Our take
What does Le Jardin de Monsieur Li smell like?
The fifth perfume in the Hermès garden series, Le Jardin de Monsieur Li came out in 2015. Jean-Claude Ellena built it on the memory of a Chinese garden, somewhere between the real and the imagined. Kumquat opens with a tart orange-peel bite that turns rounder than you expect. A faint mint sits in the background. Then comes the jasmine. Nothing heady here: it smells watery and clean, closer to a lotus floating on a pond. The drydown is green sap and pale wood, with a hint of wet stone. Everything stays close to the skin. It is the softest of the series, quieter even than Un Jardin sur le Nil, and you have to lean in to catch it. Expect a few hours of wear at most. On paper it holds on a little longer than on skin.
When to wear it
Ideal for a hot day at the office, where a louder scent would intrude. Keep a travel spray in your bag because it needs a top-up after lunch.
It belongs to the Citrus, Aromatic family. Le Jardin de Monsieur Li is one of 47 creations by Hermès in our encyclopedia.