Iron Duke

Oh boy this is smokey dark. This is what Xerjoff Don should have smelled like. First of all there's a lot of smoke in a tar, asphalt way. It's really bitter black. The blackness of this perfume is complimented by lots od black ink accord. In the first 15-30 minutes most of the harshest notes fade away and you're left with still, black inky composition, but not smoothened. Behind those there's lots of metal, like cold blood or the metallic workshop/factory with a eucalyptus fresh, sharp way I think. There really it something greeny fresh in the very back. The metal and ashy smoke creates a gunpowder accord. I get that they say by spiced rum, it does remind me of the Kraken rum, but this is first and foremost black, tar, ink, and metal. What is also a vital part of this perfume is the aninalic part which there's a lot of, I admit, bu Iron Duke is blended so well it actually smells warm instead of pissy. The original notes from the producer include saddle soap and the soapyness here is very noticable - my wife even called it a body balm - so it's a bit on the different sides of the spectrums - clean, soapy, yet animalic, black. The clean balm/soapy vibe reminds me of Amouage Portrayal Man. Only the balm, nothing else, don't compare the two :D It's a monster, ok? One spray filled my room, I can smell it all the time with my hand as far from my nose as possible. Two sprays Will get you through the whole day with everyone picking this up. The thing is a lot of people won't like it. It's not office safe, best for colder months, maybe nighttime leaning. Doesn't matter the gender, you need some character to lift this. Encre Noire smells like the cheapest version of this possible, plus it's way less complex. Xerjoff's Don should have smelled like this instead of that sweet skin scent bs - this is dark, earthy, gunpowdery, leathery, metallic... This smells like a revolver, black leather, ink, and tar with warm animalics and clean soap. Now, will I wear this ever, or buy the whole bottle? No :D. I once tried wearing it on my neck and choked myself a bit. @edit 17.02.23 almost a year later I'm sitting here smelling my hand, updating the review with a bottle by my side. It's good they make it in 50ml because I can't imagine wearing it often. I applaud BeauFort for not increasing the price just because the concentration is 30, not 20. If I'm to be a dickhead I'll only say the horse on the graphic doesn't look strong and war-like, it looks a bit, you know, not clever, let's call it. You know what I mean?

Got this as a 2 ml sample. Probably by far the second best out of the Revenant series, with Rake and Ruin being first. The opening is very unilateral and hard just as with Rake and Ruin. Initial brandy hit which evaporates rather quickly followed by very strong russian leather, lubrified with dirty engine oil with cigarette ash in it and an optimal dose of chinese tiger balm. Very well wrapped together though. Many people complain about the animalic note which I find odd, as it's blended in so discretely it's unnoticeable. This is Black Afgano's Medieval English brethern metaphorically speaking. If you like Black Afgano or Nasomatto in general, you will love this. Quality of ingredients better with Nasomatto though, as they last longer and have a stronger sillage. In my opinion this is a scent to be worn at night only and never in the summer or when the temperature is above 18 degrees Celsius. The moment outside gets hot and you sweat wearing this, you will suddenly stop smelling elegantly and you'll smell like an oil-soiled mechanic after a 16 hour work-day in August. Otherwise it's very elegant powerful and unapologetic, even more so than Rake and Ruin, but much more complex and unoffensive than Terror and Magnificence. Aimed at men over 30. I would wear this only with formal/elegant clothing otherwise you'd come off as if you're coming from a hot-rod enthusiasts barbecue meet-up. Alternatively, this is a very good scent to wear in church, at a laid-back funeral, during a pilgrimage or at a wake of an enemy. The scent evolves to its mid notes in 2-4 hours and loses its initial agressive smoky bark and you're left with a very pleasant and vulnerable, softened down version of Oud Wood from Tom Ford without sweetness. Final dry-down smells indeed like a gorgeous mix of horse sweat leather and some faint incense and wood tones. Fantastic composition!

