Penhaligon's
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Pink pepper crackles like tonic bubbles whilst cumin adds an almost sweaty warmth, creating an intriguing tension between bright and bodily. Within minutes, the gin accord arrives properly—unmistakably juniper-forward with that clean, botanical bite that makes your nose prickle slightly, as though you've leaned too close to someone's martini.
The rose unfolds in an unexpected fashion, darker and more jammy than you'd anticipate, taking on an almost fermented quality as it mingles with the lingering gin botanicals. This isn't a rose garden—it's rose petals left in spirits, slightly pickled and beautifully strange, whilst the spices settle into a warm, skin-like hum underneath.
The cedarwood and vetiver form a pencil-shaving dryness that feels almost citrus-bright despite being firmly woody. What remains is a clean, slightly bitter greenness with faint echoes of those opening spices, like the ghost of gin botanicals on bare skin after a long evening.
Much Ado about the Duke is Penhaligon's love letter to the botanical gin renaissance, and it shows from the first spritz. That juniper-laced heart note isn't mere decoration—it genuinely smells of a proper London Dry, complete with the resinous bite of berries and the faint medicinal shimmer that good gin possesses. Daphné Bugey has cleverly bracketed this liquid centrepiece with pink pepper's fruity-sharp fizz and cumin's earthy warmth, creating an opening that feels like spilling a G&T across a Moroccan spice souk. The cumin never ventures into full-blown body odour territory, but it does bring a skin-like salinity that makes the composition feel lived-in rather than merely composed.
What truly surprises is how the rose emerges—not as a traditional floral flourish, but as something darker and more resinous, almost like rose absolute mixed with gin botanicals. It's the scent of petals steeping in spirits, taking on that slightly fermented, boozy quality. The vetiver and cedarwood base provides a pencil-shaving dryness that keeps everything from becoming too indulgent, whilst the woods themselves seem almost citrus-tinged, echoing gin's botanical brightness.
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3.6/5 (85)