Atkinsons
Atkinsons
139 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Cardamom explodes with peppery intensity, immediately supported by the herbal snap of clary sage and broom's almost aggressive greenness. Within ninety seconds, Virginia cedar muscularly asserts itself, drawing a vertical line through the composition that feels less like fragrance and more like drawing breath in cold air.
The cedar settles into a distinctly resinous, wood-grain authenticity as cashmeran emerges beneath, providing a whisper of softness that humanises the otherwise stern woody structure. The spice mellows fractionally, allowing the green-earthiness to breathe, creating a temporary accord of almost cool contemplation before the base fully establishes.
Cashmeran and moss dominate the final hours, transforming the scent into something decidedly quieter and warmer—a gradual descent into damp earth and skin-scent cedar that clings rather than projects. What remains is less fragrance and more the memory of walking through a cedar-lined room in autumn.
The Big Bad Cedar announces itself with the swagger of a timber merchant who's read too much nineteenth-century literature. This is cedar stripped of its typical spa-like civility—instead, Atkinson's presents a peppery, almost bristling interpretation where cardamom and clary sage spar with the woody base like sparks off flint. The opening salvo feels deliberately austere, rejecting any notion of comfort in favour of architectural clarity.
What emerges is less a fragrance and more an olfactory argument for restraint. The Virginia cedar dominates with mineral-like precision, its slightly astringent character amplified by the green prickle of broom—that curious note that feels simultaneously herbal and slightly bitter, like crushed straw mixed with blackcurrant leaf. The spice doesn't sweeten or warm; instead, cardamom adds a peppery, almost medicinal edge that prevents the composition from settling into anything remotely cosy.
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3.8/5 (181)