#1325 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Got this as a decant. This is my fourth Beaufort and they've all been winners. This scent is every bit as good as "Fathom V", "Coeur de Noir" and a better than "Terror and Magnificence." Absolutely collection worthy with great quality. Now mind you, for years I expended 200-400 rounds a week at the firearms range, so I don't dislike the smell of gunpowderas some do, but I think a few reviewers are exaggerating the influence of that note here. It's not a strong note. Strongest note is the rum, then tobacco and leather. The gunpowder provides a slight smokiness and a hint of stone, like shale. I don't think most will even notice. I rarely imbibe in alcohol. It's been years, and when I did it was single malt scotch. Rum got big with the kids when I was in college, but I never found it interesting as a beverage. However I definitely like it in fragrances. Xerjoff "Cruz del Sur I" and Tommy Iommi "Monkey Special", Maison Margiela "Jazz Club", Initio "Side Effect", Armani "Stronger with You Absolutely", Kilian "Black Phantom", "Apple Brandy" and "Straight to Heaven", Bentley "For Men Intense", Bvlgari "Man in Black", Nishane "Fan You Flames", "Dior "Vanilla Diorama", Merchant of Venice "Andalusian Soul", Les Indemodables "Vanille Havane." I could happily wear any of them for life and you can add this Beaufort scent to the list. Longevity? Even the morning shower left a hint of it. Projects a good six feet for a couple of hours. A girlfriend said she could smell it at eight feet. So I'd go easy on this in close spaces. Definitely for men. I'm certainly in for a bottle.

Absolutely spectacular. Iron Duke, unlike Vi Et Armis and Tonnerre, was one of my favorite BeauForts off first impressions and I'm happy that it didn't only surpass my expectations, it shattered them. This is an excellent smokey, leathery and resinous tobacco scent that carries that same "don't fuck with me" vibe from Vi Et Armis multiplied by 1,000. I find the opening extremely interesting because the tobacco and leather are contrasted by a very slight, almost soapy cleanliness, as well as by an elusive mineralic freshness, which turns out to be the same as Tonnerre's "gunpowder" note but in trace amounts. Funnily I think this same contrast is what gave my mom a "urine smell" (in her words), which sucks for her as I very thoroughly enjoyed wearing this today. I have to admit something about this fragrance reminded me of Francesca Bianchi's Sticky Fingers but Bianchi's fragrance has floral and powdery notes accompanying the tobacco and patchouli, here it's essentially the total opposite. Stunning fragrance, definitely a strong contender for a potential future pickup. Performance overall was alright but I'm blaming my sample's atomizer for any sort of underperformance. Projection seemed to be moderate whereas sillage was more on the dense side during the first hour or two, after that it seemed to tone down to a skin scent, which is a bit disappointing but I don't rule out nose blindness. Longevity is great, it has lasted 8 hours on my skin with relative ease.

The Iron Duke is the refined gentleman of the world that Beaufort's more wayward sibling "Rake and Ruin" will grow up to be. R&R is a magical fragrance and I adore it, but would I want to wear it? The Iron Duke, however, whilst it shares some 'class' similarities to R&R, is at once more wearable and polished whilst losing none of the characteristic challenge of a Beaufort scent. There's the smoke and tar kind of scents, of course, and initially you wonder whether you've just sprayed yourself with some caustic tar-based wood preserver. But give it half an hour. What emerges, at least to my nose, is the most glorious aged leather scent - really deep. It's like old 'working' leather, if that make any sense? The smoke and tar elements are still there - so it's like wearing your favourite pair of high quality leather gloves, the ones you've used whilst fixing your engine for the last couple of decades. I love Clive Christian's C for men - which is a very elegant leather. I love Tom Ford's Tuscan leather with is a leather sweetened with raspberry I think. I love Memo's French Leather, which is a very soft suede leather softened further by a lovely rose. So I'm not a big fan of 'full-on' leather. But I really love the leather in Iron Duke - it's not soft, but it's not rough either. Just deep, dark and gorgeous. Projection is good and longevity above average - definitely my next full-bottle purchase.