William Penhaligon was an alchemist and an iconoclast. A Wildean, Byronian rebel taking inspiration from unlikely places, mixing together magical vapors, making sumptuous scents. Born in Penzance, he moved to London in the late 1860s and set up a barber shop next door to the decadent Hammam Turkish baths in Piccadilly. Witty, eccentric, and wildly creative his verve, energy and gift with scent was soon pulling gentlemen in their hordes. Aristocrats, politicians, army officers, courtiers and businessmen became his clients and he, in turn sent them out of his doors smoother, scented, anointed with oils.

In 1872 he fused his first fragrance, a crazy conception inspired, rather strangely, by the steam and sulphur of the Hammam. He named it Hammam Bouquet. He secured his reputation by creating scents for the nobility. Blenheim Bouquet, created for the Duke of Marlborough in 1902, was to become a particular favorite of another distinguished icon of that family, Winston Churchill. Gentlemen's scents up to this time were usually rich and floral; Blenheim Bouquet was one of the first citrus scents created. As bright and zesty as a Mediterranean lemon grove it remains to date our best selling gentleman’s fragrance.

By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, William Penhaligon had been appointed Barber and Perfumer to the Royal Court. Since that time, Penhaligon's has been awarded Royal Warrants by Her Majesty Queen Alexandra in 1903, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956 and, most recently, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in 1988.

After 135 years, the signature Penhaligon's bottle signifies a genuine classic to discerning and dedicated devotees. Penhaligon's is one of the few true perfume houses in the world: designing and making its own scents, 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.