Beaufort
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Citrus and spice collide abruptly—zesty bergamot and penetrating black pepper establish territory within seconds, but that strange ink note immediately destabilises any citrus-forward expectations, creating an almost metallic dryness. The rum appears as a warm undertone, slightly boozy, slightly resinous.
The leather and suede emerge as the composition's true character, worn and vegetable-tanned rather than polished, whilst paper notes maintain that peculiar scholastic dryness. Lavender contributes a faint herbal whisper without ever softening the composition's fundamentally austere nature; the woods begin their slow ascent.
Birch tar becomes dominant, genuinely smoky and tarry, accompanied by frankincense's ecclesiastical resin and tobacco's languid, slightly medicinal warmth. Labdanum adds honeyed depth without sweetness, and cedarwood's pencil-shaving dryness persists until the final hours, creating something that feels like it's retreating rather than fading.
Cœur de Noir unfolds like opening a leather-bound ledger in a tobacconist's study—Julie Dunkley has constructed something genuinely architectural here, where smoke isn't merely a top note flourish but the fragrance's foundational philosophy. The black pepper and ginger snap with acrid brightness against the bergamot, but it's that peculiar ink accord that anchors the opening, lending an almost stationery-shop sharpness that prevents this from becoming another woody aromatic cliché.
What distinguishes Cœur de Noir is its refusal to soften into comfort. As the composition settles, the leather doesn't bloom into Hermès-style suppleness; instead, it remains austere, almost industrial, roughened by suede and paper notes that create a texture rather than a scent. The vanilla here isn't sweetening agent—it's barely perceptible, serving merely to prevent the birch tar and frankincense from becoming genuinely unpleasant. This is fragrance as restraint, as challenge.
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3.5/5 (170)