The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Twist collection takes Clive Christian's core composition and bends it somewhere unexpected. That's the premise: same house foundation, entirely new direction. X Twist Liquorice belongs to the black line, the side of the house that trades sophistication for something with more edge. Black liquorice isn't a typical luxury fragrance note. Anise, yes. Fennel, occasionally. But the real thing, black, tarry, slightly camphorated, that's rare ground. The perfumer found a way to thread it through the house's established warmth without turning it into a confection. Maple keeps it soft. Myrrh keeps it honest. The result feels like a late-night decision: the kind of person who orders digestif after everyone else has gone home.
The real trick here is myrrh. Usually, it brings incense and dryness. Here, paired with maple and black liquorice, it becomes something richer, almost medicinal in the best way. The cardamom and pimento in the heart aren't the cold spice of the opening. They've warmed. Softened. The jasmine doesn't arrive immediately; it creeps in as the spices fade, waxy and slightly indolic, which grounds the whole thing back to earth. What could have been a sugar rush becomes something with real structure. The orris root in the base isn't listed in every source, but it explains the powder that arrives late, that iris butter quality that lingers on skin long after everything else has settled.
The evolution
The opening announces itself within minutes. Black liquorice and anise arrive together, sweet and slightly sharp, with maple softening the edges. For the first hour, it's warm and almost edible. Then myrrh takes over. Not gently, there's a bitter, balsamic edge to it that cuts through the sweetness like black coffee. The cardamom and pimento seeds shift from cool spice to warm dust. Jasmine appears around the second hour, waxy and restrained. By hour three or four, the iris and orris root arrive, powdery, slightly violet, blending with what remains of the myrrh. The drydown is clean skin and soft powder. Not laundry clean. Orris butter clean. On fabric, the myrrh and maple leave a faint trace, like syrup that dried on the rim of a glass. Worn to bed, it lingers until morning, a quiet warmth against warm skin.
Cultural impact
Clive Christian revived the historic British fragrance house in 1999, and by 2017 had created the world's most expensive perfume at $1.3 million. The Twist collection, launched around 2021, represents the house's ongoing commitment to pushing boundaries. Unlike the floral-heavy core line, Twist fragrances explore darker, more complex territory. X Twist Liquorice specifically challenges perfumery conventions by centering on black licorice and maple rather than traditional florals, reflecting a broader cultural shift toward niche, ingredient-driven compositions that reward attentive wearers.
