is™ – Eau de Parfum - Bergamot, dark chocolate, and suede

Neandertal – is™ – Eau de Parfum

Neandertal is™: synthetic presence, still without a name

Neandertal is™ Eau de Parfum belongs to one of the most rigorously conceived projects in contemporary perfumery. is™ and was™ were created from exactly the same brief—one by master perfumers, the other generated by artificial intelligence. Neandertal deliberately refuses to disclose which fragrance originates from which source. Not as a gimmick, but as a principle: your perception is part of the experiment.

Where was™ works with memory, depth, and materiality, is™ represents the brighter, more forward-facing pole of the duo. A fragrance that does not look back, but ahead.

A scent like the flesh of something that does not yet exist

Neandertal is™ opens with an unsettling brightness. Bergamot and galbanum introduce a green, slightly cutting clarity, sharpened by nutmeg and myrtle, which add a cool, aromatic tension. Very quickly, the scent shifts perception. At its core appears fig—not creamy, not Mediterranean, but abstracted, almost synthetic. Like the pulp of a fruit engineered for the future, impossible to fully define.

Metallic notes and violet create a clean, chalky texture, lending the fragrance a mineral, laboratory-like restraint. Nothing feels rounded or comforting. Everything remains deliberately unresolved. Dark chocolate enters as a gourmand counterpoint, but stripped of sweetness—dry, bitter, precisely measured. It does not seduce; it destabilizes.

Structure instead of emotion

In the base, Neandertal is™ reveals its architectural logic. Suede settles like a matte surface, while vetiver, patchouli, and sandalwood form a linear, woody framework. Musk adds skin proximity without softening the edges. Peru balsam and vanilla remain subdued, functioning not as sweetness but as structural support.

This niche fragrance rejects classical perfume storytelling. It does not unfold emotionally; it progresses rationally. No memories are offered, no feelings prompted. Neandertal is™ is presence—cool, bright, controlled.

A unisex fragrance as conceptual necessity

As a unisex fragrance, Neandertal is™ avoids every established code. Neither men’s fragrance nor women’s fragrance, it exists as a niche perfume that questions identity rather than reinforcing it. Projection stays deliberately quiet and close to the skin, while longevity is steady and persistent. It does not fill a room—it demands attention.

Authorship as part of the question

Authorship is not a footnote, but content. Officially, Neandertal is™ is credited either to artificial intelligence or to a human team consisting of Isaac Sinclair, Fanny Grau, and Nicolaj Koralewicz. This ambiguity is intentional. Developed and communicated in collaboration with Symrise and its AI system Philyra®, the fragrance becomes a thought experiment: can intention be smelled—or do we assign it after the fact?

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