Cathedral Library

I received this as a sample with my purchase and I love it. At first it's an immediate vanilla scent that's of sweet and creamy it's almost like vanilla pudding, the leather and oak then immediately come in to create a lovely rich smokey vanilla. In the dry down the vanilla I barely there taken over by what I describe as a classic bonefire scent. It's super smokey I 100% recommend.

I was kindly sent this as a sample with purchase, as I believe it's only just been released. Immediately a get a lot of vanillin ( intended to mimic old paper as it breaks down ) . Not sweet , ice cream vanilla , this isn't a gourmand, it's real bourbon extract, dry and rich. Still, a it's a lot of vanilla, at first too much for this vanilla-phobe. In mere seconds though other notes are coming through which ground it somewhat. I get the wood of the library bookshelves. It's not a "perfume" woody note ( I've been trying Out of the Woods and that far more a typical woody perfume it dries down to a traditional barbershop cologne with ISO and one of the amberwoods but gets there via an interesting route ) . Nor is it a green, forest glade . It not outdoorsy at all. It really is old, teak furniture. Polish and dust. I then get touches of something slightly sharper, acrid smoke or incense. After about half an hour they merge and fade into a sweet, smokey scent. Oil lamps, wicks dipped in vanilla oil to cover up the tallow smell, leaving a trail of smoke as a shrouded monk hurries between the stacks . Only to fade into shadow. I can't see me wearing it as I need a more traditional fragrance, but it might please someone into indie frags or work as an ambient scent.

I had this from the January Joy Box at the start of the year and it was my favourite out of those. (I think it's the same one, but correct me if I'm wrong!) It's very evocative, immediately put me in church with old hymn books with leather covers, blown out candles and the trails of incense smoke. I don't actually wear this out, I use a couple of sprays when I'm curled up reading. I'm not sure where I'd want to wear it out of the house, but maybe that's just me! Definitely worth getting a sample and smelling for yourself, I'm glad it's available when my little bottle runs out