The Grudge

Beautifully done work. I will review all three of these new Force Majeure scents from Beaufort, which are in my book all solid successes. This is the best one and the most challenging one. The Grudge might be the most oceanic fragrance I've ever smelled. Call me Ahab, but I've been searching for this. This is a viciously blunt scent which in no way whatsoever resembles a "perfume" or a "cologne". What we get here is a massive crashing wall of bitingly frigid ocean air, in all of its naturalistic, salty, funky splendor. There are no apologies and no concessions being made to "freshness" or "aquatic" vibes; this is just straight cold ocean. No one will ever compliment you on this. This is a single monolithic accord, brilliant in its non-perfumery. I can see why people would make a comparison to Megamare here: philosophically and conceptually, these scents are aligned, but where Megamare smells like an aggressive blast of blue-themed port-a-potty cleaner, The Grudge smells like the literal jaws of a sperm whale; a leviathanic exhalation. So, how is The Grudge constructed? - Ambergris Primarily, ambergris. Ambergris dominates this scent from the gate to the drydown. It's a dirty, stinky, animalic ambergris which reminds me of Ramon Monegal's Ocean Oud (but less challenging) and Zoologist's Squid (but darker) – however it's not so dirty that it's unwearable. It has a bit of effervescence to it, but it's not as sparkly as Squid. It is legitimately salty. I love the ocean (grew up next to it; live by it now) and I've found very, very few fragrances which successfully replicate its cold, bitter, mineral scent. Oftentimes they try to use piquant and bitter herbs to approximate saltiness (a la Acqua di Sale and a slew of imitators) which to my nose has very little to do with the ocean at all. While this type of animalic ambergris doesn't smell precisely like ocean water, it comes closer than many other fragrance notes do. It has a strong mineral, metallic facet to it, which evokes the scent of water vapor. Like cold ocean spray on a beach of cobble stones. - Seaweed, resins, oud The ambergris note is enhanced by some supporting actors. They are in the background, blending into the accord. There's a bit of vegetal seaweed wafting in and out like a ghost. The sour tang of oud lurks like a distant foghorn. And the colder smelling resins – frankincense for sure, and apparently copal, and maybe some labdanum – form a supporting structure. Amazingly, I don't think there's any calone (or like molecules) here at all. So, no fear of a shower gel scent with The Grudge. This is raw nature. It's like the skeleton of so many other "marine" perfumes I've smelled. Strip away all the pleasant florals, woods, and whatever floofy accords they've added to make them palatable for the masses. The Grudge is the raw, haggard, and bleached bones of a marine fragrance, and just what I was looking for. Total aggression; but an elegantly silent, deep, and watery aggression of cold indifference. Smells like a ghost ship disappearing into a thick fog. Incredible art, somewhat challenging to wear. Easily one of the best Beauforts. 91%

When I was younger, my family and I used to spend entire days at the beach. My brother and I would go off on little adventures, swimming along the coastline and looking for hidden spots — small beaches, sea caves, and grottos. Especially those dark, damp sea caves had a very specific smell, and the moment I sprayed The Grudge by BeauFort London, it was exactly that. Instant nostalgia. Now, describing this scent in terms of notes is almost pointless. It’s much easier to explain what it feels like. A lot of people say it smells like damp caves, musty cellars, or seaside grottos at night — and that’s spot on. It’s marine, but not in a fresh, sunny, uplifting, or breezy way. It doesn’t smell like the sea itself. It smells like things that have come out of the sea and have been sitting undisturbed in a dark, damp cave — seaweed, old wood, maybe even something like a forgotten rope or a waterlogged chest. It even evokes the smell of a place where bats live... or the bats themselves. What makes it fascinating is the balance. It’s somehow pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. Clean and dirty. Strongly present, yet thin and almost ghost-like. You’ll think it’s gone, and then half an hour later, it comes back in little waves. This feels more like olfactory art than something I’d wear regularly. It’s quite avant-garde and conceptual. I probably wouldn’t buy a full bottle to wear on its own, but I could see it working as a layering piece — or just something to revisit every now and then for the atmosphere and the memories it brings back.

