Benoist Lapouza trained as a cellist, though he had wanted to be a perfumer since childhood. Once his studies were over, Pierre Bourdon became his mentor, first at Takasago in 1986. He moved to Quest in 1991 and to Fragrance Resources in 1993, and in 2014 joined the fine fragrance team at Drom in Paris.
His solo work includes Yves Saint Laurent Live Jazz (1998), Anna Sui Dolly Girl (2003) and Atkinsons The British Bouquet (2013). He shared Lolita Lempicka Si Lolita (2009) with Christine Nagel, and Fendi Fan di Fendi pour Homme (2012) with Delphine Lebeau and François Demachy.
For Kilian Paris he composed Angels' Share, his first project with Kilian Hennessy. It comes from Hennessy's cognac inheritance and takes its name from the spirit that evaporates from oak casks as it ages: cognac, cinnamon, tonka and oak absolute settle into praline, sandalwood and vanilla. He also composed Angels' Share on the Rocks, which chills the same cognac and tonka core with an iced accord and myrrh.
