Quick answers
History
Un Crime Exotique is, in 2017, the gourmand variation of Pierre Guillaume’s theme 12, opened twelve years earlier by Hyperessence Matalé. Where the founding opus textured the chypre tea with citrus and leather accents, Un Crime Exotique adorns its structure with spicy and gourmand notes, as a “Rework” of the same theme.
The perfumer’s choice is to unite the unusual. At the heart of a boisterous farandole of flavors, elemi resin meets gingerbread, mixed with steamers of tea, Ceylon cinnamon and star anise. The chypre is no longer leathery but gourmand, a festive tea rather than a tea of character.
The opening of elemi, black tea and gingerbread sets the double register at once, resinous and gourmand; the heart spices the tea with Ceylon cinnamon and star anise; the base blends mate absolute, cocoa powder and benzoin, tinting Oceanian sandalwood with an old-fashioned exoticism. The composition owes as much to a childhood teatime transposed to the tropics.
The name states the indulgence: a sin of gluttony in the land of the rising sun. Un Crime Exotique thus extends Pierre Guillaume’s chypre tea by displacement, offering the spicy, sweet face of the theme founded with Hyperessence Matalé.
Olfactory pyramid
Pierre Guillaume does not publish a formal pyramid: the layout below follows the progression described in the catalogue, from resinous tea to gourmand base.
The thread is black tea, spiced and gourmandized by gingerbread, cinnamon and cocoa.
Olfactory profile
Un Crime Exotique is a gourmand tea rather than a dry one. The perfumer spices and sweetens the chypre structure, so that black tea reads like a spiced teatime blended with resins. It is a festive tea, warm and boisterous, the opposite of Hyperessence Matalé’s leathery tea.
Its signature lies in the unusual union of elemi and gingerbread, lifted by Ceylon cinnamon and star anise. Cocoa, benzoin and amber lay down a soft, enveloping base, never cloying thanks to the bitterness of the tea. The trail is warm and gourmand, which makes it a unisex tea, cut for autumn and winter.
A sin of gluttony in the land of the rising sun.Pierre Guillaume Paris, catalogue 2025–26
Key characteristics
When and where to wear
Un Crime Exotique is a gourmand cold-season tea, at its best in autumn and winter, when gingerbread, cinnamon and cocoa unfold their warmth. The bitterness of tea and anise nonetheless keeps it from turning heavily sweet.
Usage guidance
Seasonal fit
| Season | Fit | Critical notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | ★★★☆ | The spices awaken. |
| Summer | ★★☆☆ | The gourmand can weigh in the heat. |
| Autumn | ★★★★ | Ideal season for its spiced tea. |
| Winter | ★★★★ | Gingerbread and cocoa warm it. |
Setting fit
| Setting | Fit | Recommended use |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday | ★★★★ | Reference use. |
| Cocooning | ★★★★ | Its gourmand ground. |
| Office | ★★★☆ | If the trail stays measured. |
| Evening | ★★★★ | Warm and boisterous. |
| Sport | ★★☆☆ | Too gourmand for exertion. |
Similar perfumes
Pierre Guillaume’s gourmand tea speaks first to its own theme, then to the great spiced teas of niche perfumery.
| Perfume | House · year | Why it is close |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperessence Matalé 12 | Pierre Guillaume Paris · 2005 | The founding opus of theme 12: a leathery, smoky Matale black tea, raised to extrait concentration. Where Hyperessence Matalé leathers the tea, Un Crime Exotique spices and gourmandizes it. |
| Chai | Mona di Orio · 2015 | A spiced, milky niche tea, cardamom and cinnamon, the same taste for a tea of warm flavors, in a milkier than resinous reading. |
Common questions
See also
Sources
- Pierre Guillaume Paris catalogue 2025–26 (English edition)
- Pierre Guillaume Paris, official Un Crime Exotique page
- Fragrantica, Un Crime Exotique 12.1 entry