Iroko

The iroko tree is to some West African cultures - and so to some of their descendant cultures in the Americas - what the oak is to Northwestern Europe, or the giant sequoia is to N America - the symbol of huge, honest, immensely strong hardwood. So also a symbol of their peoples' strength, courage and deep roots in their lands. It's sometimes called the "African ironwood" because its trunk and roots are famously tough and resistant to pests , parasites and drought. It's a hero tree. Iroko the scent does do this justice, but its very heft and darkness make it a tough proposition even for those who love deep, smoky, verging-on-acrid timber fragrances. I'm usually one of those people and have a high tolerance for "butchness" in woody composition, as long as it's good ... but even I buckled a bit under the weight of a few good sprays of Iroko. Some REALLY raspy, tough, verging-on-stinky-dark-vetiver shades buzz around for a bit at the first burst, which nearly spoils the whole show for me (vetiver-nervous and female)... but things do mellow, though still staying impressively moody, about 20 mins in and you then get a few hours of reliably solid, deep-toned spicy-ebony-teak-mahoganyesque vibes which smell just nichey enough to be different. Not smoky - nothing here hints at fire - but maybe a whiff of something burnt long, long ago still lingers - and the mental pictures are certainly scored out in shades of charcoal and ink (though Iroko doesn't smell of either substance, it's all wood all the way.) For me it's not quite mellow enough to bewitch like a smoother, though still intensely woody, treatment like DS&Durga Bowmakers; Iroko speaks in such a rattling, low ultra-bass rumble it's a just a little too much more man than I can deal with ... and I say that rarely. If this had a voice it would be Barry White - but the big man dressed up in artsy, tasteful, modern fashion, like something deliberately minimalist from Comme des Garcons. If this picture appeals to you: test your mettle, dust off your biceps, flex your masculinity and try to wrestle a good chunk of Iroko to the ground. Pricing seems a little ambitious to me, but it does stand far enough apart from the usual run of Wonderwood clones to make it worth it if you don't mind loading a great chunk of timber on your plastic. Can't really see it as raw material for a wooden holy grail though.