The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
No. 101 is Jónsi's letter to Reykjavik summers, those strange, luminous months when the city stays up because the light won't let anyone sleep. It takes the herbaceous backyards of the city, the ones where chervil and sorrel push through uprooted pavement, where rain pools in flower pots next to cigarette butts, and turns them into something you can carry. The short Icelandic summer is made longer here by black currant and sage, those bright, sharp top notes that burst green and alive in the opening, but the fragrance doesn't chase warmth. It holds the contradiction: green life pushing through urban grit, sweetness tart on the tongue, snow on a forgotten trampoline waiting somewhere in the distance.
The note structure is unusual for a summer fragrance. Instead of the expected citrus brightness, blackcurrant and sage open the composition, a fruity-herbal pairing that reads more like an overgrown garden than a sun-drenched beach. Caraway and cypriol add aromatic depth in the heart, while the base leans into vanilla and musk softened by Norlimbanol, an aromatic molecule known for its warm, skin-like quality. The result is a fragrance that smells like a specific place and time: the hour after midnight when the temperature drops and the herbs smell strongest.
The evolution
The opening hits bright and tart, blackcurrant that tastes like the actual fruit, not a candy version, backed by sage that cuts clean through. Thirty minutes in, the caraway arrives. It shifts the green from fresh-cut to something more medicinal, more alive. The lily sits quiet underneath, a whisper of sweetness in the chaos. By hour three, the vanilla and musk have taken over. This is where it gets personal, the drydown smells different on everyone, the Norlimbanol reacting with skin in ways the perfumer designed but can't fully predict. Some wearers get warmth. Some get something almost animalic, close and persistent. It lingers on fabric for a full day.
Cultural impact
No. 101 has become one of Fischersund's most discussed releases, particularly among collectors drawn to its unusual green-fruity structure. The fragrance occupies a specific niche: too herbal for those seeking sweetness, too grounded in place for those wanting universal appeal. It attracts wearers who want a scent that tells them where, and when, they are.
