I think I’ve found the perfect spring fragrance. Launched in April 2019, Cloon Keen’s Lá Bealtaine eau de parfum (€130) is bright and vivacious, sunny but not frivolous, with joyous notes of bergamot, mandarin and neroli that makes it pure sunshine. Wearing it this week, I’ve been asked about it several times – yesterday, the (brilliant) hygienist at Blackrock Dental, Claire, went into raptures about it and decided to wear it for her upcoming wedding. That’s how good it is.

And that’s the thing about Cloon Keen perfumes – whenever you wear them people notice. They draw closer and ask what you’re wearing, and often write down the name. Lá Bealtaine was created by Irish perfumer Meabh McCurtin, who trained under the legendary Dominique Ropion and is currently working for IFF in New York; her previous work for CK, Róisín Dubh (perhaps my favourite perfume ever), is an exquisite dark rose earthed in patchouli and won Best Independent Fragrance in the 2019 Fragrance Foundation Awards; for me, it’s quite simply the Irish Portrait of a Lady.

The scent investment

It’s hard to chat at the hygienists, but as well as discussing Oral-B round-headed toothbrushes, and the perils of teeth-whitening strips, Claire and I talked about perfume. The price of high-street scents has risen and risen: compare it to €122 for 100ml of Jo Malone London Cologne and €113 for Maison Margiela’s eaux de toilettes (both lower concentrations than an edp). For a luxury edp, you’re looking at way more – from €125 for YSL Black Opium and €130 for Prada Infusion d’Iris up to €237 for Le Labo, and a mighty €394 for Tom Ford’s Bitter Peach edp. (Incidentally, Estee Lauder’s classic Youth Dew eau de parfum is remarkably good value at €53 for 67ml, worth knowing if you like to wear something striking). So I firmly believe that at €130, Cloon Keen’s high-quality eaux de parfums – handmade in Galway by a small independent Irish business, and not worn by everyone you know – are worthy investments.

Co-founder of Cloon Keen Margaret Mangan has an unerring eye for style along with, naturally, an unerring nose. She always chooses the most interesting and dynamic perfumers to work with, with striking results. Before the success of Róisín Dubh, Castaña, a collaboration with Delphine Thierry, bagged a rare five-star masterpiece rating in Luca Turin’s Perfumes The Guide 2018. Cloon Keen’s scents are both timeless and modern, taking inspiration from Irish legends, names and places, from the Long Room library at Trinity College to the gooseberry leaves of an Irish summer. Everything they do is a masterclass in finesse and attention to detail, from the golden seal on the tissue paper to the concertina-ed cream bag; the bottles themselves are uniquely beautiful too, in silvered glass with weighty Bakelite lids. As well as the original Galway store, the newer boutique in Powerscourt Townhouse Dublin holds the full collection of scents, candles and more.

The new oud

So let’s talk about the newest addition to the collction: Énbarr is an eau de parfum composed by Céline Guivarc’h, another exciting perfumer, who grew up on the uniquely fragrant island of Corsica and is currently based in Catalonia, Spain. “We worked together when she was a perfumer in Robertet, but this is her first perfume as an independent perfumer,” explains Mangan.

It’s also Cloon Keen’s first oud fragrance. Oud is a resin extracted from the wood of trees that grow predominantly in southern Asia, and it’s a precious and expensive ingredient that’s revered in the Middle East. Most used today are synthetic versions, as the real thing is so pricey, or else a blend of natural and synthetic ingredients. Increasingly, oud is featuring in mainstream scents: popular ones include Tom Ford’s Oud Wood and Byredo Oud Immortel. It’s definitely a note to explore if you are generally drawn to resonant, atmospheric scents.

Cue Énbarr, which takes its name from the mystical horse of Irish mythology. The scent aims to express Ireland’s enduring passion for horses (this is surely what Rachael Blackmore must wear), to capture that mood of freedom and open fields. How can a perfume do that? Well, first it has a wild green-ness, with intriguing herbaceous hits of wild thyme, fennel and geranium. A rich and smooth leather accord, buoyed by saffron, Indonesian patchouli and oud (Agarwood oil sourced in Vietnam), suggest the texture of a saddle and bridle, while layers of incense, resins and oakmoss create a lasting, atmospheric smokiness that you can’t stop smelling.

In other hands, this might have been too dark or heavy for spring, but those bright notes, such as the almost-licorice fennel oil, help to give the whole thing a rush of chilly, cool-lit spring morning air here too. The whole thing is richly exhilarating yet earthy; it has a recklessness and boldness, but feels grounded. Absolutely gender-free – it smells extraordinary on everyone, really – it lasts for hours on your skin (or clothes) without ever being intrusive, making a statement but in a subtle way – no mean feat for any fragrance. I strongly advise you gallop directly to Cloon Keen to smell it (and try Lá Bealtaine, too, for those summer weddings).

Énbarr eau de parfum, €170, at Cloon Keen Dublin and Galway, and online at www.cloonkeen.com.