Journal · The bench · 3 min
The orris is late, and we are not substituting
Iris root spends six years drying before it is worth anything. The 2020 harvest was short, so Orris & Ash will be made in smaller batches instead of with a stand-in.
Orris is the reason this house has the name it has, and the reason we spend more time worrying about a store cupboard than about a formula.
What you are actually buying
Iris root, lifted, cleaned and then left. The compound that makes it worth anything develops over years of slow drying in a loft. Three years is the minimum anybody sells at; six is what we buy. The material we are opening this spring was lifted in 2020.
So a shortage of orris today is really a decision someone made about planting six years ago. The 2020 lift was short, prices are up about forty percent on our last purchase, and the quality between lots varies more than we have seen before.
What we are not going to do
There are perfectly good synthetic versions of orris. Half the industry uses them, for good reasons. We are not going to use one in Orris & Ash and keep the name and the price the same. It would be a different fragrance sold as the same one, and you would have no way of knowing.
What we are doing instead
Smaller batches, four times a year instead of twice, so the material goes further. The price of a 50 ml bottle stays at £145 through this year, and we will say so plainly if that changes.
If a batch sells out, it sells out. There is a waiting list on the contact page, and refill orders are always served first.
