The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Volare (2026 Edition) is composed by Jordi Fernández for Profumi di Polignano, an Italian house with a focused catalog of character-driven fragrances. The 2026 edition refines the original Volare concept, layering fresh considerations onto a foundation that already showed a clear point of view. The composition opens with a herbal-spicy tension: black pepper's dry crackle against lavender's cool, almost medicinal green. From there the scent moves into a heart built on almond, frankincense, and roasted oatmeal, a trio that feels more like a warm kitchen than a dessert course. The pepper and lavender refuse to behave like a conventional fresh-spicy top, and they don't. Instead they hand off to a resinous, nutty core that feels grounded and deliberate.
What sets this composition apart is its willingness to be unusual at every level. Black pepper and lavender on top is an herbal-spicy handshake you don't often see leading into a heart of almond and frankincense, with roasted oatmeal binding them. Volare chooses resinous warmth over sweetness, letting frankincense give the gourmand-leaning accord a cool, contemplative edge. The structure rewards wearing over reading, and it rewards wearing in cooler weather where the resinous facets can fully expand without competing against heat.
The evolution
The opening reads almost savory. Black pepper cracks across lavender's cool herbal facets, sharp enough to wake up a room but not aggressive. The opening feels clean, almost arid, like stone warmed by late-morning sun. As the lavender recedes, the almond arrives first, soft and slightly bitter, then frankincense folds in underneath, lending a smoky-cool dimension that has nothing to do with smoke at all. It reads more like incense caught in a cathedral draft, a hush rather than a haze. The roasted oatmeal ties everything together with a nutty, bready warmth that feels distinctly kitchen-bound rather than bakery-sweet, closer to toast than to pastry.
Cultural impact
Volare makes a statement through its note list alone. Black pepper, lavender, almond, frankincense, and roasted oatmeal are not the typical pillars of a commercial masculine or unisex release, and the composition refuses to smooth those edges into something more familiar. The roasted oatmeal note marks it as deliberately unconventional, a grain accord where most houses would reach for vanilla or caramel. It's a fragrance that asks the wearer to engage with it rather than simply enjoy it in passing, and that kind of posture carves out a niche that more conventional blends can't fill.
