Orris, sweet and dusty orris

I went to Lise Manniche for an entry on iris this morning, because I felt like I was missing something in my appreciation.

“Varieties of iris grow wild in Egypt today; Dioscorides gave nar as its Egyptian name. Petals of Iris albicans Lange or I. florentina have been identified in an Egyptian burial of Graeco-Roman date, and the dried root could well have reached the country, this being the part of the plant that is used in perfumery (’orris root’). It was on Theophrastus’s list of aromatic plants.” (p.19, Sacred Luxuries [if you don't have this book, and you're a student of perfumery, find yourself a used copy...])

I’m riffing on violets currently. Orris is sort of a ’standard’ for producing a violet accord, in conjunction with essences that tease out its purple fruity petaled potential, like boronia. When I go to my orris absolute, it doesn’t quite spell ‘violet’ to me. The whole roots do, however. Either some judicious tincturing in grape alcohol is in order, or I need to work further on channeling Viola odorata, eh. Or, yes.