Malabah Penhaligon's (2003) Eau de Parfum

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7.7 / 10 288 Ratings

Malabah (Eau de Parfum) is a popular perfume by Penhaligon's for women and was released in 2003. The scent is spicy-citrusy. It is still in production.

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Top Notes	Coriander, Lemon, Earl Grey tea
Heart Notes	Ginger, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Rose, Iris
Base Notes	Amber, Sandalwood, Musk

Ratings

Scent

7.7 (288 Ratings)

Longevity

6.5 (196 Ratings)

Sillage

5.5 (192 Ratings)

Bottle

8.0 (197 Ratings)

Submitted by Seglein, last update on 04.02.2019

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Reviews

09/18/2018

8.0 7.0 7.0 7.5/10

Augusto

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Augusto

Very helpful Review 7

Summer Oriental. Chai smell. Blue sky and glistening sun...

AugustA smells in here: After an orangey-mountainy citrus opening with a slight, almost imperceptible coriander spice, the fragrance quickly becomes a tea scent. Very strong tea, a dark black tea, very aromatic. Orange in fragrance and colour. After about an hour it is both slightly spicier and finer, perhaps the rose and some cardamom. Ah, also ginger, of course, and nutmeg, but not bitter.

All in all very light, refreshing like a lemonade and also strengthening like a strong slightly sweetened Earl-Grey or Chinese tea due to the tea flavoring tannin illusion. Of course it is summer-compatible.

The spicy-rose mixture is somewhat peculiar, as it is tasty and soapy at the same time. So something you like to eat together with something you wash off with on the outside. Perhaps a fragrant oriental (before the) breakfast scent?
From the second hour on, this divergent mixture of components unites into a delicate veil. Slightly sweet, but above all citric - more orange even, I stick to it, I like it.

Summer oriental, chai scent, it all kind of hits you. A little sand and a warm breeze, blue sky and glistening sun.
He tells a nice little story, but doesn't fascinate me completely. But that's what makes it so charming. It is playful, exotic, not arbitrary, different and simply very fragrant.

1 Replies

07/31/2018

7.0 6.0 7.0 7.5/10

Serenissima

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Serenissima

Greatly helpful Review 10

was the tea cook in love?

Penhaligon's is now not exactly a company whose fragrances can score particularly well with me.
Therefore I was already surprised, when on the occasion of my birthday a filling of "Malabah" reached me.
But what was right for a Queen Victoria, who raised William Penhaligon to the rank of "barber and perfumer of the English royal court" towards the end of her reign, should not be "pushed off my bed" untested either.
(Five years after the death of the monarch this privilege expired by the way.)

So I tried "Malabah" several times and at different times of the day; the result did not change much.
"The cook is probably in love!" is generally said when the food is salty.
Here I have the feeling that the tea cook had a new treasure when she put this creation together: for me a bit too much of everything seems to have gotten into the mixing tube; according to the motto: "A lot helps a lot!"

More than forty years ago a friend introduced me to the fascinating world of tea and since then I have been celebrating tea whenever possible.
Earl Grey tea with its fresh and at the same time steaming bergamot note is therefore also very popular in fragrances.
"Earl Grey & Cucumber" by Jo Malone, to whom I also dedicated a loving commentary, is at times like these, when the heat stands in front of the windows, a welcome and joyfully worn companion.
Especially after sports or as a "Hairmist", this scented fabric is extremely suitable.

So my curiosity about Penhaligon's "Malabah" grew now anyway.
Already at the beginning this actually beloved teen note is covered very clearly by lemon and the spice of the coriander also appears somewhat strongly. That's a shame!
Also because the lemon always smells a little chemical; is probably due to my skin?
The "spice aria" is continued, because the popular kitchen spices cardamom, nutmeg and ginger harmonize with each other and also include coriander and lemon beautifully in their circle.
Only now the Earl Grey tea suffers total shipwreck - at least with me.
The flower beauties rose and iris can also not do too much anymore.
Although they round off the fresh spice, they can remove the tea aroma even further from this composition.
So far the Earl Grey experience, known as so beautiful, has finally taken flight.
Unfortunately, musk and lemon do not get along at all for my sense of smell: the warm, wadded musk blanket is felt somewhat "flaky" under the influence of citrus: I would like to use the example of curdled milk here.
Please, this is my very personal feeling: it can be quite different for the next user!
So the addition of amber and sandalwood, two of my absolute fragrance favorites, is welcomed as not quite so happy.

Obviously, the chemistry between Penhaligon's and me is just not right This is not changed by the knowledge that both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales still testify to their favor for this company.
May they be happy with these, after reading surely very interesting scents.

I was only pleased that the durability is not breathtaking and that we could separate quite fast from each other So I took my proverbial "hat" at "Malabah" and made off.

This bottling ends up in the "Wanderpröbchen"!
Maybe she will still reach a person who can fully appreciate and love this fragrance creation.

7 Replies

07/03/2018

Flavia82

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Flavia82

Less helpful Review 1

It shoots through my head: A No-Go

Every now and then I treat myself to a scent from the TK Maxx lottery. Malabah was one of them. The first time I tried it, I didn't like the smell. Now I have tested it again, after I have rummaged here at Parfumo Penhaligons fragrances; Sprayed on a piece of chlorine-free bleached Klorolle - in memory of the bad experience the last time.
I think I know coriander from DS & Durga, I don't smell it, I've drunk Earl Grey tea before.
Short lemony. But almost immediately this almost unbearable flower scent comes into my nose, which I cannot classify. What is this sweet pungent smell? Is it a combination? Or artificial. I call it hyacinth.... first in lulled in, say, bergamot lavender later then almost in... like a bad soap...

