The Manoeuvres of the Baroness

The Portraits collection celebrates its tenth anniversary, and the Baroness is one of its most recent additions. Since 2016, Penhaligon's has staged a gallery of British characters with intertwined intrigues; this one collects secrets, rules from the shadows and prefers to outwit danger rather than flee it.

The olfactory approach runs against accumulation: three notes, not one more. Orange blossom occupies the center, Chantilly cream gives it its airiness, sandalwood closes it off. The stripped-down approach is claimed by the house, not suffered — and reviewers' comments mostly read it as a creamy floral rather than a complex construction.

Eau de Parfum, size 75 ml, first distributed at Selfridges in the United Kingdom at 245 pounds, and sold for 285 euros at Sephora.