Diorling appeared in 1963, the first fragrance Dior launched after the couturier's death, and Paul Vacher signed the formula. A leathery chypre built on English style, on tweed and riding boots. François Demachy reorchestrated it for Les Créations de Monsieur Dior: bergamot at the opening, jasmine at the centre, leather and patchouli at the base.
Four materials structure the version sold today, the one François Demachy reorchestrated.
Bergamot, jasmine, leather
Bergamot opens. Dior obtains it by cold expression of peel harvested in the south of Italy, and credits it with a sweet, marked freshness that gives citrus notes their radiance.
Jasmine holds the centre. Demachy added it to the original formula to round off its edges, and it gives the reissue a floral breadth the 1963 version did not have.
Leather and patchouli close. The house uses an Indonesian patchouli steam-distilled from dried leaves, a material it reserves for its chypres, its woody and its oriental fragrances.
What the 1963 version carried
Paul Vacher had built his chypre on a trio of rose, jasmine and lily of the valley, with hyacinth, oakmoss and a boot leather far more present. Those materials hold for the original juice alone.
What stays out
The galbanum and a soft spice The Silver Fox believes he recognises in 2014 remain his own judgement, outside the composition. The leather accord enters the base, the house naming it itself.