# Floris — Mulberry Fig

> Mulberry Fig (2022) is a limited-edition unisex fig-and-orris composition from Floris's contemporary line, created by the house's in-house perfumers Penny Ellis and Nicola Pozzani and conceived as an 

## Essence
Mulberry Fig (2022) is a limited-edition unisex fig-and-orris composition from Floris's contemporary line, created by the house's in-house perfumers Penny Ellis and Nicola Pozzani and conceived as an olfactory portrait of St James's Park, a short walk from Floris's Jermyn Street shop and noted for its lakeside fig trees. It marries a fruity-green fig opening to a powdery orris heart and a creamy woody-amber base, and is one of the more talked-about recent Floris releases — divisive chiefly over whether its fig and its limited-edition price live up to expectations.
## Scent Profile
The fragrance opens with a green, fruity fig accord seasoned by cardamom and violet leaf — bright, slightly spicy, and tart-green rather than jammy-sweet. The opening is widely singled out as its high point; one wearer compared it to "the unmistakable smell of a freshly printed newspaper, tart and clear, mixed with a gently sweet, floral note," calling the contrast of cypress, fig and iris "really exciting."
The heart pivots: a powdery orris emerges alongside vetiver and cypress, with a soft coconut that occupies the same olfactory space as the iris and lends a "suntan lotion" creaminess. After about an hour the base takes over — a woody-creamy-amber of amyris, sandalwood, cedar and amber that most wearers agree dominates the rest of the wear, with only a subtle hint of coconut lingering.
The fig itself is contested. Collectors who own the canonical fig references frequently find Floris's fig underpowered, describing "a vague powdery woodiness" with "very little fig, leaf or fruit." The honest characterization is a lovely fig-green-orris opening that resolves into a soft, powdery, creamy-woody amber drydown — first and foremost a woody fragrance with fruity-floral top dressing, despite the "fig" name.
## Performance
Performance reports diverge sharply, which is itself the Floris pattern. Some find it surprisingly good for the house — "it's not loud, it's on the quiet side but it lasts," with reports of 5–6 hours on clothing and close-range projection. Others report the signature Floris fade, the beautiful opening collapsing quickly into the woody base and diminishing in the last third. The consensus middle ground is moderate longevity, intimate-to-moderate sillage, and a quiet skin-forward wear that rewards application to clothing. It is not a projection monster.
## Wearing Context
This is a spring and early-summer daytime fragrance by general placement, though the warm creamy-woody drydown also reads well in autumn and the evening. The green-fruity opening and creamy "suntan lotion" facet make it feel sunlit and relaxed, and it is widely described as office-appropriate and non-offensive in close quarters. Its unisex framing holds up: some find it leans slightly feminine via the powdery orris, others slightly masculine via the woods. It is versatile within a daytime, smart-casual register.
## Comparisons & DNA
The clearest line is the Floris house signature itself — understated, powdery, orris-centric and classically British — recognizable even when the specific profile is novel. Against the canonical fig references, Diptyque Philosykos and Acqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi, Mulberry Fig reads as a weaker, more abstract and powdery fig: less green-milky and juicy, more polished and woody. The Miller Harris woody style (one wearer pinned the drydown to "Tea Tonique") is a closer structural cousin than the fig canon. Within Floris's own output it belongs to the modern, more adventurous line rather than the heritage numbered series such as No. 89 and No. 127.
## Reception
Reception is enthusiastic but caveated by price sensitivity. Admirers run hot, calling it "a big win" and "absolutely superb and beautiful — like something you'd get from Acqua di Parma at their best." The principal criticism is value: at roughly $300+ for a limited edition, fig specialists feel shortchanged, with one calling it "an exceptionally weak fig fragrance" that "doesn't measure up." A secondary, common observation is the disappearing opening — "the original beautiful Mulberry and Fig opening didn't last that long" — which led at least one wearer to lower an initially perfect score. No major critic reviewed Mulberry Fig itself, though Colognoisseur's Mark Behnke has separately praised the perfumer team behind it.
## Versions & Reformulation
Mulberry Fig launched in 2022 as a limited-edition eau de parfum in 50ml and 100ml, with sample sizes from Floris, created by the in-house team at 89 Jermyn Street. Floris places it in its Private Collection and describes a "floral amber" combining "the soft powdery character of orris with hints of fruit and spice." Despite the limited-edition label, it has remained orderable longer than a one-off run would imply, and many suspect continued production due to demand. No reformulation is documented, though note lists vary slightly across databases (some adding coumarin to the base) while the core fig-orris-woody-amber structure stays consistent.
## Acquisition Notes
Nominally limited but, in practice, more available than its label suggests; it has surfaced at discounters at substantial reductions to the Floris retail price, as well as direct from Floris in sample and full sizes. The strong advice is to sample first, because the fig is divisive and the value proposition at full retail (around £200 / $300+) is the chief complaint, whereas at discounter prices it is a far easier recommendation. Buy it for the green-fig-and-orris opening and the soft creamy-woody drydown, not for a heavy, juicy, long-lasting fig bomb. Floris's limited US brick-and-mortar presence means online is the practical channel for most buyers.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The concept is hyper-local: Floris built the fragrance around the fig trees lining the lake in St James's Park, "a quick promenade away from our Jermyn Street shop."
- The flagship address, 89 Jermyn Street, is the same "89" that gives Floris's heritage classic No. 89 its name.
- The perfumer pairing of Penny Ellis and Nicola Pozzani is Floris's modern in-house creative team, working under ninth-generation family member and Perfume Director Edward Bodenham.
- The coconut-orris interplay produces a "suntan lotion" impression that is a recurring, somewhat unexpected talking point, and part of why several wearers call it "unlike anything I've come across before."