Crystal Moon

Osmanthus absolute, by some of its less celebrated sides.

Everything here turns around osmanthus absolute, a material with many nuances, and some of the less celebrated are brought forward. Its sweet, rich side grows richer still through an oil made from lavender flowers alone, with none of the camphor that comes from the stems.

Jonquil absolute and Peru balsam bring an almost woeful feeling. Against them sits a tincture of locally roasted Yirgacheffe coffee, bright and floral. Combined with raspberry and dried fruit, they add a savory counterpunch. The silken, woody hinoki, a Japanese cypress, and juniper complement the effervescent, tea-like citrus side of the flower, and amber resins smooth everything out and add opulence.

Maher Olfactive is the work of Shawn Maher. The wish to make without restrictions on budget or materials led to this house. Olfactory art for art's sake: classic materials reframed in a way that presents them with a new sense of wonder. Behind the releases: a creek in the woods behind a grandmother's house south of Saint Louis, a sailors' saying about the sky, a line of T.S. Eliot's, the words painted under Magritte's pipe, a song of The Jesus and Mary Chain's.

Among the materials: osmanthus absolute taken by some of its less celebrated sides, its sweet, rich side made richer still through an oil made from lavender flowers alone, so none of the camphor of the stems comes with it; a coffee tincture Maher made from a locally roasted Yirgacheffe; and pipe tobacco and whiskey, not truly the things themselves but reproductions of them, extractions and distillations.