Where it started · Brotherhood Of Scent

🔥

Where it started

I'm not going to get into my fragrance journey here. I've touched on bits and pieces of it over the past few years on this community. I'm just going to touch on what knocked me out of neutral and back interested in finding the next perfect fragrance.

It started with two things; covid and my imagination.

We all had too much time on our hands when we were locked down during that early time. While others may have embraced sourdough starters and banana bread, I looked at it as the perfect time to reinvent myself. I began working out again and I decided it was a great opportunity to explore the world of fragrance and see what my next signature scent would be.

I already had a picture in my mind of what I wanted to find. This should have been my first clue that, even though I live in the south where it's warm nine months out of the year, I'm a sucker for a winter fragrance.

Here's what I was hunting - let me set the scene. It's night. There's a winter storm outside. The wind is whipping and the cold is trying to find its way into the room I'm in. It's a big, classic, masculine study, just like you'd find in the movies. Dark wood everywhere. Bookcases filled with classics. A roaring fireplace. And a big, plush, well worn leather chair, where you smell not only the quality leather, but the history of generations who sat there contemplating life before you were born. You can still pick up the faint scent of the cigars and pipes that were used decades before by those who were there before you. On the stand next to the chair, a favorite book and a glass of bourbon. The only light in the room came from the fireplace, a lamp back in the corner by the big executive desk and the occasional flashes of lightning in the windows.

That's what I was hunting. I wanted all those smells and all that vibe in a bottle that I could spray on me. I wanted the leather and the wood and the smoke and the books and the tobacco and the bourbon and the chill from the wind and the sweat and the history and the darkness. That's what set me on my journey.

Did I ever find it? No. Oh, I got bits and pieces here and there. I found Duke Cannon Bourbon and Oak solid cologne, which kind of hinted at it. I came across Ombre Leather, which blew my mind and let me know that what was in my head actually could be reproduced into fragrance form and accelerated my search. Ebene Fume gave me that smokey incense which fit part of the idea. And a few others that filled in some of the picture.

I may never find that exact setting in one bottle. And that's OK. That picture in my mind got me going, and what I have found since has given me a world of smells and feelings and emotions and expressions that I absolutely love. And let's face it, even if I had that exact scent in front of me, it wouldn't do me any good today, when the heat index is above 100.

6 comments

Where it started