Le Labo’s dropping a new Kyoto-inspired city exclusive: Osmanthus 19

Cult fragrance house Le Labo is releasing a new scent for its City Exclusive series, called Osmanthus 19. This one is inspired by the city of Kyoto.

Le Labo’s City Exclusives collection began as a tribute to a range of cities around the world, where the fragrances are exclusively available in the stores of the cities they’re inspired by – London has Poivre 23, Tokyo has Gaiac 10, Paris has Vanille 44, Mexico City has Coriandre 39 – you can’t even buy them online. But, once a year, Le Labo makes an exception and releases the fragrances beyond their hometowns, making them available to the world.

This year, Le Labo welcomes Osmanthus 19 to its City Exclusives gang – an homage to Kyoto, Japan, a city where video game arcades live among traditional machiya houses and old emperors’ quarters. In early winter, when all the leaves have fallen, the Osmanthus flower blooms. It’s got a creamy and sensual scent to it. Le Labo’s Osmanthus 19 opens with notes of incense and lavender, then it hits you with the sweet osmanthus note, followed by resin and woody base notes. The overall vibe is amber-y and woody – bringing a nuanced scent that mirrors Kyoto’s harmonious wabi-sabi energy.

The brand’s City Exclusives will be available in sample sizes and discovery sets globally. And you can cop the full size fragrances from the collection for the whole month of September, before they go back home to their respective cities.

Discover the collection at lelabofragrances.com