Agua de Colonia Concentrada Gift Set

Buying fragrance as a present usually means guessing, and Alvarez Gómez Agua de Colonia Concentrada Gift Set removes most of that guesswork, because what is inside is unisex and has been in use for generations.

The box holds the Eau de Cologne at 150ml with a 30ml bottle to carry. The composition is longer than the word cologne suggests. Four citrus materials start it, Amalfi lemon sweeter and rounder, lemon sharper, mandarin orange juicier, grapefruit bitter across the top. An aromatic middle follows rather than a floral one: lavender for clean herbal calm, rosemary for a resinous green bite, coriander for dry seed spice, bergamot for more brightness and rhubarb for a tart, stalky sourness. Then it dries down, which colognes rarely do. Cedarwood and sandalwood bring dryness and a faint creaminess, patchouli and vetiver bring earth and bitter root, and cumin adds the warm, slightly animal note that people either love or quietly avoid.

Concentrated cologne strength means this is splashed on rather than dabbed, which is worth knowing if the recipient is used to rationing a small bottle of perfume. It suits hot weather, it works after a shave or a bath, and it is as appropriate for a man as for a woman. Few fragrances at any price are this easy to place. Presented in a set, it needs no wrapping and no explanation, both of which are useful when the occasion has crept up on you.

The house is Alvarez Gómez, family owned throughout, and the concentrated cologne that made its name was first made by hand in 1912, in the basement of its own Madrid shop. Those premises, on Calle Sevilla, had opened in 1899. Industrial manufacture and a nationwide presence came in the 1990s, and the family's fourth generation is in charge now.