First scent I've tried that doesn't sugarcoat the true essence of the sea, and embodies a beautifully dark, rugged, and rogue coastline. Begins with a bite of barnacle and algae, and then grabs with that musky, tobacco incense, melts into subtle sweetness, and hits you with cold seaside breezes. There is a very prominent salty metallic note that reminds me of being aggressively tumbled by waves, and the salt water suffocating your sinuses. Something quite natural and mineral. The most enjoyable quality is the cool woody menthe aroma from the wormwood- a pleasant surprise, but initiatory. The Grudge is not an inviting marine scent, nor a hot, bright day at the beach. This scent's presence is felt in a deeply imminent way. When wearing this, I'm immersed in a suspense of standing on a dark beach with impending storms of rolling clouds and sharp, salty sea breezes. Evoked the feeling of being watched and filled with frozen fear- the scent of something dangerous. The Grudge is undoubtedly malicious. Unconventional and addicting, 10/10.

Seaweed washed up along the jersey shore during low tide. Gulls squawking and pecking at bits of dead crab scattered along the coastline. Barnacle-encrusted wooden posts from structures long demolished rising up from the water like monolithic reminders of a lost civilization. What a gorgeous oceanic scent. Nothing synthetic here. No “perfumey” interpretation of the beach, no unnecessary coconut or citrus — just the brine of the saltwater and the cold, hard slap of the waves against the jetties. The most evocative marine fragrance I’ve smelled. Great longevity, too — I can easily detect this scent on my skin after 10 hours of wear. The one and only fault I find with The Grudge is its intimate projection. If I could smell this at arm’s length, it would be perfection. Regardless, this is a masterpiece. I blew through my sample in record time and now own a full bottle.

The Grudge and me were made for each other. I remember my first sniff of this beautiful fragrance, Ministry of Scent in San Francisco, I felt my heart chakra burst open. What is that, ohhh I love you. I sprayed it on my clothes and took home a sample as I loved it so much. Went back two weeks later and bought a bottle, great presentation. The Grudge, is musty in bright way, like wet clay, its damp yet poetic. Mossy, wintery, and during the day every time I catch a whiff it brings me joy. My skin loves the Grudge, thank you Euan McCall, you are so talented.

This is the closest I've found to being a proper salty marine scent, rotting seaweed and all. An absolute experience, but would not recommend for those new to niche, nor those that insist on traditional marine designer scents (this is a long way from traditional 'marine' scents). Very good longevity, 12 + hours, but becomes an intimate skin scent after 4 hours or so. One of my favourites from the house - 10 out of 10

Really nice if not terribly unique given my other amber fragrances. Loved it though. Beautifully blended. Sea air in a cooler weather ocean environment. Amber through and through with a nice and very wearable ambergris funk. A bit of sweat and salt. Much more wearable than many of the “ocean stank / funk” fragrances available. Great performance.

This is what a white collar undead zombie ghoul man smells like. It's a cologne for austerely rotting and/or dusty lich gentlemen. If your home is draped in lichen and happens to be located in a waterfront cemetery property, this was made for you. <3

I like it a lot and one day want to get a bottle, but my 2ml sample will have to do for now. Not quite sure how to describe it though, almost like being at the beach on a cold, rainy day. It’s cozy and damp.

