The Different Company Extraits Extrêmes: Five New Fragrances Worth Knowing

The Different Company, the French niche house known for precise, unfussy perfumery, has launched Extraits Extrêmes — a collection of five new fragrances released in June 2026. The lineup: Crazy Tubéreuse, Gin-Seng, Gothic Incense, Maddy, and Salty Kiss. Per Now Smell This, each is built around a strong conceptual center, and the extraits format means these aren’t shy about concentration or intent.

Two perfumers are confirmed across the collection: Alexandra Monet on Crazy Tubéreuse and Meng Gu on Gin-Seng. The house hasn’t publicized pricing in available materials, so assume niche extrait rates until confirmed otherwise.

What these actually smell like

Crazy Tubéreuse is the one to start with. Tuberose extraits have a long history of either playing it safe or going full animalic — this one appears to do the latter on purpose. Alexandra Monet opens it with black pepper and cold aldehydes, which is an interesting choice: metallic and crystalline before the flower even arrives. Then tuberose hits hard in the heart alongside night-blooming jasmine, and the brief for both is explicitly “carnal” and “narcotic.” Russian leather and styrax close it down into smoky, balsamic territory. This is not a soft white floral. If you find most tuberose fragrances too polished, this is built for you.

Gin-Seng is the most unusual pitch in the collection. Perfumer Meng Gu draws from traditional Chinese medicine — specifically goji berry, fresh ginger, basil, red ginseng, blue chamomile, and Haitian vetiver. The goji and ginger opening is described as “almost electric,” with the basil pushing things green and medicinal. Red ginseng grounds it with an earthy, rooty depth, and the base is anchored by Haitian vetiver and what the house calls a “hyperconcentrated cedar” at near-architectural scale. Medicinal and grounding is a niche within a niche, but if that sounds good to you, there isn’t much else doing exactly this.

Gothic Incense goes for the urban-sacred angle — incense that “no longer soothes but burns.” Pink pepper and black pepper open with a mineral sharpness, green spices push it into something almost industrial, and then burnt cedarwood and incense take over the heart with what the brief calls “near-liturgical weight.” This is positioned as maximum intensity on the dry-down. If you like your incense fragrances to feel like a stone cathedral at midnight rather than a spa, pay attention.

Maddy and Salty Kiss are present in the collection but the source material doesn’t provide detailed note breakdowns for either. Salty Kiss at least signals its territory in the name — the salty/marine register has had real staying power in niche perfumery, and Ellis Brooklyn Salt has shown that an audience exists for clean, well-executed saline compositions. Whether Salty Kiss leans aquatic, skin-like, or something stranger will determine whether it’s worth your attention, but the name alone suggests it’s not chasing the same territory as Crazy Tubéreuse.

Where this sits

The Different Company has always occupied a considered corner of French niche — not loud about it, not chasing trend cycles, but consistently releasing work with a point of view. The Extraits Extrêmes collection reads as the house leaning into exactly that: each fragrance has a clear conceptual identity and isn’t trying to appeal to everyone.

Crazy Tubéreuse sits in conversation with the broader wave of high-concentration florals that have been pushing toward darker, more animalic territory. The tuberose note specifically has been getting bolder treatment across houses in the last few years — less dewy white petals, more late-night intensity. If you’ve been hunting for a tuberose that doesn’t apologize, this looks like a serious candidate.

Gin-Seng is genuinely rare in its framing. Western niche perfumery hasn’t done much serious work with TCM botanical traditions, and the use of a Chinese perfumer (Meng Gu) to develop that concept is the right call. Whether it reads as authentic or academic depends on the execution, but the note list is specific enough to suggest they weren’t just reaching for novelty.

Gothic Incense is fighting in a crowded category — incense fragrances are everywhere, and the “dark/urban” angle has been done repeatedly. What will separate it is the intensity of the dry-down and how the burnt cedarwood interacts with the pepper opening. The note structure suggests it’s leaning harder than most.

The verdict

If you’re buying blind, Crazy Tubéreuse is the clearest bet — the brief is specific, the perfumer is named, and the direction (narcotic tuberose with leather and styrax) is well-defined enough to know whether it’s for you. Gin-Seng is for the genuinely adventurous and will reward patience on the dry-down. Gothic Incense needs a test before committing; dark incense extraits are either exactly right or just a lot.

Maddy and Salty Kiss are harder to call without more note detail. Sample before spending on either.

The overall collection signals The Different Company is in an ambitious phase. Five fragrances with this much conceptual range, at extrait concentration, from a house with their track record — worth tracking down for a sniff.