East India / Vi Et Armis
Beaufort London (2015)

I get a smoky, medicinal, and boozy vibe from this fragrance, which I find intriguing. The combination of tea leaf and whiskey is interesting, although the addition of tobacco makes me a bit confused. The notes seem to clash a bit too much for my liking. I might have to give it some more testing to fully appreciate it.

This is stupendous! It is the best smoke fragrance that I'ver smelt, and with considerable competition, from pretty much everything in Sorcinelli's UNUM line (especially, of course, LAVS), and from many others, not forgetting most other entries in Leo Crabtree's own Beaufort brand. And, to be clear from the off, good here means strong, in fact overpowering smoke - getting a strong whiff of just-sprayed Vi et Armis caught in one's nostrils may well result in near knock-out experiences, caveat emptor! Thankfully it resolves into a St. James's (London) Club at 9pm in the week between Christmas and New Year's kind of vibe, all tobacco, malt whisky, Christmas pudding complete with brandy butter, leather and well-polished mahogany - but mostly, unmistakably and genre-definingly: peat. This is a smoky fragrance in the way Laphroaig is a peaty whisky, that is to say - you effing bet it is! In fact, in my mind the image this might convey is of the aforementioned gentleman's club - but magically transported to the windswept, peat-smoked, wave-beaten shores of the Hebridean island of Islay, the source of most peaty-whisky greats.

And this is where I have - or perhaps used to have? - my one nagging concern with this fragrance. Instead of that impossible image of a colonial gentleman's club in a remote Scottish island, the entire inspiration, the marketing framework, the whole background of this product is based on what the website blurb used to call, with what I can only consider shameless reserve, 'Britain's complex relationship with other nations', not pausing to add 'and its [Britain's] dominance of international sea trade across the centuries.' I say 'used to' because now (since when? I don't know... some time in the last three years) the website text eschews this triumphalist, arrogant jingo claptrap and sings instead of 'a celebration of that which is smoked.' Phew. I suppose....

'People don't change' said CSI Caine, and sure enough, he eventually found his suspect – an old gambler – down by the race track.

And by the same logic, it's no surprise that the drummer of The Prodigy – whose No1 hit was Firestarter – should release an intense pong of creosote and smoke. (Although, in a twist of irony, it wasn't him playing back then but a drum sample.)

A cineolic bonfire, V&A triggers the trigeminal nerve – the fire alarm in the human nose – which is what the Spiky Woods do. But being 'natural' – unlike Sauvage and all the rest of that stuff, this is the Rootsman version, and it’s much better for it.

It is maybe a gimmick though (and muguet would have been welcome) but there's no denying it – this gets your attention like a house on fire.

This one was probably my favorite from the house. I was initially hesitant of the tea note, but I didn't find it prominent in the blend. The opening features a unique smokiness with an almost sulfuric quality to my nose -- different than many other smoky accords. It reminded me of a lit match and burning fireworks ... like the scent in the air on the Fourth of July. Very enjoyable to my nose on a cool summer evening.

Fragrance in three words: Tar and Treacle

Vi Et Armis smells like black treacle when it first goes on my skin possibly due to the way a fruity cardamom mixes with a hefty black pepper.

As the fragrance evolves I get smokey Lapsang Souchang tea. It avoids the burnt rubber aspect of Bulgari Black (1998) and the softer seductive side of Lapsang used in L'instant de Guerlain (2004 or new packaging 2018). It's probably the most authentic Lapsang note I've smelt.

I get whiffs of birch tar which remind me of fresh tarmac. This fragrance is said to use Cambodian Oud unfortunately I can't smell it. I do get some fleeting sweetness which is most likely whisky. It's pretty much four notes for me: tea, black pepper birch tar and smokey incense. It's worth mentioning the incense in this is not as smooth as the one in Beaufort's Terror and Magnificence (2019).

A complex and interesting fragrance. If you are turned off by black pepper, smoke or birch tar you will really struggle with this. It is a strong fragrance which lasts around 8 hours.

Price (2021) is £110 for 50ml. I would consider a bottle.

Scores 7.5 out of 10

Source: 1ml Sample

Every so often a perfume comes along that stops you in your tracks. That has you scrabbling down the back of the sofa for any change you can find because the urge to own the sensation is overwhelming.

Odd then that the opening blast is just a little off-putting. The sort of powerful, orange fire and fireworks that makes you raise your eyebrows and take a step back. But minutes later it settles, still powerful and strong, but now deeply soothing, musky, dark green and playful. It is a scent that can hold its own against all the rough and tumble of a day, that reminds you of its presence as unexpected moments of joy and comfort hours after that first and still lingers the next morning. It is a scent that says ‘I am'. And I am more than good with that.