The Grudge draws inspiration from “white gold” ambergris, the rare material that occasionally washes up on Scottish beaches, shaped by the alchemy of time and tide. BeauFort London describes its character in three words: "Elegant; brutal; raw." Elegant is not a word you often see paired with brutality or rawness, and that tension alone is enough to spark curiosity. On paper, the note list is intriguing and slightly confrontational. Seaweed and ambergris make sense, but frankincense and tea introduce an unexpected turn, with tobacco and oud waiting in the base. It’s the kind of structure that makes you pause, lean in, and think, alright... what exactly are you trying to say here? The opening caught me a little off guard. It instantly brings to mind the beach, but not in a way that perfumery often portrays. This is not a clean, happy tropical beach filled with coconut, pineapple, and sunscreen, nor is it a deep ocean or coral reef interpretation. Instead, it feels like the shoreline in its truest form. There is an unapologetic blast of ambergris and seaweed right from the start. Copal resin and frankincense sit quietly in the background, lending an ambered, slightly piney brightness with hints of citrus, but the marine notes are very clearly the stars of the show. After about an hour, calamus begins to appear, introducing an earthy, wet quality reminiscent of marshland, low tide mud flats, and damp sand. It feels natural and familiar if you have experienced it before, and it adds a sense of realism. Around the two-hour mark, the tea note becomes noticeable, joined by wormwood, which brings a subtle herbal bitterness. This phase softens the initial marine intensity without completely moving away from it, creating a more balanced and contemplative stage of the fragrance. By roughly three and a half to four hours, the ambergris and seaweed finally begin to fade. What remains in the deep dry down is an earthy, slightly piney bitterness, where tobacco, oud, and labdanum take on an airy saline character. There are also some gentle balsamic resins lingering in the background. At this point, the fragrance feels far less marine and much more grounded, calmer and more restrained, but still unmistakably niche. This was my first experience with BeauFort London, and it made it clear that this is a brand best approached through sampling. The Grudge is very niche in both concept and execution. I would not call it the most realistic beach fragrance, as realism is subjective and there are countless interpretations of the coast, from sun warmed plants and sandy paths to deep ocean water, sunscreen, or tropical fruit. Instead, this feels like a very specific moment at the shore, one defined by rotting seaweed, plankton, and decomposing jellyfish. Even so, it never comes across as a simple stink bomb. Anyone who has spent time by the ocean knows that occasional fishy, salty air you catch without recoiling, the kind that instinctively signals you are at the beach and might even feel comforting. That is exactly the sensation The Grudge captures. This fragrance will not be for everyone, and it does not try to be. What it offers is quality, intention, and a clear artistic vision. Some people will love it and some will hate it, but it is hard to deny what BeauFort London has accomplished here. Yeah, The Grudge is pretty awesome.

I think the expectation of the person who sent me this sample was that I probably wouldn't like it very much and while I won't be rushing out to buy a bottle of The Grudge, I think it conjures some interesting imagery. Mainly bleak, seaside, Kraken awakening, monochrome shit that has become synonymous with Beaufort's brand. The person who sent me this (Thanks Ben) did warn of a stinky, filthy element and upon first sniff I didn't get that at all. In fact, due to the nature of this perfume I thought, geez! this is mild mate, you wanna try something a harder in this genre get your hands on MiN NY's Moon dust, that shit will have you crying out like Sting covered in regolith, hoping your leg don't break! Nah, although that grey stone and mineral quality is apparent in The Grudge, rather than the dry, magnificently desolate moonscape the imagery here is much more maritime in nature. It's a torrid, stormy night, batten down the hatches, this is the smell of craggy faced, beardy, seafarers. Damp poopdeck. (No seriously the deck has or had some poop on it) Initially I like the opening, it's impactful but backswells in a mellow sort of way (only to hit back later but we'll come to that) giving it's lightly smoky, gunpowder, it's the smell of a barrage of distant flintlock muskets. The main accord is part modern aquatic and part earthen, geosmin and petrichor, really well balanced and conjuring this dark, witchy aesthetic without ever committing the cardinal sin of stifling the whole composition with smoky materials or other yucky shit. The sea feels real, the salt and sea spray is oppressive in the best way. Then hmmmm...how can I put this? It all gets a bit stinky, (as promised) it feels like being round the back of a chippy in a seaside town, not a posh one either... like a Skeggy or a Blackpool, hints of fetid piss on urinal cakes, dead seagull, jus de bin, sea air and curious off white foam, perhaps discarded crustaceans? But crucially... Very, very well managed though, just like the indole in a floral perfume, the balance here is just enough for it to work. There's a strange curiosity one feels when sniffing something complex and intriguing which contains hints of unpleasantness, gives this addictive feeling, challenging what you know and like and making you return to it, like the rubbernecking at the scene of a gruesome accident or something? If a fragrance is too nice and easy and get all your own way it destroys that beautiful tension art can have, and makes it less fun. One thing is without question...Euan McCall completely understands the brief and what the Beaufort aesthetics are all about. I liked this.

This is what that mermaid from Robert Egger's The Lighthouse probably smells like. The seaweed and ambergris hit you immediately on first spray. Intense and just a little ambery sweet. It quickly settles down to a dank, incredibly salty ambergris scent that hugs close to the skin. It essentially reminds me of disturbing a clump of seaweed half exposed to the air from within a shallow rock pool, or like damp sand clung to skin. This is less the smell of the sea and more what comes out of it resting on a cold, rugged beach. Perhaps this is also what the Pequod smelt like when they took aboard a pilfered whale corpse to extract it's precious ambergris in Melville's Moby Dick. I like it a lot.

