Targa

This one had to grow on me, and from the other similar perfumes, like Bois Sikar and Bois d'Ascese, this is the one I chose. They're not the easiest things to like. They're not pretty in any sense, and not meant to invoke a traditional sort of class or refinement. Targa is very smoky, with a subtle sweet side that keeps it from being entirely bitter and scorched. I have to assume the name is taken from the main component, which would be a tar from some sort of wood. I understand when people say they get a BBQ smell from these things (A City on Fire, et al.). I personally don't get any burned meat from this. It is what old homes smell like after decades of heating and cooking by wood stove or open fire pit. The tiny sweet side is just right, but hard for me to pin down, as usual. Immortelle in the pyramid makes a lot of sense. I'd personally place this as a fall scent, due to the smoky nostalgia in it, but I also think it works just about any time. It has an evocative ability that would go with just about anything, from summer rocket launches to winter luge sessions. For all olfactorily daring persons. Leans cozy and edgy.

It's smoky at the beginning, as expected. This is a very 'perfumey' smoke rather than a smoke that clearly comes from a particular source. It's not sharp enough to be rubber smoke and not deep enough to be woodsmoke. I don't get any citrus at first. It is somewhat balsamic. After about twenty minutes the smoke shifts a bit towards incense and is joined by a nice woody scent. There's oud involved, but other woods are more prominent. This is a nice smoke-centric scent. In the opening, not enough sets it apart from similar offerings to make it worth purchasing, but be patient; the dry-down is much more distinctive. It's somewhat animalic with a lot of oud, some sandalwood, and some vetiver. Definitely worth trying if you like heavy, smokey scents, though I wouldn't suggest blind buying it.

It's about time I got around to reviewing this gem. When I first smelled this, I thought of an older historic house I had visited. In the back was a smokehouse which was used to smoke meats. The years of smoking had imbued the log walls with layers of amazing smoke scents. I smell something similar in Targa. This has some of the best woods and smoke I have ever smelled. In spite of my mentioning a smokehouse and meat above, this does NOT smell like barbecue to me. I don't get a meat vibe. It's an incensy wood scent...deep, rich, and absolutely amazing. longevity is reasonable. I can go throughout a day with this. Sillage is decent too. You don't want this being beast mode, and it isn't. It becomes a skin scent after about 3 hours.

Intensely smoky of course, that's what we're here for! I think it lives up to the comparison to A City On Fire. They both start with a very acrid piney smoke and then go in different directions: ACOF has a sweeter berry feel and Targa is more resinous and rubbery with the sparsest touch of freshness like green pepper. My sample definitely improved in the few months since I tried it last. Now it's less acrid, and more sticky, as a smell not a texture ykwim? It's grown on me... but every time I wear Targa I think how divine it would be with a cherry frag layered over, or maybe the other way around. Something sweet with luscious spices could work really well with this fabulous tire fire.

Opening of 100% Lapsang Souchong Tea, just a ton of smoke and wet leaves then fades into really beautiful mid-notes of incense, smoke, & resins, with a carefully measured sweetness (which I am SO GRATEFUL for). Reminds me of Bois d'Ascese by Naomi Goodsir, without veering into the animalic territory of lanolin which that one does. Targa stays solidly in the smoke/incense/woods area, and doesn't change much after drydown, besides the dissipation of the early smokiness. MUCH more sophisticated than most in this genre (looking at you Tyrannosaurus Rex, Masque Milano, Hyde). I will definitely wear this.

It is as promised. In my head: You are taking a walk one morning, in the wintery plains of Russia, where you see snow around you for miles and miles. You find a small log cabin, appearing abandoned. You knock and no one answers. Just the howling winds coming from the North greet your ears, so you decide to step in... It is not abandoned. The cabin is furnished, but empty. The fireplace is cold, but the cabin smells like there was a fire within the last couple days. The resident or residents of this cabin will not be happy if you are there when they return...

