1805 Tonnerre

This is pure "Pirates of the Caribbean" No I don't mean the Disney ride, or the movies. Though I do think you could make a case for it, as at least I consider the first movie an amazing contemporary swashbuckling adventure in the vein of the old Cary Grant swashbucklers. But no, this is a step back into history itself. Its a fragrance that conjures a specific image / scene in time. Maybe not an actual historical event, but a romantic general feel of an era long gone. Its a battle. A maneuverable schooner manned by privateers of ill repute has gained upon a slower but less armed trade barque. The Jolly Roger is raised and cannons begin to fly. This is it. Its all or nothing. Will the dastardly crew of ne'erdowells make their mark? Here you have the woods. The cedars and other woods that represent the lumber that ships of that golden age of piracy would have been built from. You smell the pungent scent of the gunpowder, smoke and tar. The battle is raging, full on and feverishly. Cannons fly and muskets fire. The deck is burning. You have rum and lime notes. Sure the official note is "brandy" but i do get the rum.. Rum, that most precious of cargo, almost as precious as gold itself, is what hangs in the balance. And the lime, essential on such long voyages as these trade ships required the vitamin C in order to stave off the scurvy. And of course the sea notes which represent the oceanic battlefield that this struggle is unfolding upon. Maybe I'm being dramatic. Maybe I'm a weird pirate enthusiast (I dont think I am? Though ill admit the golden age of piracy is undeniably intriguing). But I've never smelt a fragrance quite so evocative of such a specific place in time, history, and geography. Its certainly a romantic notion. I've had whiffs of scents that evoke an Irish countryside, a mountain meadow, an Italian coastline. General pleasant milieus. But nothing quite like this. Would I wear this out? Actually I don't know. I dont think it's a particularly enjoyable scent in the sense that one could wear it out and about and not garner some weird looks. Even the manliness and classiest of Sean Connery-esque males would be better off with some other offerings, even from Beaufort's challenging collections. But dear lord I can't stop smelling this, closing my eyes, and drifting into a fantastical long gone age.

I'm getting slightly irritated with the amount of smoky fragrances out there, whether it's intentional or not especially the ones that smell of food or BBQ sauce. Tonnerre however is pretty stunning to my nose and despite the huge amount of thick birch tar and realistic smoke in here I actually get a overriding freshness and metallic citrus too. What a fascinating combination of notes, the smoke is very very apparent in the opening and I actually thought would be the only thing left even after a very short period but that's not the case at all. It's actually the smoke that dies back on my skin. It's still there but giving way to more of a prickly gunpowder smell and slightly boozy woods and even a marine/aquatic suggestion. It really does have a brandy or whisky note in there, I often smell my whisky before drinking and it's reminscent of inhaling the warming vapours. It reminds me a little bit of MiN Moon dust and equally divisive scent but this is nicer in many ways. I like this a great deal, it's kooky in a good way I smell like I'm wearing some fresh citrus/aquatic and I've been sitting by a campfire for 2 hours. Oh the smoke does remain and looms large again as the rest of the notes die back in the deep drydown. Update: This stuff lasted very well on my skin and kinda smelled like aqua de Loewe EL a bit of bonfire and that flint like, wet stone, gunpowder note which is an acquired taste but to me totally captivating. Update 28/09/22 Well it appears I've truly come full circle with this one. I'm not annoyed by the tenacious smoke, and I stick to all the broadly positive stuff I said about Tonnere and it's mixture of flinty, BBQ meat smoke and dark old ship, salty sea spray and aquatic limes. HOWEVER... There's an element to that metallic, musky, biting aquatic accord which no longer sits well with me and I just can't let this go without expressing it. I once called 212 Men Surf one of the worst pieces of shit I'd ever had the misfortune of smelling because of this said same, 'DEATHLAC' bug spray note within that perfume, well surprise, surprise, because it exists in Tonnere too. Not quite enough to put me off the good stuff, the creativity and narrative building but enough to make me never want to purchase this perfume or ever wear it again. So there's that.

