The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Babylon joins the Cities collection at Contes de Parfums in 2026, part of the Timeless Cities Collection, an ongoing line of place-rooted compositions. This one belongs to Alberto Morillas, the nose behind some of the most recognizable modern perfumery, given the brief of evoking the ancient Mesopotamian capital. The assignment places a city that no longer exists on the skin, asking the perfumer to capture not a ruin but a living place, with all its weight and color still intact.
Rather than literal incense and temple smoke, Morillas reached for contrast: green mate and bergamot stacked against dark berries, then a base of leather, cedarwood, guaiac wood, and patchouli. The tension between the bright fruit top and the dense wood-leather bottom is where Babylon lives. It's not a literal translation of place. It's the emotional afterimage, a place where sweetness meets consequence, where ripe fruit ripens into smoke. The opening lifts and cools, then the woods take over, warm and heavy, pulling the composition downward into something darker and more permanent.
The evolution
The first few minutes are almost playful. Maté and bergamot do their lifting work, but the berries arrive fast, blueberry and strawberry tumbling in with a ripeness that reads more jammy than fresh. Fig threads through the middle, giving it a leafy, almost boozy undertone that softens the sharper citrus and pushes the fruit toward something denser. By the 30-minute mark, the fruit has stopped sparkling and started staining, leaving a wine-dark tint on everything that follows. Leather enters with guaiac wood and cedar, and patchouli grounds everything from below, anchoring the sweetness in something earthy and mineral. The transformation isn't subtle. It feels like two different compositions if you smell your wrist at minute 10 versus hour 4, the brightness giving way entirely to depth.
Cultural impact
Within the Cities collection, Babylon stakes its character on contrast, the kind of fruit-leather friction that gives the composition its particular gravity. Where other entries in the line might lean toward warmth or spice, this one builds its architecture from dark berries and dense woods, with leather and patchouli doing the heavy lifting in the base. The opening is bright and almost playful, but the structure underneath is serious, pulling the fragrance toward something opulent and grounded.