Literally smells like a bonfire. I was wanting less smoke and more incense. Try a sample before you buy. Edit: I suppose I got a new batch bc after a year this fragrance has turned into such an amazing scent. I will def buy a full bottle.

Such a very relaxing fire. It feels as though it’s after one of my many hike and camps where I’m looking up at the stars on a beautiful mid fall night. The air is just starting to crisp up as you stoke the fire in front of you. The slight breeze hitting your sweatshirt or light jacket and jeans as you just look around. The leaves around you have changed into fireworks of color and hues as the flapping of your tent door can be heard in the wind. For right now, it’s you and nature. That’s it. Nothing to stop you from enjoying your beautiful world fully. In order to do so, you start to reflect and light incense and to meditate on one’s issues. The middle notes starting to accept that in that has an accord that smells EXACTLY how I imagine incense would smell while outside on a fall/winters day. The story finally drying down to a fall woods and charcoal partnership. The fall woods deeply resinous yet a little fresh with the breeze. The charcoal leaving this cade oil campfire like smell but lighter and less prominent than before. I can see many just smelling this and saying, “campfire!”, and throw your sample in the trash (unless you like those kinds of scents like me). It takes a wearing or two to start to realize that it has these airy, and near fresh other notes that don’t come out right away because that campfire is so prominent on the top. I suggest testing this one first to see if you like it or not. I love the story being told by the scent itself and I could see myself buying a bottle for the fall and winter, but it truly could be an off putting scent off rip for those that you’re around if you’re not camping or at a log cabin. EDIT: I recently got my hands on a sample pack of the Targa incense as well and I though I might as well put the comparison here for those who are interested. The incense I worried would come off as too heavy campfire, but really has a certain freshness to it that’s really nice. It definitely still smells like campfire but more like the morning after a campfire with the fresh breeze and woods rather than strictly campfire. I like it a lot, but Hoth still has my heart.

Blackbird is an (IMHO) underrated house out of the Northwest that makes Lumbersexual-friendly scents full of wood, smoke, and incense (N.B., they also make actual incense). My favorites among their early offerings were austere, minimalist scents of few notes each (and fabulous incendiary names like Pipe Bomb and Tinderbox). This one is a little different... There are some twenty-five notes in this fragrance, including at least a half a dozen each of various woods and incenses. “That,” as Tim Gunn would say, “is a lot of look.” Even the name Zola Jesus Taiga is quite a mouthful. I usually like to try picking out individual notes—if only for my own edification—but there are so many here that there’s not much to do here besides get down and roll around in them. The one note that does stick out for me is frankincense, and even then I am stymied for I cannot pretend that I know the difference between Indian frankincense and Omani frankincense, both of which are listed. It’s a dark scent; the color of the juice alone should be enough to tell you that. It’s smoky, certainly, though unlike some perfumes that shall remain nameless, it doesn’t leave you smelling like you spent too long at the BBQ pit or the jazz club. Above all, I suppose that it’s the smell of primordial fire, because if people have been setting it on fire for a long time you can bet it’s in here. I was a little frightened by this perfume at first, but my experience has shown me that though it is a strong scent up close, you can wear this quite easily without people looking at you like you just committed arson. It’s a lot, yes, but it’s not too much. Update: I see they have changed the name. Good call.

#1691 in my “Tour de Fragrance” Got this decant from scentplit.com. $165 for a 60ml bottle is pricey, so this scent has a lot to prove. In general, if you combine myrrh, incense and olibanum in the same scent you’ve got my attention. And I like this scent. Nice opening, fair silage. Masculine. Leans barbershop. Kinda has a woody campfire smell going on. But the dry down starts to smell like it’s just pencil shavings. I think for this kind of money there’s better out there. 4160 Tuesday’s “Eau My Soul” does the oriental woody thing better. Same smokiness with a nice iris note. This is safe enough for close spaces. I think it works for a formal office or date night. Cooler weather. But at this price definitely get a decant and be sure this is a must have for you. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

