Extreme range, as presented by the brand

At this year’s Paris Perfume Week the brand was showcasing a new concept, Extraits Extremes, a collection of five new extraits that are all served up at least 50% in concentration. And whilst I’ve never been that much of a willing or vocal participant in the perfume loudness wars (I’ve forsaken so many stunning fragrances because they simply lasted too long or hit too hard) this kind of concept coming from The Different Company and the quality of perfumers they work with certainly intrigued me.

Within the offering are two gourmands, Maddy (reviewed by Nicoleta here) and the toffee tones of Salty Kiss, the moreish leathery, floral of Crazy Tubereuse and the quite wonderfully bizarre steel, pepper and liquorice combination of Serge de Oliviera’s candy toned Gothic Incense. But it was Robertet perfumer Meng Gu’s Gin-Seng that really grabbed me  by the nose fusing a foreign, bitter greenness with a strong base of Haitian vetiver.

Robertet perfumer Meng Gu via the brand

And whilst my initial thought upon smelling it was definitely that’s strong… it’s worth noting that The Different Company GIN-SENG is most definitely not a ball of loud, caustic woody amber molecules. If you’ve ever smelled those types of materials neat (not recommended) you’ll soon recognise the way a slight heavy handedness of them will make your eyelids tighten around your eyeballs as a reflex. There is none of that here and Gu isn’t taking these kinds of established or easy shortcuts for tenacity at all. The composition is thick, balanced and very present and whilst, sure, I have to wonder what this would be like at an EDP concentration, one has to trust that the perfumer has a reason for delivering it at 50%.

Perhaps it represents the intensity of a scent memory? Or at least the vividness or importance of it? Regardless, even at this huge concentration there is still an ample sense of nuance to it. The first few seconds are a bit difficult, bitter as every material rushes out at once, but shortly after that the impression dissipates and the characteristic smell of ginger and basil introduces the titular accord which feels uniquely earthen, green and piquant. Somehow the perfume retains this green hued, fresh kind of levity throughout the wear with the vetiver incorporating itself perfectly, extending the earthen facets and turning them woody.

Photo by Oli

It smells foreign and new, as one would expect a root so heavily used in Chinese medicine might do to a Western nose, but Gu works well to present it in ‘perfume terms’, using weightless materials referred to simply as ‘grassy musks’ and ‘watery fruits’ that help smooth, soften the edges and soothe the overall shape of the smell. And whilst there are certainly aspects of the perfume that  some may find  challenging, the real reward is in the wear of it  and as an execution of an idea it should be celebrated for being accomplished as much as it should for being different.

 Notes: goji berries, ginger, basil, blue chamomile, red ginseng, watery fruits, grassy musk, Haitian vetiver, hyper concentrated cedarwood

Disclaimer: a bottle of Gin-Seng and samples of the Extraits Extremes collection were provided by the brand for review, opinions my own.

–Oli Marlow, Senior Editor

Thanks to the generosity of The Different Company we have a 50 mL bottle for one registered reader from EU and USA You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Oli’s review and where you live. Draw closes 8/15/2026

Maddy (reviewed by Nicoleta here. You can read other The Different Company reviews Dance of Dawn, Majaïna Sin, I Miss Violette, The 3 You should be Wearing and Pure eVe.  Please read Luc Gabriel’s Creative Directors in Perfumery here. The Different Company Red Burning Night was one of Michelyn’s favorite perfumes at Esxence 2024 and a top ten best perfume of 2024. The Different Company Rose Poivrée is in our Modern Masterpieces

Available on the brand’s website, and at fine stockists including Jovoy Paris and Luckyscent.com

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