Floral Collection Magnolia Eau de Cologne 100ml

Magnolia is a difficult flower to put in a bottle, and 4711 Floral Collection Magnolia Eau de Cologne 100ml gets further with it than the price would suggest.

The flower itself is the centre of everything here. Magnolia smells cool, smooth and faintly citric, somewhere between a petal and a peel, and it is given a bright frame rather than a heavy one. Mandarin orange and orange open the composition with a sweet, juicy lift, while pink pepper adds a dry crackle that stops the fruit from turning syrupy. Freesia sits beside the magnolia with a clean, slightly peppery green quality, and jasmine fills the centre out, warmer and more indolic than either of them.

The finish is short but well chosen. Sandalwood gives a smooth, dry softness and cashmeran adds a warm, faintly resinous and velvety quality underneath, the kind of material that makes an inexpensive cologne feel more finished than it has any right to.

At eau de cologne strength this is a light fragrance. Two to three hours of clear wear is realistic, with a soft floral residue afterwards, and it is designed to be used generously rather than sprayed twice and saved. The 100ml bottle makes that practical, and at this strength nobody needs to worry about overdoing it.

It suits daytime and warm weather, reads as feminine, and works for anybody who wants a floral that is neither sweet nor old fashioned. 4711 dates its origins to October 1792, when the merchant Wilhelm Muelhens is said to have received a recipe for an aqua mirabilis as a wedding gift. The number itself came from the house's address: French occupiers numbered the building 4711 in 1794, and the figure was registered as a trademark in 1875.