Daphne Bouquet Penhaligon's 2025

Oh my freshness.. this is a blooming beautiful bouquet!!

To understand this perfume, you firstly need to understand what the flower of a Daphne plant smells like. This semi-evergreen shrub flowers in late winter/early spring and has a beautiful intoxicating aroma that can scent an entire garden. I have a compact Daphne Blafra in my garden that’s native to the UK and Ireland. It’s small, with white, pink flushed flowers and smells amazing. If you’ve never smelt Daphne before, these intensely fragrant blooms draw your nose is as you try to identify the aroma. It’s easier to say “Well, Daphne smells like Daphne”, but to try and describe it; well, it’s a unique and unforgettable fragrance but it also has a familiarity about it as your nose identifies different profiles that remind you of other flowers. It’s like a sweet but bright floral mix of rose, jasmine, honeysuckle and orange blossom but with a spicy hint of zesty ginger, white sugar and creamy lemon.

And it’s captured beautifully in this perfume with Penhaligon’s Daphne flower accord.

It opens with a bright, zesty, floral fresh announcement. To my nose, the cassis is more noticeable here and keeps the Daphne vibrant and super fresh. As it settles into the middle the sweetness of the Daphne becomes more noticeable as the cassis settles. Just like the Daphne flower, your nose starts to think “rose, no jasmine, no orange blossom”. But it’s not a heady mix, it really is so fresh and bright. The moss is perfectly used to keep the freshness ongoing. This isn’t oakmoss with an earthy, woody and almost smoky fragrance. Penhaligon’s have selected fresh moss that has just received an April shower. This is clean, reviving, crisp and green and settles into a dry down of a high quality Daphne bouquet of fresh cut flowers of sweet, but not too sweet, bright, ever so slightly spicy, green floral, a tiny hint of powder and creaminess.. but it is fresh, fresh, fresh, it makes my eyes pop!

This is beautiful and I really like it. It is a super fresh summer floral, beautifully and artfully blended and it’s Daphne done really, really well. The timing of the release of this perfume is also perfect, as the UK struggles with the heatwave and humidity, this fragrance is the polar opposite of the heady, edible gourmands and a welcome bright beauty to my nose.

The official release for this perfume was the 16th of June. I don't usually end up liking perfumes with moss as it comes across as leathery and smoky, but this is really fresh and summery with a good projection/sillage. It's fruity in the opening (not sure which note it's coming from as it's supposed to be currant leaf, not fruit) and the leaves in this smell green like tomato leaf, although it's cassis. I do get the moss in the drydown but it is a very sophisticated, zesty accord that feels really elegant and not overly smoky. For a fresh fragrance, I got nearly 4 hours of wear with a decent projection, which is impressive for the newer Penhaligon's releases.

I do see how some people are comparing this to Blackberry & Bay Cologne but this is much more multi-layered, sophisticated, and higher quality with much better performance. Is it worth the price of £175 though for a fruity floral? Probably not though, but I may look for a good deal on a tester through a local discounter or supplier.

I'm a card-carrying daphne flower lover and while this unfortunately isn't a photorealistic daphne, I do still really enjoy it! very fresh and clean, and really evokes early spring flowers bursting through damp moss. reminds me of my mom's cool chic friend who would always host us for lunch in her garden and let me play in the little steams twisting through the yard. longevity could be better, and I just wish it had a bit more zest and pop like real blooming daphne. all in all still a really great daily wear spring scent for any occasion, I can't imagine that anyone would really dislike this!

I am intrigued. This perfume is so unique to me. It must be because I have never smelled a Daphne flower, but now I want to! The opening really works for me and is so pleasant. I pick up a multitude of greenness as well, not just the moss of the base but a brighter green and an elegant green-floral that just makes this such a pleasure to wear as it balances the floral and almost ripe fruit sweetness. It's so close to a memory that I just can't quite place, and that makes me keep burying my nose into the crook of my arm to deeply inhale it. I can see myself getting a full bottle of this one day. It's perfect for spring and summer and any time you want an uplifting and happy scent that is not like much else out there.

Daphne Bouquet by Penhaligon's is a charming, enchanting floral scent with a delicate honeyed sweetness. Refined and elegant. One can easily imagine a distinguished lady or royal wearing it in the tranquility of a countryside estate. With moderate projection, it announces itself in a subtle way, close to the skin.