Wow! Total cozy swamp vibes. But honestly, it’s giving that early, chilly morning after a storm. Seaweed and foam washed up on the shore, a damp mist hanging in the air, and you’re just strolling along the beach, walking your dog and bundled up in a raincoat.

Most of the notes in here don’t necessarily speak marine, but they somehow help the sea-like and dominant ambergris and sea weed in this to make a really strong, photorealistic recreation of a brackish, seaweedy and mineralic shoreline. Somewhere down that beach something large and once living may have washed ashore. If Sel Marin perfectly recreates the smell of actual ocean water, this evokes the shore line. It is a real accomplishment in naturalistic smelling perfume. I enjoyed the experience of wearing it for that reason but it’s not something I would buy to wear regularly, as it is challenging and there’s nothing soft or energizing or even calming about it. It creates an uneasy feeling in the wearer, imho. This could be the smell scape to a really weird A24 movie. The Grudge lasts about 6 hours on skin.

For me this has the same musky-earthy backbone as Orto Parisi Risvelium, but with amplified wet greenness instead of citrus bubblegum top notes of the former.

Why are all the reviews for this downright essays? This is a weird one. It's stinky and like low tide. But underneath is a sandy sweetness. I don't like it at all and needed to wash it off immediately. Perhaps it develops to be nicer with time but I can't bear the sour rotting smell in the opening.

Nope. This smells Terrible, on me at least. Smells like an old man that hasn't showered in a week. Like old piss and sweat. Disgusting. I've tested it 3 times now, and i give up. It's not getting any better. And it's a Terrible experience. I like every other Beaufort London i've tried so far, but this, i just... I can't... Personal score 1/10. It's unbearable.

Salty oceanic resins This is not another Megamare, thankfully. The opening is immediately a toned-down (not necessarily in a negative way) version of Al Ambar by Areej le Doré. The ambergris accord here leans towards a human-body odor type, sweetened by resins and supported by an inky nuance, though it avoids the medicinal “printer ink” quality found in Squid by Zoologist. The opening strongly evokes the vibe of a squid. As it develops, the dense, warm-sweet amber base reveals mineral, sandy, and saline ambergris tones. There’s a musky, powdery, and slightly algal background, but it’s never too dirty. Instead, a certain sense of cleanliness lightens the composition, making it less heavy than expected. The evolution leans towards an algal, highly saline, and oceanic ambergris accord, reminiscent of coastal air in summer, bringing to mind an extremely light version of Golden Ambergris by Anonim (another Areej creation). Later, the fragrance transitions into a complex interplay of tobacco, algal nuances, oud, and—most prominently—a generous dose of incense. The tobacco and oud take on a distinctly saline character, set against a base that’s rich in resinous sweetness and incense. Yet, the scent never becomes overwhelming or oppressive, perhaps softened by the presence of green tea and calamus, which lend it a refined and airy quality. Sometimes, the ambergris blocks the passage of sperm whales and cause their death. I think this fragrance is a well-studied ode to the prime matter, and a composition on the revenge of the squids against their formidable leviathans.

Strong but extremely sterile. I was confused when I first tried my sample of The Grudge because it didn't really smell like much on paper other than rubbing alcohol. I tried my sample on skin today and, while it's not bad, it still doesn't really smell like much. The Grudge is very musky and it has a green and vegetable facet from the oakmoss. To my nose this has the exact same oakmoss note from Hacivat but dialed up several notches, as I could only smell it up close on skin with Hacivat. In some ways this makes me think of cold hospital air, but not necessarily in a bad way. I don't get any of the other notes at all, I'm unsure if the batch my sample belongs to came out wrong or if it's just the way it smells to me. Because of this I see The Grudge as a fragrance for layering under other fragrances that would benefit from this mossy muskiness. Alternatively (and provided you don't spray too much) this could be worn when you want to smell clean but not particularly inoffensive. Like I said, this is surprisingly strong as I wore nothing today other than two sprays of this on my wrist and could smell it really well for a few hours.

For me this is easily the most challenging of the Force Majeure collection. There is a dominant marine note that takes no hostages and reminds me of something possibly from Zoologist - will have to check. Probably represented by the seagrass with a twist of wormwood (the image of a glass of Vermouth on the notes is I think misleading if you’re led to believe it is something for polite company!) A scent to approach with caution but that’s what I think is expected from Beaufort!