Now as you know I usually enjoy my fragrances as complex as multivariable calculus but there are a few houses which dazzle me with the perfume equivalent of two plus two equals four. Jo Malone is one of those houses which do this for me. Every spring since 2011, they have released a “blossom” fragrance in a limited edition cologne concentration. The previous two were 2011’s Sakura Cherry Blossom by Christine Nagel and 2012’s Plum Blossom by Fabrice Pellegrin. You could even say this blossom collection began with one of the original Jo Malone fragrances, Orange Blossom by Jean-Claude Delville, released in 2003. Every perfume line has their strengths and one of Jo Malone’s is to coax as much as you can from the most basic of structures. The blossom centered perfumes show off that predilection. The 2013 edition is Osmanthus Blossom and perfumer Marie Salamagne has taken one of my favorite floral notes and given it an opportunity to really be examined and enjoyed like a diamond solitaire.

Osmanthus is one of the most fascinating notes in all of perfumery because of its inherent contradiction. Osmanthus is a flower and it does smell like a flower but it also smells strongly of apricot and leather. Because of that triple threat I’ve always thought osmanthus is as versatile a note as a perfumer can use and it is found very often as the linchpin of many of my favorite fragrances. Only rarely does a perfumer allow it to stand out on its own. In Osmanthus Blossom Mme Salamagne very cleverly chooses three notes to enhance and illuminate osmanthus. At the top it is the fruit, in the heart it is floral, and in the base the leathery quality is displayed. The osmanthus nucleus is displayed from all sides allowing the wearer to really get to know it as a note.

Marie Salamagne

For the first part of Osmanthus Blossom a bitter petitgrain is juxtaposed with a ripe peach which allows the apricot quality of osmanthus to nestle in between those extremes and expand rapidly over the early development. Orange blossom adds a bit of its unique white flower energy and the osmanthus pushes back while the peach lingers in the background. In the base notes Mme Salamagne uses a cashmere accord with a bit of sheer musk to really pull the leathery character to the foreground.

Osmanthus Blossom has all day longevity on me and average sillage. I think it is an ideal office fragrance as it is very light and unobtrusive.

I was expecting Osmanthus Blossom to be a little heavier than it was. Mme Salamagne has really made a fragrance which is a delight to wear in the warmer weather. I wore this to a recent graduation party held outside and it was as well-mannered a fragrance as the guests. The beauty here is all in allowing a single note to be the center of attention and watching it graduate magna cum laude.

Disclosure: This review was based on a bottle of Osmanthus Blossom I purchased.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor