The Rarified Perfumes of San Miguel de Allende: Part One of Four

By Aaron S. Reisfield

I distill plants in San Miguel de Allende for their aromatic oils and waters. I’ve distilled plants such as roses, pirul, cedron, jara, estafiate, cannabis, citrus blends, and a number of rosemary, lavender and lavandin blends, among others. But we’ll get to that in an upcoming edition of Atención News.

And we’ll consider the subject of how we perceive plant perfumes at altitude. I’m writing this from my home in San Miguel, where fragrant vapors are said to cut loose more readily from their sources, owing to our elevation of 2000 meters above sea level. Okay, but do we really understand how this bears on our experience of perfume?

To begin, I should clarify the following: by perfume, I mean perfume sensu lato—that’s perfume considered broadly—molecular transmissions of living things, particularly  plants—communication by means of emissive chemical principles. So I’ll be taking up the matter of perfume from the altitudinal standpoint here in San Miguel de Allende. But before anything else, I’d like to provide an abbreviated exposition on perfume per se.

Most of us concede, the essence of life on Earth endures as an opaque marvel, difficult to grasp. Yet few are aware that this improbable phenomenon comes with a key to its interpretation. That key is perfume. Perfume tells us where we come from and where we are going. Perfume tells us what we risk losing and how to hold on to it.

Okay, listen, my intention here is not to be cryptic. In my book series, The Perfume of Life trilogy, I devote several hundred pages to making the case that perfume is the fundamental currency of information among living beings.

I understand that you, reading these words, are not likely to have had the opportunity or the resolve or even a reason to work through my manifesto. But believe me, it’s a solid case. Perfume, in its primeval origins and heritage throughout the phyla of Life, in its ubiquity throughout environments on Earth, is unrivaled as the elemental messaging medium of Life.

Perfumes are drawn to life, with affinity to living tissue. Perfumes convey information that relates to life as no other medium of communication does. Perfumes are high-fidelity expressions of life. 

How are these storytelling molecules affected by the elevational conditions around here? To start, let’s consider our flora: San Miguel is not so strong when it comes to aromatic plants, albeit vegetation here is enchanting in its own right. Winter mornings can be a bit chilly for local bees, who, in December, are most likely to be observed doing their work during a window of time in the afternoon. On the other hand, hummingbirds are in their element here, and a number of species are known to flourish in this area. Thus the chromatic spectrum of floral tones coloring our landscapes tends to skew towards the reds (of flowers that are primarily bird-pollinated) rather than the blues (of flowers that are primarily bee-pollinated). Let’s keep in mind that hummingbirds don’t much perceive odors, so blossoms designed to lure their visitation are rarely scentful, which is in contrast with the redolent flowers inviting to bees. The upshot is that the olfactive character of our local flowering vegetation is attenuated.

Yet there are a number of countervailing influences, so check back here, as our series relating to perfume will continue with the next edition of Atención News.

Also, we call your attention to the approaching festivity of Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead, when I plan to distill, for essential oil, the brilliant blossoms of cempasuchitl, and discuss, here, how this flowering marigold bears on my inquiry into the nature of life, particularly as it is related by perfume.

Aaron S. Reisfield resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where his endeavors involve the creative arts and perfume. He has collected plants throughout montane Mexico and has served as a Visiting Scholar in Botany at The University of Texas in Austin. He has published a book series, The Perfume of Life trilogy, premised on the idea that the story of life on earth is best related in the language of molecules—the language of perfume.

He founded Avant Garde Aromatica, a program of workshops, salons, and guided studies in the poetry and science of plant perfumes.

He distills plants for their fragrant oils and waters, and is producing a line of artisanal extracts called Impossible Oils and Waters. info@edicionesvanguardistas.com