Dark Amber & Ginger Lily appeared in 2008 in Jo Malone London's Kohdo Wood Collection, two limited editions borrowed from the Japanese incense ceremony. Black cardamom and ginger open, a black orchid holds the middle with water lily and jasmine, Kyara wood incense and dark amber close. The house has since moved it into its Cologne Intense range.
March, on Perfume Posse, was won over by this creamy blend of amber, dark flowers and woods, which she holds to be a break with the line.
Olfastory’s review
Perfume Posse, March, 29 April 2008
March recounts having given up on Jo Malone long before coming across the Kohdo Wood Collection, and finding herself surprised to go back and smell Dark Amber & Ginger Lily a second time. She hears in it a smooth, seamless blend of amber, dark flowers and woods, creamy, far removed from what she knew of the house. Incense and spices dominate the opening in her account, before a woody base that returns later; she also describes a note of tanning oil or milky coconut that drifts in and out during the first hour. If the fragrance were a colour, she writes, it would be a deep red. She grants it decent sillage and judges it sensual by the standards of the house, without mistaking it for Poison or Fracas.