Imogen Russon-Taylor – Perfumier

Inspired by the story of Scotland, Imogen Russon-Taylor has created Scotland’s first fragrance house. ‘Making perfume is like creating art, and I sometimes struggle to put down the brush,’ she laughs. But her range of three perfectly curated unisex fragrances are all tied to their Scottish heritage.

‘Metamorphic’ channels the complex geology of the country with a smokiness that also gives a nod to a peated whisky. ‘Portal’ is a gateway to our ancient pineforests, a herbaceous and woody scent with bergamot, vetiver and pine. While ‘Albaura’ invokes the freshness of ice with floral poppy at its heart.

Imogen developed her nose for business in the whisky industry, which no doubt also helped to fine tune her sense of smell.

Kingdom make, mature and bottle all of their perfumes in Edinburgh and even the packaging and logo design pay homage to the capital, using a typeface that was designed by Miller & Richard, a type foundry that closed its doors in the city in 1952.

‘Scotland deserves a fragrance house of quality and creative expression,’ says Imogen. ‘Scent has that unique ability to transport you to a memory, a place, a moment in time. I want to create that sense of place in my fragrances. There is so much pleasure to be had through our sense of smell.’

The Kingdom collection is available online and in Harvey Nichols’ Edinburgh store. Smell of success: Imogen Russon-Taylor takes an olfactory tour of Scotland.

‘Scent has a unique ability to transport you to a memory’