How Boss Made an Iconic Fragrance Darker, Richer, and Even Better
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When the original Boss Bottled launched in 1998, it caused a sensation. Before that, men’s fragrances were mostly dark, heavy, and aggressive. Boss Bottled, however, was none of those things. Pairing sweet, crisp apple with a base of smooth woods like sandalwood, cedar, and olive wood (not to mention a dash of spice and florals), Bottled was the diametric opposite of what people had come to think of as a masculine fragrance. But customers couldn’t get enough of the sweet-wood combo, and the fragrance not only went on to become the top-selling men’s cologne in Europe but ushered in a new era of men’s fragrance.
Flash forward almost three decades and Boss Bottled has evolved into an entire fragrance group—or pillar, as they call it in Fragrance Land. The question now, of course, is how to push the iconic scents into a new era. It’s not an easy task, but it’s one that perfumer duo Annick Menardo and Suzy Le Helley are uniquely suited for. Menardo is the brains behind the original Boss Bottled and has created every version since; Le Helley is her protégée. The pair, it seems, have the Boss Bottled DNA infused into their own. Their newest iteration, Boss Bottled Absolu ($140), is the darkest, smokiest, and arguably most sophisticated Boss Bottled creation to date. Where the original was effervescent and approachable, Bottled Absolu is sultry and bold. It could be interpreted as the most traditionally masculine with the addition of strong leather and smoky incense, but true to the Boss Bottled brand, there is still a noticeable sweetness, though this time it comes from a rich vanilla, giving it a smoother, warmer quality than the others in the line. It’s the type of cologne that slides over your skin like silk and hugs your body like a perfectly tailored suit.
This may just be the best BOSS fragrance since the original broke the masculine mold, so we flew to Paris to hear about it from Le Hulley herself. She let us in on exactly what went into creating BOSS Bottled Absolu, what makes it so special, and why this is the perfect new addition to one of the most famous fragrance pillars of all time.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Esquire: What's the process like when you create a fragrance as a pair?
Suzy Le Helley: It's very special with Annick because we have a true connection. We have been working together for five or six years so we trust each other a lot. I like when you can express all the ideas you want to another person and they have the honesty to say if it's a good idea or not. And believe me, she will really tell you. What is cool about creating with this kind of relationship is that there is a kind of trust. You go with an idea that fits both personalities and then you know the direction you want to take.
To construct a beautiful fragrance on the market today, you need to have a conviction and an idea. If you don't know the direction you want to take, you will never reach it. You're lost. You can work forever and you will never know if you are happy or not. I like the parallel with the boat on the sea. If you don't know the direction you want to go toward land, then you will be lost in the middle of the sea.
Do you guys talk about your ideas before you start creating?
Completely, but it's super informal. It could be Aperol time with a drink or we go in a room and we sit and we start brainstorming. In this case, it was quite interesting because it was a building process with the team. After we created the Elixir version, we were also already discussing what could be done next. So it was a group reflection. Then as perfumers, we take the idea, "Okay, now they want us to push the intensity even further. What can we do? What has not been done?" That’s how the idea of this very dark vanilla with this roasted facet arrived. And then, "Let's add the leather accord." It was a kind of ping pong thing.
When you're looking at a fragrance pillar like BOSS Bottled, are you thinking like, "What are the holes? Where does this fit in with the larger group?"
You could think like that, but the idea is also to respect the identity of the brand. It's a kind of challenge. How can you construct something you really believe and you like and you're proud of, but not cannibalize it. You may not need to add a facet that has not been there, you know? And if you do, which facet would fit the best for the fragrance? It’s more of a kind of reflection.
Is it easier to evolve a fragrance this way if you've already worked on the previous one?
Yes. First you master the formula that you have already worked on, so you also know what fits and doesn’t fit. So yes, it's already a time saver in a way that you already know some facets you tried and if it failed. We know what could fit because we also know what doesn't fit.
BOSS Bottled is such an iconic fragrance. In your mind, what is the DNA of the Boss Bottled family?
It was disruptive at that time to do something gourmand. The vanilla for a masculine fragrance was really a wow effect. So it's a fragrance that is daring. And in terms of structure, it has a woody structure in the background as a common link. For me, the cedarwood is the link between all of them. Then you add other woods. You had patchouli, you had vetiver. The vanilla gives a smoothness, so you take these two pillars and you bring it together, so that's really the backbone of BOSS Bottled.
So to be a BOSS Bottled fragrance, it has to have a sweet note and a woody note?
I don't know if sweet is the right term, but a note that is a gourmand touch that is also very welcoming in a way. The BOSS man has to be reliable. I like the fact that a man can be sweet. And even if he has a stronger manly structure, it has something sweet and everybody can count on the guy.
Boss Bottled Absolu Parfum Intense
When you were thinking about this new version, what did you add?
The leathery facet is the most important and distinctive new facet. That was not done so far on the range. We also wanted to reach another level of vanilla, something super dark, very rich. We were looking for a level of premiumness. The vanilla had to smell high quality. So the ingredients we chose were really carefully selected. And the roasted element, the smokiness makes it, for me, super sophisticated. I find it very elegant and very new.
Did you use a specific vanilla to get that dark element?
It's a kind of combination to have this effect. For example, the quality of patchouli we use has a distinctive slightly cocoa effect. But like dark cocoa, it’s not so sweet, but goes super well with the vanilla. It enriched the vanilla to make it darker and then we used some incense-like resin that plays in the background of the fragrance that makes the vanilla even darker. So it's not a specific quality, it's more a combination of ingredients that make the whole impression very, very dark.
When you're thinking about this new fragrance, what are the feelings that you're hoping that it evokes? Do you ever think about that when you are creating?
It’s not the goal at the beginning of the creation process, but I do think about it at the very end. In this case, I think "confidence" is the right term.
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