According to perfumer Marissa Zappas, Smoked Jasmine Black Tea was inspired "by the scent of black tea spilled over an old book." If I spilled tea on my 1742 edition of The Drapier's Letters, I'd have a panic attack. Putting that unpleasant thought aside, it's another interesting image conjured by a person who connects her olfactory work with visual stimuli, a practice that often yields interesting results.
I'm intrigued that Marissa names many of her perfumes after the accords they represent, which is an unusual Jo Malone-like marketing strategy. With names like Honey Rose and Violet Hay (after the designer), the compositions apparently strive to match their names as closely as possible. This is most true of The Garden Collection, as her other creations are more abstractly titled, but her floral fragrances attracted me to the brand. Smoked Jasmine Black Tea sets up the expectation of a rich jasmine floral perfume with heady accents of aromatic tea. Sounds like a lovely combination.
My initial experience with the fragrance was positive. Zappas describes the scent as "wet, like old books," and "quietly smoky." It smells very wet in the first ten minutes, with a translucent bouquet of jasmine immediately hitting my senses in its indolic glory. That she managed to make jasmine smell both rich and wispy is no small feat -- Hedione is probably in the mix. This fresh opening is accompanied by a tangy and citrusy supporting act, which smells somewhat like bergamot, but not quite, and it serves to buoy the florals beyond being sweet/skanky. The first forty-five minutes is very nice.
Unfortunately, everything falls apart after that. The jasmine fades out and leaves a mere whisper of sweetness, and nothing else steps up to the plate. It all happens within two hours. I smell a vague peripheral smokiness that I guess is the tea? It never develops into anything. It sort of hangs behind the jasmine, and when it's all but gone, I'm glad I didn't drop $150 on a full bottle. This is an okay perfume, but it feels unfinished.