The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Cardamom arrived in 2025 as part of JMP Artisan Perfumes' Botanica collection, created exclusively for House of Merlo, a perfumery in Warsaw. The release marks a turn toward something more restrained within a catalogue that has ranged from dense forest greens to smoked-wood urban works. The Botanica line narrows the house's usual scope, asking what happens when a single spice is treated on its own terms. The opening finds bergamot and cardamom sharing the foreground, the citrus lending a cool, green peppery lift that keeps the spice from tipping into anything overtly sweet. Cardamom gradually takes command, its sweet-licorice edge warming as cinnamon threads through the composition.
The composition earns its name honestly. Cardamom sits up front, paired with bergamot rather than buried under it, which lets the spice lead instead of merely accent. Black tea and cinnamon handle the middle, a pairing that gives warmth without leaning sweet. The base is where Pietrynka's restraint shows: cedarwood and sandalwood for grain, oak absolute and styrax for the dark resinous pull. Nothing here is shouting for attention. The whole structure is built on the idea that a single, well-treated ingredient deserves the space to speak.
The evolution
The opening belongs to bergamot and cardamom, and they arrive bright, almost cool, with a green peppery lift that feels more aromatic than dessert-spice. Bergamot softens quickly, leaving cardamom in the foreground, its sweet-licorice edge turning warmer as cinnamon enters the picture. The black tea shows up tannic and slightly dry, pulling the sweetness back so the composition reads warm but not gourmand. The middle phase is the most balanced part: cedarwood and sandalwood begin to surface beneath the spice, and the oak absolute adds a quiet leathery note that keeps everything from going soft. Styrax takes over as the fragrance settles, a smoky benzoin sweetness that clings to skin. On fabric the oak and styrax outlast everything, still faintly resinous long after the spices have faded.
Cultural impact
Cardamom carries one of the oldest spice pedigrees on record, a pod that has traveled through trade routes and kitchens for centuries. Its aroma sits at a crossroads: bright enough to lift a fresh composition, yet deep enough to anchor something warm and resinous. The spice reads as both familiar and exotic, a scent that conjures the warmth of a kitchen in winter and the aromatic density of a Middle Eastern souk in equal measure. In perfumery, cardamom often serves as the thread that connects citrus brightness to woody depth, offering a green peppery snap that evolves into something sweeter and more balsamic as it dries down.
