Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka Notes and Character

Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka notes are easy to hold in the head: one note for each level of the pyramid, lavender, myrrh and tonka bean. The house starts from a place, the golden sand dunes of the Namib desert and the distinctive myrrh tree, whose resin scent travels on the hot air and mingles with the warm almond and vanilla tones of tonka bean. Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka is a Cologne Intense in 100 ml, and the house calls the result sensuous and captivating.

Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka notes: one note per level

The house names exactly one note for each level and gives each a short description, so this is among the easiest pyramids to read. There is no long list to sort through. If top, heart and base are new terms, our guide to reading a fragrance pyramid explains how the levels work.

• Top: Lavender
• Heart: Omumbiri Myrrh
• Base: Tonka Bean

Lavender opens the perfume. It is an aromatic herb that usually gives a dry, clean start, and here it arrives before the resin does. At the heart sits Namibian myrrh, which the house calls Omumbiri. Myrrh is a tree resin, and in perfumery it commonly adds a warm, balsamic depth. The house's page also carries a quote about travelling to Namibia to see how local artisans harvest it. Tonka bean closes the pyramid. The house points to its warm almond and vanilla tones, and they supply the sweetness of the whole composition.

Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka review: what it smells of, in plain words

Read as a whole, the pyramid moves from herbal to resinous to sweet. The lavender is dry and aromatic, the myrrh adds a warm, resinous weight and the tonka bean rounds it off with almond and vanilla tones. The sweetness is real but held in check. The house files this perfume under its Woody scents, and our tags are woody, oriental and aromatic rather than gourmand, so it comes across as a warm resin with a soft, sweet finish and not as a dessert.

Because there is one note per level, the movement is simple to follow. Lavender is what you meet first, the myrrh takes over as the opening settles, and the tonka bean is what remains. In practice the levels overlap, so treat that order as a guide to the idea, not as a timetable.

Many people hope to find a review under this name. What follows is a close reading instead: it rests on the house's own words and on our listing tags, not on a wear report. Our intensity tag is strong, which matches the richer style of a Cologne Intense, so the perfume has presence and a few sprays are usually enough.

Who Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka suits, and when

We list it as unisex. It suits people who like warm, resinous scents with some sweetness, and who want lavender as an aromatic, herbal opening. Our tags give it evenings and special occasions, in autumn and winter. Cold weather lets the resin settle in, so in heat a light hand keeps the lavender in front. If you prefer something bright, green or watery, a lighter perfume is likely to fit better.

Cologne Intense in 100 ml: what we list

The house sells its perfumes as Cologne and as the richer Cologne Intense, and it says its colognes are made in Britain. Myrrh & Tonka reaches us in the second form, and we list the 100 ml bottle. No other concentration or size of this perfume is in our catalogue. For the scale of concentrations in general, our guide to perfume concentrations sets it out, and the house's colognes sit together in our cologne collection.

Jo Malone London describes itself as a British lifestyle brand known for its fragrance portfolio, and it also makes candles, diffusers and bath and body products. Combining scents is typical for the house. Each cologne page suggests partner scents to layer into a personal blend.

Jo Malone London perfumes that share its notes

Three more perfumes from the Jo Malone London collection overlap with Myrrh & Tonka in notes or in scent tags. Each follows the house habit of one note per level.

Jo Malone London Scarlet Poppy shares the tonka bean base and the oriental scent tag. The house gives it ambrette on top, a bold poppy accord at the heart and tonka bean at the base, with accents of almond, vanilla and tobacco. Our scent tags are floral, oriental and gourmand, for evenings in autumn and winter.

Jo Malone London Cypress & Grapevine shares the Woody family and the aromatic tag. Its pyramid is cypress, grapevine and amber, and the house describes the grapevine as a blend of cedarwood, vetiver, amber and juicy grape. The house presents it as a fresh woody scent for men, and our tags suit work and evenings in spring and autumn.

Jo Malone London Oud & Bergamot shares the oriental and woody scent tags. Bergamot opens, cedarwood sits at the heart and oud forms the base, and the house adds black musk and a gourmand praline touch. Like Myrrh & Tonka, it carries a strong intensity tag for autumn and winter evenings.

To look further, you can explore the range by scent, or open the tonka bean collection and the lavender collection to see which perfumes list those notes.

Frequently asked questions

What are the notes of Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka?

The house names one note per level: lavender on top, Omumbiri myrrh at the heart and tonka bean at the base. It describes the tonka bean with warm almond and vanilla tones.

What does Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka smell of?

Lavender gives a dry, herbal start, myrrh adds warm resin at the heart, and tonka bean brings almond and vanilla sweetness. The house calls the result sensuous and captivating.

Is Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka unisex?

We list it as unisex, as a Cologne Intense in 100 ml. The house files it under its Woody scents, and no other concentration or size of it is in our catalogue.