Oud & Bergamot Cologne Intense

In March 2010, Jo Malone London released four fragrances at once under a name it had never used before: Cologne Intense. It calls them inspired by the fragrance traditions of the Middle East and entrusted all four to the same perfumer.

A collection meant for the Gulf

Now Smell This announced the release on 31 March 2010: Amber & Patchouli, Oud & Bergamot, Rose Water & Vanilla and Iris & White Musk, at eighty pounds for 100 ml. The blog relays Women's Wear Daily, which gives the target — connoisseurs and Middle Eastern customers — and the distribution, limited to thirty-five stores across the world.

Christine Nagel, four years before Hermès

Nagel signed all four fragrances in the collection. She would join Hermès in 2014 and lead creation there after Jean-Claude Ellena. Chant Wagner, rereading the fragrance in 2014, sees in this meeting of bergamot and oud a study of Eau des Merveilles, and wonders whether the perfumer was not already looking towards the faubourg Saint-Honoré. That is her reading, not an established fact.

Cologne Intense, the notch above

The house sorts its fragrances into two tiers: the Cologne and, above it, the Cologne Intense, more concentrated and more expensive. The name belongs to Jo Malone London and matches no classic concentration, from eau de toilette to extrait.

What the house says about it

Precious oud, framed: that is its wording. The smoky, mysterious character of this wood, central to the olfactory traditions of the Middle East, lit by the clarity of crisp bergamot and an orange granita accord. It ranks it as woody and suggests layering it with Pomegranate Noir to warm, with Earl Grey & Cucumber to freshen.