Acqua di Parma Gelsomino Nobile

Gelsomino Nobile is the latest from Italian niche line Acqua di Parma. It’s an ‘ode to jasmine’ (gelsomino being the Italian for jasmine), and it joins the two prior fragrances — Iris Nobile, Magnolia Nobile — in what is now called the Le Nobili collection. Much is made in the press materials about the particular jasmine used in Gelsomino Nobile: it’s reportedly a “Jasmine Grandi Flora from Calabria, Italy – one of the last surviving Jasmine cultivation sites, for perfume making in Italy”, and the “green and fresh aspect of this particular type of Jasmine gives a light and airy effect”. I have not smelled that jasmine in person, but the fragrance, developed by perfumer Michel Almairac, is very light and airy indeed. It smells chic and expensive and modern — attributes that Acqua di Parma no doubt prefers over quirky — and it will surely appeal to many, including those who dislike richer, more indolic jasmines, and perhaps even some who like their jasmine straight up, but who want a more casual fragrance that they can wear out and about without fear of encountering wrinkled noses. Acqua di Parma Gelsomino Nobile features notes of mandarin, pink pepper, orange blossom, tuberose, jasmine, cedar and musk. It is available in 50 ($108) and 100 ($170) ml Eau de Parfum and in a matching cream ($80 for 150 g). For buying information, see the listing for Acqua di Parma under Perfume Houses. From, nstperfume.com