Opened this bad boy up after 2 weeks of waiting, I couldn't be more happy, this is everything I wanted in a heavy smoke fragrance and more. It opens with a pretty heavy birch tar note alongside what seems to be gun powder? but I get this metallic/lime opening instead; the lime note seems to be more of lime peel so it is extremely bitter making the opening really harsh. After 10 minutes it settles down and you get that insanely good gun powder accord mixed with that birch tar note and it's to die for. Don't be fooled by the lack of notes and think this is pretty linear because it's a literal journey from pirates taking off in thir ship for a voyage then having a shipwreck occur to the final moments being a drowning ship into the endless abyss that is the ocean. I was shocked when the one hour mark hit and all of a sudden I got this nice aquatic woody notes kicking in taming down the heavy birch tar and smoke notes. Trust me, as weird and as unappealing as aquatic may sound on a smokey perfume, just ignore that and take my word, whatever aquatic accord they have blended, it is working wonders for the perfume, it's so dang addicting. Right after 2 hours the fragrance really settles into the skin and sadly turns into a skin scent (tho this is from a 1ml decant bottle, so performance could vary due to them using a really poorly kept version of the bottle so don't think that's the actual projection and longevity you will get from a brand new bottle.) As it dries down those marine/aquatic notes disappear and you're left with a subtle smokey birch tar amber note with what seems to be ambergris? since it does seems a tad bit salty. In conclusion, this is a real experience and it's honestly so addicitng, any fans of a city on fire or T rex by zoologist needs to get this on their collection. I can't really say it's unwearable because I would wear the heck out of this.

I’m a huge BeauFort London fan and I planned to test this frag for half a year. I’ve read some reviews and didn’t believe that it can smell like ham. But... Let’s begin from the start, okay? First of all, it’s a recognisable BeauFort London’s masterpiece. From the first seconds you can tell it’s from their house. Secondly, at first it really smells like bacon. Sincerely, in first seconds I got pure gunpowder and brandy with salty notes, but it all turned into a bacon within a minute. Like, roasted to a crust bacon, marinated in brandy and some pure natural spices (salt and pepper). Thirdly, I caught the smell of a wet wood and thought of a campfire, but in a few seconds I’ve realised it’s a ship’s deck, wet of salty water ‘cause of the raging storm! And here comes the meaning of this frag’s name - “Tonnerre” means “Thunder” in old French. So, this “roasted bacon” appears to be kinda burning flesh of sailors full of brandy, I guess. Fourthly, more and more I wear it on my wrist - more and more I realise the depth of the picture behind this frag. Indeed, another artpiece. It’s a dark journey of a sailing ship which found itself inside of a deadly thunder. It’s full of wet shipboard wood, gunpowder ready to explode, salty water over the ship’s hull, full of pain and heavy emotions, full of burning flesh and screams, full of dark raging thunder and death. “1805 Tonnerre” shows us a picture of a peaceful journey of drunken sailors who got into a deadly trap of an untamed element. Every frag from BeauFort London shows us a full scene, an art, a pure masterpiece. If you smell something strange at first - just wait a little and give it a chance, as their frags are really complicated and can’t open fully in one second. You don’t have to like BeauFort London’s works, but you can’t disagree with their gorgeousness.

This is Great. It didn't wow me, like "Vi Et Armis" did. But it still has an impact. There is less happening here, and that could be why i didn't quite have the wow factor. It's supposed to be a scent image of being in battle on an old war ship in the start of 1800's, with cannons firing and the smell of wooden ship and the sea. And I get it. I actually thought "Vi Et Armis" was more "cannon fire smoke" like than "Tonnerre" (I got an official sample of the whole "Come Hell Or High Water" series). Lot's of pure black gunsmoke, which i love. Fir is also clearly present. The sea water note is also all over the scent, giving the marine location of a warship. A metallic note also lingers throughout the scents lifetime. Some lime is lingering in the background, neither sweet nor tart, but a nice middle ground. I however can't detect any brandy, amber, or cedar. But what i get i really like. I Love that smoke accord. It's my favorite type of smoke note. Not cigarette/tobacco, burning wood, or incense type based. There is a hint of "old sweat, dirty cloths on a man" note here in the background, depicting the crew on the ship. Remember that this is Not a crowd pleaser focused fragrance, but an artistic fragrance. Once in a while, I get a "hotdog water" smell. Very smokey hotdog water. It does calm down pretty quickly on me, and becomes quite pleasant and wearable after a little bit. Wearing this would be quite nice, if sprayed a little bit before leaving home. Personally, i like the opening to, so I'd spray right before leaving home. Personal score: 9/10. Interesting. Worth trying, worth buying. Wearable for winter and fall, so, yeah, i'll buy it if i find it, even at retail.