This was nice and cozy. It opened with a wool blanket in a wooden chest studded with a few mothballs. Next it's 50s Christmas in a cabin. Then a baby arrives in the cabin and sticks around. By the end, it just smells like a naked baby. I swear to god this is the nativity scene in a fragrance. On my partner, this was great. It starts with an old church set on fire: frankincense, wood, smoke. Midway, it goes leathery. Finally some Old Spice. Traces lingered on his clothing the next day, straight patchouli. I’d be interested in splitting a bottle with him, but this broke me out. It must be the bergamot; I’ve noticed an allergy to it in perfume oil, and I guess it is going to ruin this one as well.

A lumber yard. Then there's the smokiness, pepper, and nutmeg. Those make the resins and woods fresher and spicier - like rounds of wood immediately after cutting. I don't get as much smoke as other reviewers. Really love this smell when I want something like Bowmakers by D.S. Durga, but a little more adventurous/outdoors.

A hit of smoke upon first spray - a little frightening initially but it settles into frankincense. In the dry down more resin and cedar come out. Have a hard time catching any of the citrus or germanium, so the smell is a little heavy. Beautiful and rich but may be better as an incense

I’m afraid this leans just a bit too much into the smoked meats category in which so many smoky fragrances fall into. I much prefer A City on Fire to this, it’s smoky without reminding me of food.

Probably the most wearable Blackbird. Piney campfire, woods and a hint of cigarette smoke.

camphoric pine resin and thick bonfire smoke. this is a very realistic campfire scent, down to the tarriness. intensely woody and smoky, lush and wild. this is a stone fireplace in a cabin deep in a snowy old growth forest. it really does smell like christmas to me, especially as the coniferous resin comes out more over time i actually like this more than i imagined i would, but it's not wearable for me. i can see it really working for an outdoorsy type

I could not find this fragrance via Fragrantica's search due to the name change. It is quite elusive! I have an older sample with the "Taiga" name. Targa/Taiga is insanely smoky and reminds me of straight-up barbecue! Similar to liquid smoke and like what many companies use to simulate bacon in their products. I feel that this covers up a lot of the complexity as I do not get the sophistication of a bonfire or sparkling embers like some other reviewers. I do get a tiny and quick hint of sweetness that peeks out and is gone within a second. To me, this scent is deep and potent, resiny and charred. Not cozy at all, no marshmallows over this campfire! A forest fire is very fitting. Reminds me a fair bit of Lush's dry scalp hair treatments that use Cade Oil.

Targa feels terrifyingly crude by design. The phenolic levels are dialed up to 11, and the result is what I would imagine Mad Max to smell like. The first half hour feels like mounds of lava-hot asphalt, fires radiating out of oil drums, acrid and charred remains of a post-apocalyptic barbecue. It does mercifully settle after a while into a somewhat wearable smoky wood scent. It smells like extremely low air quality, like I actually shouldn't be inhaling this. I am of the humble belief that smoky accords in perfume should accent, not dominate. Very few perfumers have achieved a truly excellent smoky fragrance—it's not easy. This perfumer falls short of such an achievement.

Smoky and repulsive. My husband loves it because it reminds him of camping. It is very evocative of a campfire, but definitely a campfire in a horror movie. I have forbidden him from wearing it. I find it almost disturbingly off putting. Reminds me of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The most unnatural natural smell I’ve ever smelled.

