Acqua Colonia Lemon & Ginger
Seven materials are all that 4711 Acqua Colonia Lemon and Ginger Eau de Cologne has to work with, and a short list like that leaves nowhere to hide.
Lemon does all the work at the start, clean and sour and unadorned, with no other citrus beside it to blur the edges. Musk is the only material given to the middle, which means the transition is unusually abrupt: the lemon thins out and a soft, warm, skin like smoothness takes its place within about twenty minutes.
The base is where the interest actually lies. Marron glace is the standout, a candied chestnut sweetness that is thick and slightly nutty without being cloying, and it is rare enough in perfumery to be a reason to try this. Tonka bean reinforces that with a soft powdery warmth, amber adds a low resinous glow, and neroli and petitgrain bring back a bitter green citrus edge at the end so the sweetness does not have the last word. It behaves like a short composition because it is one. There is no long development to follow and what you smell after half an hour is broadly where it stays. At cologne strength, applied generously, expect brightness for a short while and a sweet, clean warmth for a few hours after that.
That makes it a morning scent and a comfortable one, unisex, better in cool weather than in high summer because of the sweetness in the base, and a good choice for anyone who finds most citrus colognes too austere. Alexandra Kalle is the perfumer.
The maker is an eau de cologne house whose founder spent years selling under the older Farina name to borrow its standing, a practice the courts ended in 1873.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
THE 4711 COLLECTION
4711 IN MOTION
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