Terror and Magnificence
Eau de Parfum, Beaufort London (2019)

Fragrance In Three Words: Wet Creamy Incense

This is a bit of a difficult one. I was expecting a massive smoky incense and this isn't it at all.

Like a lot of Beaufort fragrances the initial notes seem to run all the way through it. To me this smells slightly sour. I didn't really get a specific wet stone or wet ink note, but it does smell slightly wet and fusty. I can see how it smells cathedral like. I get something similar to creamy sandalwood, cheesy oud and dusty haunted house incense.

It's not really fun, sexy or easily wearable. I can't see it being a dumb reach. It is well composed, interesting and enjoyable to wear. Unlike some Beaufort fragrances this is much subtler than some people may expect it's not a monster in terms of projection or longevity (6 hours).

Rating 7 out of 10
Source: 1ml decant from respected website

Dark yet bracing potion of incense and other resinous notes nicely tainted by tar and smoke and with a bit of a herbal charge. Chest unguent for a dragon maybe, but the overall effect is surprisingly polished rather than rough and ready. Another house would have plonked ‘oud' in the title and no-one would have been any the wiser. I enjoy its dingy depths and the light touch with which they have been summoned forth. Terrified? Not in the least. Pleased? Undoubtedly.

I've been here long enough to remember when nose Pia Long was just another Basenotes member, passing around samples and posting her SOTD's. We all followed her stories as she went to perfumery school and got her job at Lush, so it's really awesome to see her as a full-on perfumer and get to try a proper perfume by her!

So what does this smell like? It's one of those smoky burnt-forest campfire oud scents, reminiscent of the work of West Coast indie perfumers like Sonoma Scent Studios or Olympic Orchids, but with a careful sweetness cutting through the smoke and char. The focus is on a mix of burnt smells - both campfire embers and rubbery tar, but with something tea-like as well, possibly clary sage or fruity resins, which balance out the burnt elements and humanize the whole thing. It morphs over time, starting out more complex, then melting together into something more akin to moist stone, and ending up as smoky cade.

I get the reference to gothic architecture with a pinch of horror - that way that a really complex old church can be dark, shadowy, and menacing even when fully lit. And, given time, this really does smell like cold stone floors. But there's a modern horror quality as well - the smell of forest fire smoke in California mixed with the dangerous charred ozone smell of a hot computer mainframe or server farm.

Well executed - thumbs up!