...all speculation! And only half an hour..

12 Replies

10/28/2013

5.0 3.0/10

Sorceress

Helpful Review 1

A Better Summer Oriental

Sweet candied fruits, the old-fashioned kind that are chewy and have sugar crystals on them. You can only get them in a candy confectioner's shoppe. And each one is sitting in a little white paper wrapper. The flowers and spices join in after a bit, creating quite a full-bodied fragrance. All for a few minutes. And then it disappears into an extremely soft hint of a fragrance, lasting about three hours before it fades away.
Malabah sits so close to my skin, I can barely notice it. The opening is delightful and almost magical, bringing one back to a childhood memory of candy shoppes and their wonderful aromas. The mix of all the notes are nicely blended to call this an Oriental except it's not sultry enough, or seductive enough in my mind. It just needs some more boost. It's seems as if it's not matured enough.
Perhaps if I was craving a spicier scent in the summer, this might be a good choice, but definitely not one for the cold weather months when a stronger perfume is needed.

09/20/2013

10.0 5.0 7.5 5.0/10

Flavorite

Helpful Review 4

In Short, Spicy Cedarwood with Lime and Orange

I tried this about a year ago, and it's been on my short list for possible fb purchase. So glad I bought a sample. It's not working for me at all. It sort of reminds me of L'Or Torrente, but without the warm coffee note...leaving lots of hollow pencil shavings and orange rinds tossed about the floor. I get a rustic kind of coriander, ginger spice mixture and I absolutely abhor it when people say that a fragrance smells like "A GrandMa/Old Lady" fragrance- since I am getting up there in years, not only is it not really descriptive- but my Grandmother with her sex bomb "Youthdew" and Vetyver fragrances, seemed to rock my Grandfather's world for 70 years...possibly longer since they lived to be nearly 100. So, I am not going to comment on the appropriate age group for this fragrance or gender...it's All and Both. It's just not for me. I felt it was too cedary, too orange-rindy and too Ambergrisy for my taste, but like everything from the House of Penhaligon, worth sampling. Inspite of being too much of some key notes, the sillage is watery but detectable about a ft. (30.48 cm) away when you move through space and it last for several hours at a lower volume adding a dry, woody, cinnamon and gingery pepper note to the skin- somehow though, the combination just doesn't excite me like Diptyque L'eau or Jo Malone's Nutmeg & Ginger, or Molton Brown's Black Pepper, all of which, "If I were a Rich Man...yada dada da da da..."I would be wearing right now...all day, every day. Seriously though, there is a bit of stuffiness and British refinery in this that really screams "Cucumber Sandwich, crumpet, Earl Grey...haberdashery." In spite of the spices which cool and blend into a trunk of antiquities, the orris root and musk behave rather politely on the right Gal or Guy- this probably spells of Kasbah markets fragrance with curry blends, rich hand carved woods and the finest silks.

02/08/2013

TeaWithMilk

Helpful Review 4

Chai Tea - My Fave!

I love and worship chai tea. I am a cardamom-obsessed weirdo. I want to eat it and smell like it at all times. That being said, Malabah is one of the best cardamom chai perfumes I've come across. It starts out fresh with citrus and tea, but it quickly becomes creamy with a touch of smoky amber for depth. It's the smokiness here that I really swoon over and that "makes" the perfume.

My screen name isn't TeaWithMilk for nothing! I'm on a quest for the best tea fragrances I can get my hands on, and this is way up there on my list. The only think I can add is that I *wish* it were stronger. If this were a sillage monster I would truly be in heaven!

The notes above are incorrect--it's cardamom here, not cinnamon, says the Penhaligon's website.

SUMMARY: Sipping real Indian chai and eating rasmalai--my cardamom heaven

04/14/2012

5.0 5.0 6.0/10

Missk

Spicy but not exotic

Malabah is such a beautiful name for a fragrance. Here I was captivated by its name and imagining a rich, spicy tea scent with an element of exotic sensuality.

This fragrance, to put it nicely, is too polite and refined in my opinion. It's simplistic, inoffensive and rather plain.

Malabah opened with some interesting accords which had me hoping this fragrance would develop into something magical. The lemony tea opening was about as interesting as it gets.

The heart is a combination of sweet and spicy, with such weak sillage that one may wonder if they're wearing a perfume at all. I've had my fair share of spicy rose scents, and Malabah has left me underwhelmed in that department.

For my spiced tea fix I usually turn to the beautiful L'Artisan's Tea for Two, not Malabah. I like strong, in-your-face kind of fragrances, and this Penhaligon's offering is far too lady-like and quiet for my personal tastes. I find it very British.

The lasting strength is pretty poor, struggling to last half the day on my skin. It was far too discreet and lacked serious warmth and distinction. It's pleasant, I'll say that much, but exotic is not a word that comes to mind when describing Malabah unfortunately.

01/17/2012

SystemeD

Helpful Review 4

A spice lover's dream

Oh, Malabah is one of my absolute favorites from Penhaligon's.

I get lemon tea at the opening, but that is quite brief.

I can definitely perceive both the orris root and the rose in the heart, but on me, the ginger and cardamom really stand out.

There's a gorgeous woody drydown, with the spices abiding long into it.

This one is a spice lover's dream.

1 Replies