Top 10 Orange Blossom Perfumes

Orange blossom and neroli come from the same flower, but at times one wonders whether they are from the same planet. Orange blossom is heavy, sweet, rich, and finally, indolic. The sexy, fecal indoles are most noticeable in jasmine flowers, so that the scent of indoles is often labeled jasmine. While neroli retains some of this indolic character, it is a much lighter, greener, sharper scent, on the way to petigrain, but still very floral.

It is because 24, Faubourg from Hermès captures the essential heavier narcotic nature of the orange blossom absolute that we believe it stands alone among modern perfumes. Part of this is due to a restrained opening that gives the floral heart notes room to breath. Some from expert blending of the orange blossom, jasmine, iris, and gardenia. Did we mention that Princess Diana was a fan? This is the kind of “take your breath away” classical perfume that many never experience.

The recent soliflores like Hiram Green’s Dilettante went for a natural interpretation of the flower in its context, blending in citrus, petitgrain, and neroli in a classic cologne direction. This is also delightful, and certainly preferable personally for daily wear.

Perhaps most interesting, since the 1990’s with Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake, a number of strong orange blossom efforts have focused on integrating just the right amount of spices to accentuate the indolic aspect of the material. Sheldrake used cumin to get at the dirty, sexy aspect of the orange blossom. Duchaufour used incense to add mystery and subtle lift. The most realized version we have seen is from Parfum d’Empire Azemour les Orangers by perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, who sought to evoke the memory of his childhood growing up on the coast of Morocco. This is not a headspace approach to the tree, or an orientalist fusion of a spice and a floral, but a scent of a place and time. When the narrative is clear and a scent like this is aesthetically pleasing, the result can transport even the least romantic among us.

This smells like the heavy, classy white floral that we all deserve. It is striking that this 1995 release by perfumer Maurice Roucel went old-school fancy just as everyone else at the party was doing freshie, ozone. One reviewer noted that the apparent minimal use of aldehydes lets the floral notes maintain a rich presence throughout the opening, which suggests an intentional departure from the classic floral blends of the mid-to-late 20th century. This does have a sweet character, but not obnoxiously so.

Top Notes: Bergamot, Hyacinth, Orange, Peach, Ylang ylang

Heart Notes: Gardenia, Iris, Jasmine, Orange blossom, Black elder

Base Notes: Amber, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla

This 1981 release by perfumer John Stephen hides a beautiful orange blossom under the title of Neroli. It does have both the sweetness and herbal bitterness of neroli, but much more the floral note of the orange blossom absolute. This is a hybrid classic natural cologne with noticeable synthetics extending the reach of the citrus note and the overall wear time.

Top Notes: Neroli, Orange

Heart Notes: Orange Flower Absolute

Base Notes: Ylang Ylang

Meant to evoke the childhood of perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato on the coast of Morocco, this scent confounds some expecting a different childhood. Where is the vanilla, at least some sandalwood? Instead, you have the bones of a good fougere (rose/geranium/moss/hay) without the lavender, but getting some of the same effects, albeit piney, from the blend of coriander, pepper, and galbanum. The cumin moves in another direction, one that also confuses some reviewers of Serge Lutens’ Fleurs d’Oranger. This is an overdose of oakmoss for its time and maybe just at any time, but it is used to communicate the decay underlying the vibrance of the citrus tree. This is not the smell of the orange blossom, but the scent of living among orange blossoms.

Top Notes: Orange, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Lemon, Coriander, Cumin, Black pepper, Pink pepper, Blackcurrant, Galbanum

Heart Notes: Neroli, Geranium, Orange blossom, Rose

Base notes: Hay, Moss, Henna, Iodine

Since 2013, perfumer Hiram Green has been advancing a modern, yet retro approach to natural perfumery that has drawn international acclaim. In 2019, his perfume Hyde won the Art & Olfaction Artisan award. Dilettante, released in 2016, follows on a handful of other soliflore compositions that maintain a tension between simplicity and complex narrative: Moon Bloom is a tuberose scent, but also a painting of the green of night and the creamy depth of the narcotic scent. Dilettante performs a similar feat, highlighting the fresh fruit, woody green of the stems and leaves, and the complex floral, indolic nature of the orange blossom. Some say that orange blossom absolute is a perfume all on its own, and it would be easy to think that this perfume is almost that simple, but this kind of scent cannot be achieved without the deft use of supporting materials, most likely natural isolates in addition to essential oils and absolutes.

