Un Jardin en Méditerranée is the first of the Parfums-Jardins, launched by Hermès in 2003. Jean-Claude Ellena drew on the Tunisian garden of Leïla Menchari, in Hammamet, to create it. The house describes it as a fruity, woody fragrance combining a sweet fig tree, green lentisk and delicate oleander, in a bottle whose glass is tinted with a blue gradient.
Victoria, of Bois de Jasmin, called Un Jardin en Méditerranée her favorite of the Jardins in 2008 and loves Ellena’s minimalist style; Robin, of Now Smell This, liked it in 2019 without ever wanting to buy it, far behind Un Jardin sur le Nil.
Olfastory’s review
Victoria, Bois de Jasmin
In May 2008, introducing Un Jardin après la Mousson, Victoria wrote that Un Jardin en Méditerranée remained her favorite fragrance in the collection. She loves Ellena’s minimalist compositions, which she compares to haikus and returns to for relief from heavy smells.
She observes that the words light, pleasant and delicate, which came to her while smelling the new Jardin, usually describe a nice but forgettable blend; with Ellena, she writes, these qualities are never trite.
Robin, Now Smell This
In April 2019, reviewing Un Jardin sur la Lagune, Robin took stock of the series. She wholeheartedly adores only Un Jardin sur le Nil; she likes Un Jardin en Méditerranée just fine, without ever having felt the need to buy a bottle.
She recalls that Ellena’s detractors compared his fragrances to dishwater, while his admirers, herself among them, spoke of transparent, minimalist watercolors; she admits she long gave Hermès the lion’s share of her perfume budget.