Happy Birthday, Hemingway!

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Today marks the 115th anniversary of Ernest Hemingway's birth, the self styled 'Papa' of American letters. Hemingway's life and work saw him travel extensively around the globe, and through these travels he developed a striking affinity for certain corners of the world. Since the trailblazing author's sad and untimely death in 1961, people have been continually fascinated by Hemingway's legacy. To pay tribute, here's our collection of artisan makers who have tried to capture something of the magic of Hemingway's life, using it as a creative spur to their own imaginations.


Named after the author's house in his beloved Cuba, Finca Vigia from Jardins d'Ecrivains is a diffuser designed as an olfactory invocation of Hemingway's island paradise. With aromas of palo santo, white ginger lily and banana tree flower, the fragrance is exotic yet warm and comforting, the true spirit of home.

1899 by Histoires de Parfums is named for the year of the author's birth, and the fragrance attempts to bring together aromas from the parts of the world that Hemingway loved most, evoking a number of diverse olfactory sensations simultaneously. An oriental spicy fragrance with a mellow dry down, Histoires de Parfums have outdone themselves in their homage.

Bull's Blood from Imaginary Authors may not claim to be inspired by the writer himself, but any mention of bullfighting and literature is bound to invite the association! Based on a fictional book from a macho and turbulent Spanish author invented by house nose Josh Meyer, Bull's Blood is a scent that recalls the passion and danger depicted by Hemingway in his first novel, The Sun Also Rises.


Finally, the West Indian Grapefruit & Lime scent of our Mrs White's Aroomatics room spray took its inspiration for the packaging design from the Pilar, Hemingway's prized fishing boat from which he consistently won fishing competitions and broke world records. Not only that, during the Second World War, the intrepid author asked the Cuban government to allow him to patrol the waters around the island in the Pilar for signs of German U-Boats, armed with a sub-machine gun and a handful of grenades!


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