William Penhaligon, was an alchemist and an iconoclast, and rebel taking inspiration from unlikely places, mixing together magical vapors to create exclusive scents for discerning ladies and gentlemen of the era. He moved to London in the late 1860s and founded a barber shop on Jermyn Street in Piccadilly, London. Witty, eccentric and wildly creative he soon turned his hand to creating exclusive fragrances for his clients. In 1870 he founded Penhaligons and in 1872 he created his first fragrance Hammam Bouquet and in 1902 he created Blenheim Bouquet for the Duke of Marlborough. By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, William Penhaligon had been appointed Barber and Perfumer to the Royal Court. Penhaligon’s is one of the few true fragrance houses in the world. They design and make their own exclusive scents in England, going to great lengths to achieve precise effects. Only fine and rare ingredients are used, such as hand-squeezed oil of bergamot and jasmine oil at twice the price of gold.
