Olfactive Restoration: Mérida, Yucatán, New Year's Eve, 2022.

Fireworks bloom above Mérida’s colonial rooftops, their reflections shimmering across the still surface of a hidden courtyard pool. Behind limestone walls, a lush tropical garden awakens after sunset. Guava hangs heavy on the branches while champaca, plumeria and jasmine release their intoxicating perfume into the humid night. Fresh citrus, warm vanilla and polished mahogany complete the atmosphere as celebration stretches long past midnight.

Developed with Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

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- In 2013, Arquiste was commissioned to create a new scented candle for the prestigious Cire Trudon brand, marking the first time the famous French line had partnered with another perfume brand to create a scented candle. To celebrate the esteemed Franco-Mexican collaboration, Carlos Huber chose to recreate another historical moment of wonder, a balmy night described by Belgian-born Empress Carlota of Mexico on her visit to the city of Mérida, Yucatan in 1865. The newly crowned Empress was the first European woman to ever visit the Yucatan, and the city held multiple celebrations in her honor. She wrote several letters describing the region to Emperor Maximilian, her husband, in awe of the welcoming locals, the festive fireworks, the lush flora, and the decadent heat.  She wrote under a great guava tree, the air around her saturated with their scent: ripening guava, intoxicating blossoms and foliage. The original candle, created with perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux was as unique as the story itself, with a lush, fruity guava note and gunpowder accord.

- Years later, Arquiste founder Carlos Huber visited Mérida and fell in love with a house with surprising contrasts. The original colonial structure, consisting of a singular room facing the street, opened to a lush garden and pool, and in this garden, palm trees, ginger plants, birds of paradise and, once again, a guava tree…a private piece of paradise where the scent of ripe fruit and lush florals anchored the balmy nights. The original owner called it La Tropical, and after several visits, Carlos and his partner made the house their own, inspired by the charm of the historical city, the tropical setting and this modernist oasis. 

- One of the elements that makes the villa so appealing is the fact that it was built around the pool. It's a home in two parts – you enter through the living and dining space, and cross the garden to reach the bedroom, which is housed in a modernist-style bungalow. And though the villa is small the garden’s lushness make it feel delightfully excessive. The scent of La Tropical is centered on the pool and the garden. That tropical lush, palm frond smell. The tangy guava fruit, the heady champaca, the buttery white plumeria and lemony magnolia. With the Caribbean heat of the night, it makes for a truly decadent experience. Another distinctly Mexican olfactory note comes from an unusual source. Normally a quiet part of the historical center, the area brims with life on feast days. On New Year’s Eve, for example, the neighboring Plaza San Sebastian has fireworks all night, so close you can smell the singed paper, and a hint of gunpowder.