Notes: Orange flower, Petitgrain, Orange

This 1995 release by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake marks an early example of the pared down spiced white floral. If one took Féminité du Bois and removed 2/3 of the materials, they might end up with this scent. The trick here is the cumin. It is dirty and attractive in the way that orange blossom and jasmine are and is not at all in the same category of the cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger used previously. The cumin note is the one that draws the most confusion from reviewers, but that is also the innovation. The lack of vanilla, benzoin, and amber is another signal that this is a move away from trend and an exploration that continued in 1998 with Tubéreuse Criminelle. Sheldrake’s attempt to make unique, but attractive white florals oscillates through the decades between the cleaned-up plain scents for the masses and the curveballs that are hit or miss among perfume heads. One is reminded of the need to sell a pleasing, but simple white floral scent with Chanel’s Gabrielle (2017). Smelling Fleurs d'Oranger and Gabrielle, one may be happy for the cumin. Go to El Attarine for more cumin if you find reformulations lacking in that department.

Notes: Orange blossom, Jasmine, Indian tuberose, Rose, Citrus peel, Hibiscus seed, Cumin, Nutmeg

Read enough online reviews in fine perfumery and you may notice a peculiar distaste for the work of Bertrand Duchaufour. Certainly, Jean Claude Ellena has his detractors, particular for the more spare recent works, but these are offset by equally ardent admirers. Complaints about the work of Duchaufour often refer to something other than the current perfume, such as an unhappy reference to the condensed milk note in Penhaligon’s Amaranthine, but really all references point back to Avignon. And we have here the incense reference, with some missing the frankincense note, perhaps in the petitgrain, and others ignoring the benzoin for the incense material that it is. Overall, this gets a positive response for the treatment of petitgrain and the careful integration of incense into a scent that still retains orange blossom as the central theme.

Notes: Petitgrain, Petitgrain citronnier, Orange blossom, Beeswax, Incense resinoid, Luisieri lavender, Siam benzoin resinoid

Lose the cumin, go a bit dryer with the cedar, smooth the musks, drop down the intensity of the jasmine, you have SL without the funk, which is exactly what many people want. It does smell nice, if not mind-blowing. Simple does not mean cheap.

Top Notes: Orange blossom, Turkish rose, Egyptian jasmine

Heart Notes: Tuberose, Orange flower water, Petitgrain, Ylang ylang, Nutmeg

Base Notes: Cedar, Musk

This 2001 release by perfumer Alberto Morillas is a complete 180 from the genre-defining male gourmand of A*Men (1996). The main idea of this cologne is that it should smell like nice hotel soap. It does! If you are looking for a soapier, muskier version of classic cologne formulations (4711), this may be for you. This is much more affordable than some of the nice high-end designer cologne going for the same effect.

Notes: Bergamot, Neroli, Petitgrain, Orange flower, "S", White Musk

There are not only three notes listed for this spare presentation from perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, but it does get one hoping that maybe there really are only three things driving all of this mystery. The voluptuousness of the orange blossom and ylang ylang are balanced nicely against a dry cedar base. This is linear, but in a good way.

Notes: Orange blossom, Ylang ylang, Cedarwood

This 2015 EDP version is a departure from the wildly successful 2008 EDT version, which was lighter without the amber base, but similar in overall composition. The amber does change the tone to a more “traditional” spiced floral cologne. While most attention goes to the grapefruit and basil at the opening and the linear tobacco/cedar drydown (now more fully realized with the amber), the orange blossom gains attention as the only floral note in the scent and one that kept the original from a grating sharp/dryness. It also brought a relatively discrete indolic note that made this suitable for a broad range of occasions.

Top Notes: Grapefruit, Coriander, Basil

Heart Notes: Orange Blossom, Ginger, Cardamom

Base Notes: Tobacco, Amber, Cedarwood