Award winning perfumes

In the world of commercial fragrance, awards are often just a measure of marketing budgets, who bought the biggest billboard? But in the niche and independent sector, the awards are different. They are rigorous, often blind-judged, and focused entirely on the liquid in the bottle.

At Connection Parfumerie, we stock a significant number of these "Gold Medal" scents. Here is a breakdown of the specific winners on our shelves and, more importantly, why they won.

The Official Perfume Winners

These specific bottles have taken home the industry's highest honors.

*Zoologist Cockatiel won the 2019 award under its original name, “Powder and Dust” by SP Parfums.

The Brand Awards

The Art & Olfaction Winners (The "Sundance" of Scent)

The Art & Olfaction Awards are widely considered the most prestigious honor for independent perfumery. The judging is completely blind; judges do not know the brand, the price, or the perfumer when they vote.

Mekha Aranya (SIAM 1928) – 2025 Winner
Why it won: This scent from the Thai house SIAM 1928 represents the rising power of Southeast Asian artisan perfumery. It won the Artisan category for its complex, spiritual composition that blends traditional Thai incense notes with a lush, jungle-like humidity.

Ierofante (Parfums Quartana) – 2023 Winner
Why it won: Part of a collection exploring "poisonous" themes, Ierofante won for its daring "rocket fuel" accord. Perfumer Luca Maffei combined a gasoline-like Suede note with Nutmeg and Styrax to create something that smells dangerous, leather-clad, and addictive. It won because it pushed the boundaries of what a "leather" scent could be.

Saskia (Grandiflora) – 2022 Winner
Why it won: A landmark win for Australian perfumery. Created by Saskia Havekes and Christophe Laudamiel, this scent is a hyper-realistic interpretation of a flower shop—capturing not just the petals, but the stems, crushed leaves, and humid cool-room air.

The Fragrance Foundation Winners (The "Oscars" of Perfume)

The "FiFi" awards are the industry standard. The category to watch here is "Perfume Extraordinaire," the only category where the big luxury houses compete against niche brands purely on scent alone (blind judging).

Squid (Zoologist) – 2020 Winner
Why it won: Squid is strange. It smells of blue ink, salty ocean depth, and ambergris. It won the "Perfume Extraordinaire" award because it managed to take a "weird" concept and make it hauntingly beautiful. It proved to the conservative industry judges that a perfume could be experimental and wearable at the same time.

Experimentum Crucis (Etat Libre d'Orange) – 2020 UK Winner
Why it won: This scent took the UK "Perfume Extraordinaire" prize. Inspired by Isaac Newton and the theory of gravity, it is a massive, gravity-defying Rose and Akigalawood scent. It won for its technical performance—it has enormous projection and sillage (trail) while remaining chemically fascinating and modern.

Poppy Soma (Parfums Quartana) – 2017 Winner
Why it won: Another win for Joseph Quartana's "Les Potions Fatales" series. This scent was inspired by the opium poppy. It won for its intoxicating, narcotic quality—using Sichuan Pepper and Curry Leaf to simulate the sharp, dizzying effect of the flower before settling into a deep, sedative floral.

The Insider Stories (The "Hidden" Winners)

Some of the most interesting awards in our collection aren't immediately obvious because of name changes or unique categories.

Cockatiel (Zoologist) – The Secret Winner
The bottle says "Cockatiel" (2022), but the formula inside is actually a 2019 Art & Olfaction Award winner called "Powder and Dust." The original creator, Sven Pritzkoleit, retired and closed his brand. Zoologist founder Victor Wong loved the scent so much he bought the formula to save it from disappearing. He renamed it Cockatiel, but the award-winning DNA—a dry, dusty, fruity yellow floral—remains exactly the same.

Red Wine Brown Sugar (Bohoboco) – The Middle East Winner
Winning "Niche Fragrance of the Year" at the Beautyworld Middle East Awards (2024) is significant. The Middle Eastern market is arguably the most demanding in the world when it comes to performance, strength, and Gourmand/Oud profiles. For a Polish brand like Bohoboco to win there confirms that this scent is a "powerhouse" with exceptional longevity and projection.

Bain de Midi (Maison Matine) – The "Audacity" Winner
In 2020, the French Fragrance Foundation created a special prize called the "Prix de l'Audace" (The Audacity Award). They gave it to Bain de Midi not because it was the most expensive, but because it was the most "fun." It captures a relaxed, sunny afternoon with notes of Coconut and Tiare flower, offering a carefree creativity that the stiff French industry felt was missing.