The lid opens with a small "click," and immediately, a cloud of mint, citrus, and licorice escapes from the tin — the same fragrance that floated in Turin's confectioneries over a century ago, captured in a pastel lozenge that melts on the tongue.

In Turin, the afternoon slows down around 4 PM. You stop at a small shop with a dark wooden counter, and leave with a tin of pastilles slipped into your pocket — not to satisfy hunger, but to prolong the moment a little longer.

This is the feeling Leone has been crafting since 1857, when Luigi Leone opened his first artisanal confectionery in Alba, in the Piedmontese hills. At the time, the pastilles were kneaded and shaped by hand, dried on the still-warm mouth of the oven. The company grew, moved to Turin, became an official supplier to the House of Savoy — and its violet pastilles were so beloved by the Count of Cavour that they are still nicknamed the "Senatore" today. Almost 170 years later, the same recipe, the same exacting standards, the same small tin that fits in one hand.

You don't buy it to fill up. You buy it to remember — a trip you've taken, or one you still dream of taking. To have it with you, in a bag or a desk drawer, and instantly rediscover that taste that exists nowhere else.

Here in Canada, between two meetings and a gray November sky, you open the tin. And while the pastille melts, you're not quite here anymore — you're in a cobbled alley in Piedmont, at a time when confectioneries still smell of warm sugar.

Why our customers love them

• An artisanal recipe continuously passed down since 1857
• An assortment of iconic flavors, true to Piedmontese tradition
• Pocket size (27g) — a small ritual you can take anywhere
• Gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian
• The kind of gift you give to someone who loves to travel through taste buds