Bertrand Duchaufour Short Biography

The perfumer’s brief life story One of France’s most celebrated perfumers, Bertrand Duchaufour has been at it for more than 50 years.

In 1985, he began his career as an apprentice at Lautier Florasynth in Grasse, and after a decade at Créations Aromatiques, he became a freelance perfumer in 2008 and was hired as the in-house perfumer for L’Artisan Parfumeur.

Presently, Bertrand is a consultant at TechnicoFlor. Duchaufour’s work, particularly his incense-inspired perfumes, is lauded for its use of contrasting light and dark notes. Duchaufour won the title of best perfumer at the 2017 Russian FiFi Awards.

Bertrand Duchaufour is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest perfumers because: Either you adore Duchaufour and his primarily dark fragrances, or you can’t tolerate him and his work.

I think Bertrand has managed to combine the best of both the lighter and darker compositions into a single work, while constantly giving his creations a unique twist so they never become too predictable.

Some may be surprised at his low ranking, but I just cannot justify having him ahead of the section on celebrity perfumers that is about to be presented. Still, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Timbuktu is undeniably among the best perfumes I’ve ever sniffed, and he’s created a lot of other excellent scents as well.

Deserving of special mention:

Amouage Jubilation XXV
Comme des Garcons Series 3 Incense: Avignon
Penhaligon’s Sartorial