Bergamotto Marino is a new unisex fragrance from the house of Gianfranco Ferré, intended for use as guest cosmetics by luxury hotels and for purchase by discerning customers. This Pierre Bourdon creation, housed in a Serge Mansau bottle, is highlighted by 25% Calabrian marine bergamot and blended with black currant, melon, lily of the valley, Tunisian orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, mahogany, oakmoss, seaweed, ambergris and musk.
I’m a sucker for anything orange blossom and often find that the scent of bergamot ever-so-slightly reminds me of it. So often used as a top note, accenting the opening aroma of a thousand fragrances, in Bergamotto Marino Bourdon uses bergamot as a centerpiece, a starting point from which to introduce whispers of white florals set against a fresh marine accord of seaweed, ambergris, and musk.
Imagine standing on a yacht with seats crafted from dark coffee-toned mahogany wood, floating somewhere on the coast of Italy in the warmth of summertime. As you pull away from shore and gain speed, the propellers kick up a salty foam that combines with a breeze blown through blossoms of sweet white petals, and dark green leaves.
Somewhere between Aqua di Gio for Men and Thierry Mugler Cologne, Bergamotto Marino sets itself apart with alternating echoes of jasmine and orange blossom set against a warm, rich base. For me, this scent is really all about 3 notes — bergamot, orange blossom and jasmine. Though these are popular florals, rarely have they been presented so purely and with such honesty.
A beautiful scent, like most Ferré fragrances, I’m worried that this one might be destined for the shelves of TJ Maxx in a year or two (remember GiEffeEffe?). Success will depend on product placement and creative marketing, but for now, this is a great moderately-priced summer cologne that I’m sure will be a strong player in my spring and summer rotation. I love it.
Gianfranco Ferré Bergamotto Marino Eau de Cologne is available now in Italy (35 euros for 50 ml and 50 euros for 100 ml) and Russia, and is due for wider release this spring. A bath and body line is also available and the way the cologne is packaged and labeled, I wonder if additional colognes might follow.
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This sounds wonderful, if by jasmine you don't mean tuberose. If you mean tuberose, then I take it all back. I had an orange blossom attack last night: orange blossom bath oil (Jo Malone), orange blossom body cream (Cote Bastide), and orange blossom edt (Cote Bastide again.) Bliss.
This sounds like it would be pretty nice, as long as the melon isn't too strong!
I agree! I think all of the notes sound nice save for that one. Melon terrifies me in perfume.
No reason to be terrified, the melon is well-blended into the florals, which are well-blended with the wood and marine notes.
Definitely NOT tuberose, that's a red flag for me. Just jasmine, orange blossom.
Seriously, someone enlighten me, pleeeeease…what's wrong with tuberose??
I think you've just got some tuberose haters here, LOL…but I'm certainly not one of them
So last weekend i was killing time at a local discount store, waiting for a friend and i came across Bergamotto Marino. I had never heard of it before. So I read this review and hesitated, you see i don’t like neroli/orange blossom nor jasmine. But I decided to buy it anyway because the price was too low to pass. AM I GLAD I DID!
Thanks, I still haven’t smelled it! How aquatic is it?
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t get much marine/aquatic from it. (but I need to try it again as a couple of days after buying it I got a bad cold)
The bergamot, orange blossom and jasmine work very well together to create what I feel is an enhanced and improved neroli scent. Thanks to the jasmin, the orange blossom doesn’t end up smelling like industrial cleaner. And thanks to the bergamot and the orange blossom, the jasmin looses some of it’s overly musky sweetness. I did get some nice mellow wood in the finish, but it was a bit too subtle.
It just comes across as a very classy, old fashion, eau de cologne. Someone would have told me that BM was actually created 100yrs ago and I would have had no problem believing it. It screams of class. My favorite purchase of 2009.
Wow…will have to see if I can find a tester somewhere! Thanks.
I am VERY skittish about marine notes (thanks to a coworker overdosing on Cool Water instead of showering), but BM is only lightly marine-y melon-y, and even then only in the opening. The melon hovers for a while, but to my nose it helps accent the lily of the valley as it transitions into the trio of jasmine/orange flower/bergamot.
I bought 50 ml about a year ago and blazed through it in a summer. I learned my lesson and bought 100 ml this time.
Glad you like it!