THE ORIGIN
Carthusia is located on the island of Capri. Originally, it was a monastery. According to legend the friars created the first perfume in 1380. Since it was made of the oil of local flowers they called the scent «Fiori di Capri» and soon started creating more perfumes.
Eventually the book with the formulas got lost since the monastery itself was destroyed and rebuilt more than once. During a restauration in 1681 the book reappeared and the friars resumed the production of perfumes for a certain period of time.
Than a break of almost 300 years followed.
1948
In 1948 Carthusia restarted with a modern perfume production. According to Carthusia’s website the Prior found the old formula book and received the Pope’s permission to share its content with an Italian chemist. Dr Iovine was so in love with the beautiful island that he decided to live there and to create a modern laboratory.
«1681»
The scent was named after the year when the book was re-found for the first time. It came to the market in 2010.
It is fresh and woody. It is sold as a men’s scent but in the author’s opinion it can easily be worn by woman too. In fact, more and more perfumers consider and create many scents as unisex and in our opinion 1681 is just one of them.
It starts with a fresh note of tangerine, rosemary, bergamot and coriander. Followed by a flowery heart comprising Iris, Neroli, Lavender and black pepper. The base note is woody and warm created by sandal, amber, vanilla and incense.
By the way: It is said that black pepper boosts one’s self-confidence. Go for it!
Stilettissimo
