Here we have Tom Ford in his darkest suit. This perfume is evil, gloomy, dry, and dirty. They got the name right but omitted mentioning the period. This is not your 20th-century London. Oh no, this is London in Dickens' time or around the Industrial Revolution. The dark, foggy, rainy, and smelly London, low standards for hygiene, and treacherous pebblestone alleys. This is what Tom Ford's London evokes to me.
A small and dank London apartment, old books, and a leather jacket imbued with the smell of tobacco, dry woods, incense, spices, and musks. There is something almost poetic about it in its vividness. I can only applaud him for having the guts to put out something like this. It's an anti-Tom Ford perfume. If you are a fan of the house's more popular offerings, I can see how you might find this repulsive. If I were to smell it blindly, I would have mistaken it for a dark Amouage, a Prin, Areej, Slumberhouse, Fusciuni, or other indie-artisanal spins on the Spicy-Oriental genre. It mostly reminds me of Sixes & Sevens, Al Oudh, and Varanasi, but with that Tom Ford sleek and posh touch that reeks of sophistication. The four major accords to my nose are cumin, incense, dry woods, and musks. Secondary ones would be jasmine, leather, cardamom, saffron, and coffee, in that order. The first four are the dominant notes in this fragrance, and that's what you'll get for the most part. The secondary facets are there, but mainly help to round the edges and blend everything in. Hence, in the opening, the cardamom and the coffee help to pamper the huge cumin blast that might be difficult to take otherwise. The saffron introduces the leather accord further sustained by the castoreum and the birch, while the jasmine gives off a beautiful creaminess and slight indolic and exotic effect. I pick up the jasmine, especially in the heat, subtle yet there. There's almost no sweetness to the composition, and the overall effect is dry, spicy, and smoky, hinting at unwashed, sweaty human skin. Yes, most likely, it sounds off-putting to the average perfumista and Tom Ford consumers, and that is fine. There was a time when Tom believed his Private Blend line should target the most adventurous of consumers, and London is a bold statement to that, with capital letters - dark masterwork from the brand. For me, it ranks as the number one spot next to Oud Wood Intense and Tobacco Oud Intense, depending on my mood.
IG:@memory.of.scents
Top Notes 
Cumin
Madagascar pepper
Cardamom absolute
Coffee
Coriander seed
Saffron
Heart Notes 
Egyptian geranium
Frankincense
Jasmine absolute
Cistus
Base Notes 
Birch
Cedar
Musk
Oud
Balsam tree
Iatik
Syzygy73
Hermesh
