The Vintage Vault - Aromatic Beauties from a Perfumer's Collection - Lautier Neroli - And a Giveaway!

After roses, I'll bet that orange blossoms, when in season, are the next most popular flower in a bridal bouquet.  Sweet yet seductive, the orange blossom has persisted through the centuries as a floral symbol of love.  Neroli, the distilled essence of the flower, if cherished for its ability to raise the spirits by generally providing an uplifting, beautiful aroma.

My vintage neroli treasure comes from Lautier et Fils, a Grasse-based perfumerie and distillery dating back to the 18th Century.  I have found bits and pieces of the history of this well-regarded company on the Internet, most of it in French.  This was the only bottle from them I ever found.  When I took it from the refrigerator to photograph the other day, the glue had dried up, and the majority of the label started to fall to the floor.  As I reached to catch it, due to its age, it broke into pieces.  Using perhaps not the best solution, in a panic, I used tiny bits of double-stick glue to reattach it.  I will be calling the Miami Arts Conservatory next week to see if they can remove the label, perhaps brighten it up a bit, and reattach it.

Click to enlarge

I have photographed the front, back and side views.  The label reads Laurier Fils Grasse France and the angled slim label on the shoulder of the front of the bottle reads Made in France.  The contents are identified as Neroli Pistils pur  and the lot number is No. 1048 N.Y. and the bottle contained 50grs.  The back of the bottle reads Tare 55grs Sans Bouchon (cork) Net 50grs.

The side view shows the bottle nearly half full of a treasure.  Despite the original cork being loose, the contents are still lovely!  Merci beaucoup!

I will decant a one ml sample of this rare, aged and beautiful aromatic to a randomly-picked lucky person!  All I ask is that you subscribe to my newsletter between now and 12:01 a.m. Feb 15th. You can see the link in the right-hand column of this blog.  If you are already subscribed to my newsletter, either subscribe to my personal page on Facebook, and/or share this link. I'll announce the winner on Feb 15th.  Good luck to everyone!  I know how excited I'd be to win a bit of this lovely bit of history ;-)

In the end, I want to excite people about vintage aromatic treasures, and invite them on the journey with me as I post more on this topic.  Welcome aboard this fragrant journey!