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I have always been fascinated by the unique plant life in Australia, some of it so different and unique to that found anywhere else in the world. As an American married to an Australian I make regular sojourns there, and I never tire of walking around our neighborhood and viewing wattle or eucalyptus that is not to be found in my home state. So when Goldfield & Banks perfumes came out a few years ago, introducing fragrances that highlight some of Australia's native plant life, I was excited to see what they would come up with. I've enjoyed almost all of their releases, to varying degrees. This year's newest release is Ingenious Ginger. I actually had the name wrong until I began writing this article. I had been pronouncing it as "Indigenous Ginger", which personally I think is a better name!
I lived for several years in Singapore and used to walk in their magnificent Botanic Gardens almost every day. I was always intrigued by the Ginger Garden. Although the ginger plants were beautiful, there was no discernable odor coming from their large pod-like red flowers. It seems that Goldfield & Banks owner Dimitri Weber had a love for the red torch ginger flower, but it had no distinctive smell. He and his perfumer turned to an indigenous native plant, the red back ginger, which is known as a "bush tucker" plant, meaning its berries and underground rhizome roots are all edible and have a mild ginger flavor. They used this plant to come up with a ginger flower accord.
From the beginning I liked this scent, but the more I wore it the more it has grown on me, and it is now one of my favorites from the brand. The perfume goes through several evolutions on my skin, but starts with a sparkling lemon and mandarin citrus blast, with a ginger flower accord adding a spicy, warming note. I have not smelled quite this exact combination of notes before, and in this opening phase, it's very more-ish. I keep putting my wrist to my nose to inhale the invigorating scent.
Next there are notes of magnolia, jasmine, and rose, but it is only the magnolia I can discern. The florals lend a creamy texture to the scent, making it soft and billowy. This doesn't last and then the scent deepens. I begin to get more wood and amber notes. I think anyone who enjoys woody perfumes will like this scent. Notes of patchouli, musk, vanilla, sandalwood, and amber give a rich luxurious texture that shifts between a creamy deep wood note to a spicy amber richness. In the final phase of wear, the scent once again softens and a sandalwood vanilla combination plays on my skin.
If you have smelled a ginger perfume where the ginger note is harsh or more edible, this is different. The ginger flower note is rich and spicy, but the only thing it shares with cooking ginger is the sense of warmth that ginger root can provide to a dish.
I was so intrigued by the many changeable phases of this perfume that I decided to find out more about the perfumer. It was a name I was not familiar with, but probably should be as he has a vast portfolio, Hamid Merati-Kashani. He is a German/Iranian perfumer who is based in Dubai, and he says that the Middle East and the opulence of the scents there is a big influence on the fragrances he creates. He was charged with interpreting Dimitri Weber's vision of the unscented ginger flower into reality, and smelling what he has come up with, I'm a believer that this is what this opulent red flower should smell like!
The perfumer has given an impressionistic vision of what the Australian Torch Ginger Lily flower might smell like, and by using a native ginger plant, it is a totally believable and unique fragrance highlighting another unusual Australian plant to add to the growing Goldfield & Banks collection of fragrances.
Top photo from www.GoldfieldandBanks.com. Other photos Google images. Perfume sample is my own.
