The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Malmaison Encore belongs to Floris London, a house with deep roots in British perfumery and a reputation for quality that spans centuries. This 2013 composition is part of the Ledger Series and comes from perfumer Shelagh Foyle, who built the fragrance around a question of return: what does an encore smell like when the first act was already rich with spice and floral warmth? The answer leans into a slow reveal, each layer surfacing gradually across the hours rather than rushing to be understood all at once. Foyle's approach here treats composition as something measured and patient, trusting the wearer to stay attentive as new facets emerge from beneath the ones before them.
What sets Malmaison Encore apart is how its spice notes are arranged. Cardamom and black pepper sharpen the bergamot opening into something pointed and immediate. Then cloves and nutmeg arrive alongside rose and ylang-ylang, creating a heart that bridges floral sweetness with the warmth of baking spice. The choice to anchor these middle notes in such assertive spiced territory, rather than letting the florals dominate, gives the composition its distinctive tension. It's not a floral fragrance with spice accents.
The evolution
The first fifteen minutes are a bright collision. Bergamot tries to keep things lifted, but black pepper and cardamom are already pulling the opening toward something heavier, something that smells like the kitchen just before dinner is served. By the thirty-minute mark, the rose and ylang-ylang step forward, though they arrive wrapped in cloves and nutmeg rather than wearing their usual airy sweetness. The florals here feel gilded, not delicate. The spice slowly loosens its grip while the amber and vanilla begin their quiet takeover. The drydown is where Malmaison Encore earns its encore: cedarwood and frankincense add a meditative, almost resinous quality, while tonka bean and vanilla smooth everything into a warm, powdery haze. Heliotrope contributes a faint almond sweetness that keeps the base from becoming purely gourmand.
Cultural impact
Malmaison Encore sits within Floris's Ledger Series, a collection rooted in the house's own tradition of careful composition. Its spiced-amber architecture appeals to wearers drawn to warmth and density, a fragrance that doesn't chase novelty but settles into a richer, older mood. The balance of clove, nutmeg, and rose against a base of amber, vanilla, and frankincense places it in lineage with classical perfumery, drawing on the kind of accord structures favored in earlier decades.
