The history of this rare essence begins where it was first harvested: the Italian countryside. Just beyond the tiny village of San Polo (about a 30-minute drive from Florence) sits the Pruneti Farm. Surrounded by steep hillsides purpled by blossoms, the mill has been operational for nearly two centuries. Today, brothers Paolo and Gionni Pruneti are dedicated to preserving the traditional methods of orris extraction, a costly, labour-intensive process passed down from generation to generation.

— Read more in Orris: The world’s rarest perfume ingredient at BBC.

Maybe this explains why iris suddenly smells so right, so modern. It is totally gender­less, totally timeless. And don’t we all feel as if we’ve been underground for a while? We want to dazzle every mask-free nose we encounter, and for those eager to experience enticing post-pandemic sniffs, there is something particularly wonderful about orris’s strangeness.

— Read more in How the Humble Iris Root Became One of the Most Prized—and Pricey—Fragrance Ingredients on the Planet at Town & Country.