Floris — Platinum 22
Essence
Platinum 22 is a 2022 unisex EDP that the centuries-old British house Floris created to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, 70 years on the throne. Despite the regal, garden-inspired marketing, the fragrance divided its audience into two camps: those who read it as a dry, elegant, woody-powdery iris in the Dior Homme lineage, and those who read it as a soft gourmand, sugared iris on almond cake. Its distinctive signature is an unusual oat-and-orris combination that gives it a doughy, scone-like quality not found in most iris fragrances.
Scent Profile
The defining tension is iris-dry versus iris-sweet. The gourmand case, made explicitly by critic Eddie Bulliqi, describes a shapeless first half-hour before iris gains ground with earthy, pencil-like, rooty notes while fluffy almond settles into pound cake flavored with almond essence, with pepper and tea adding a bitter-spicy lift like Earl Grey served with a black pepper biscuit. A more sober reading describes a citrus opening of lime and blackcurrant giving way to a powdery, velvet-wrapped iris with brief violet and rose, then amber and musk fixing it down, with an unmistakable, persistent black tea. The off-list oat note is what nearly every careful wearer flags: it rounds the orris into something creamy, smooth, and sweet, like oats in vanilla milk. Linearity is moderate, with a slightly scruffy start and then a long, stable iris-tonka-cedar heart and base.
Performance
The most consistent criticism is performance. Some wearers call it low performance for an EDP, with both sillage and longevity modest, and one wrist test against Dior Homme Parfum found them nearly identical except that Platinum 22 projected and lasted less. Other readings rate longevity above-average, with one reviewer reporting eight to ten hours on skin and clothing but with deliberately gentle sillage, the kind people lean in to smell rather than one that announces itself. The fair reconciliation is good close-range longevity with quiet projection. It is best in spring and fall and is not built for extreme heat, rewarding generous application.
Wearing Context
Pitched as year-round and versatile, the documented sweet spot is spring and autumn, daytime through smart evening. The unisex framing is near-universal, with most reading it as femme-leaning in the opening and gender-neutral by the woody-amber drydown. Settings skew refined and low-key, suited to the office, formal evenings, and warm-weather gatherings, in a quiet-luxury register rather than a statement one. One wearer’s image of a dinner at the Windsors, fine and elegant and spiced with tradition, captures the intended mood.
Comparisons & DNA
The most cited reference is Dior Homme and Dior Homme Parfum, invoked constantly for the woody-powdery iris, though several insist Platinum 22 is a bit more classy, less leathery and smoky, with a fruity-blackcurrant rather than cocoa drydown. BDK Parfums Gris Charnel recurs as a high-tea cousin, although dissenters note Gris Charnel is heavier and sweeter. Amouage Reflection Man is offered as a more reserved, vanillic, and feminine relative, and Maison Crivelli Iris Malikhan as a reference for the serious-iris crowd. There are no designer clones; if anything Platinum 22 is the more expensive, quieter cousin to the designer iris benchmarks.
Reception
Consensus is lovely but expensive and weak, with genuine polarization on identity. Praise centers on its high-quality, smooth, elegant, exceptional iris and the oat-orris-tea giving a distinctive tea-time-in-the-royal-gardens character. Criticism clusters on performance for an EDP and on price relative to distinctiveness, with some finding it too expensive to add if you already own similar irises, and one voice dismissing it as too designer-smelling for the house’s prestige. The polarization runs along two axes: dry-elegant iris versus sweet-gourmand iris, and Dior-Homme-clone versus genuinely different.
Versions & Reformulation
This is a single composition with no known reformulations. It was a Jubilee tie-in with specific commemorative trappings: a complimentary limited-edition purple Platinum Jubilee silk scarf was included with 100ml bottles, and Floris ran a tree-planting component under the Queen’s Green Canopy. It was offered in 2ml and 10ml samples and a 100ml full bottle as a vegan formula. The perfumer of record is Leslie Gauthier, and Perfume Director Edward Bodenham publicly framed it as a unique, once-in-a-lifetime project.
Acquisition Notes
This is a premium-niche EDP whose boutique pricing sits at the high end, with US listings showing figures up to around $310 but heavy discounting to roughly $120 to $145, and grey-market pricing around $115. Sizes include 2ml and 10ml samples and travel formats plus the 100ml bottle. Decants are widely available and, given the modest performance and divisive profile, are the recommended entry point. Counterfeiting is not a documented concern at this tier; the practical risk is overpaying at boutique price when discounters routinely list it far cheaper.
Notable Facts & Lore
- It was created for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years of Elizabeth II’s reign, with the “22” denoting the year.
- The stated inspiration was the Buckingham Palace gardens, with lime for a flash of freshness and tea notes honoring the Queen’s garden tea parties.
- Floris holds multiple Royal Warrants, the first awarded in 1820 to George IV.
- It remains the only fragrance house ever granted the title Perfumer to HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1971, which is why the Jubilee commission landed with them.
- It carries no viral influencer moment, reading instead as a heritage commemorative release that quietly became an under-the-radar connoisseur’s iris.