Coqui Coqui

In 2001, Argentine botanist and landscape architect Nicolás Malleville came to Tulum and fell in love with the place. He bought a house by the sea, and two years later met his future wife — Italian designer Francesca Bonato. Together they created Coqui Coqui and opened a perfumery workshop in Valladolid. The name came about by chance: the first fragrance was made from two varieties of coconut, and Coqui Coqui simply suggested itself.

The perfumery history of Yucatán stretches back to the sixteenth century, when Franciscan monks and the Maya compiled botanical catalogues of local plants and developed fragrance formulas that were supplied to the Spanish court for three hundred years. When the Spanish Empire collapsed, the recipes were forgotten — until Nicolás set about reviving them.

Today Coqui Coqui has more than twenty unisex fragrances, each tied to a specific place. Coco Coco is the smell of palm trees and white beaches of Tulum. Rosas Secas is inspired by Valladolid and the religious festival of the Madonna de Candelaria. Mabaco is a warm, rich, elegant scent drawn from Mérida and the tobacco plantations that surround it.

Alongside the perfumes: beeswax candles, bath oils, linen sprays, diffusers. All fragrances are blended by hand from local ingredients — avocado oil, palm extracts, flowers and herbs.

The flagship boutique and workshop occupy a restored sixteenth-century colonial building in Valladolid, with Moorish arches, high ceilings, wooden beams and brass mirrors. If you find yourself in Yucatán, make a point of coming here. Taking home the scent of tropical Mexico in a little bottle is quite possibly the best souvenir of all.