I was just about to post a comment criticizing it for imitating Zoologist T-Rex, when I realized it actually came out three years earlier... Anyway that one is more wearable than this, which is closer to A City on Fire abomination of a fragrance

Hated this. Hated. I was actually researching incense brands to try when I came across Blackbird. I was surprised to see they also made fragrances so I got a few samples to try. I am so happy I only sprayed the tiniest amount of this poison. This smells EXACTLY like Chloraseptic throat spray to me. Repulsive. It makes sense when looking up the ingredients of the medicine. It's high in Phenols and many of the notes in this abomination are phenolic. I don't know what made me consider this sample - I must have been stoned. If you fancy the idea of smelling like a Road worker who tarred a highway, then afterwards slathered himself in BenGay and wrapped himself in hospital gauze to ease the muscle aches, stood by a campfire to relax all night while drinking whiskey topped with the last Maraschino Cherry in a dusty old jar his grandma bought in 1949 and eventually got so drunk he fell into a neighboring peat bog and died - this is your fragrance. Dramatic? Maybe. He probably wouldn't have died from falling into the peat bog.

Targa opens incredibly smoky, phenolic and heavy...just look at that lengthy note list and it's clear that an opening with that many notes is going to be fire alarm loud. The smoke feels in between a sharp, acrid burning, a smooth campfire woodsmoke, liquid smoke, and as mentioned it has a lapsang tea vibe in there as well. It even has a little childhood nostalgia of smelling burning leaves from a distance. A smoke of many shades/textures. Trigger warning: If you are sensitive to smoke, especially with a phenolic/sharp/acrid side this will probably be too much for you. I love this, and don't find it suffocating in the slightest, but I also love smoky notes, am an ex-smoker, love campfires etc. Although as Targa dries down, the smoke starts to temper, and the warm, woody, rich notes really start to shine. As the smoke continues to clear, there is a brightness from the opening that mixes with the woody notes and a green/vegetal feel that I really love. I can't pick out individual notes easily in this except for one: green pepper! Somehow through the million listed notes on Targa, there is a period where I get this distinct, fresh green pepper note on a bed of smoke and rich, resinous wood. It just smells robust, earthy, full, and kind of primal. Similar to sitting around a campfire cooking, and letting your mind wander to how fires probably produced a similar feeling of contentment and imagination in our ancestors. A common thread based on the warm, inviting glow of a fire. As Targa enters it's final stage, it becomes pretty dang smooth and inviting, albeit in a rugged, visceral way. Not much refinement going on here, and all the better, as there are plenty options for rich, refined perfumery out there. As it smooths out it does keep a lingering phenolic smoky element...so your enjoyment of Targa will probably hinge on your enjoyment or tolerance of the brand of smoke present here. I personally love Targa, and have 2 bottles just in case. I absolutely love wearing this in the fall and winter, it brings much peace and contentment my way. Word to the wise, this a 1-3 spray max fragrance imo, anything more and the phenolic smokiness just is too sharp. I would also advise to spray at least an hour before leaving the house, and this is probably not office friendly. But that is just another one of Targa's charms. It's outdoor friendly, and the antithesis of fluorescents and grey office landscapes.

There are some similarities of this to HOM's Black No.1. First of all, both carry a conifer base which used by Northwest Coast perfumers current. It is something I have noticed first in Olympic Orchids offerings, then HOM Black, Durbano Tourmaline and now in Zola Jesus. Second, they both point to Black Leather. Black No. 1 points to Polished Cordovans lightly scuffed by the pedals of my DB9 whereas Zola points to Polished Cordovans that have been on a journey through the bush, through the ash of a dry, burned forest, scorched by the heat of a bonfire. Dusty and heavily scuffed. Zola gets top marks from me as it has opening notes similar to the Snarly Olive oil assaults used by Pregoni. Zola is a dirty, butchy and bitchy Bobcat. Black No.1 is cleaner, prettier and purring Jaguar. Love them both. May 18,2016 Up my rating on this. Green Peppercorn is true. The drydown is exceptional. I feel as if I have been cleansed by the Conifer, Salt of the Pacific Northwest burn.

Thank you to Blackbird for the opportunity to try this remarkable scent. Excerpt from my published review on Fragrantica: There are many notes here that could easily pull this fragrance towards the traditional oriental fragrances of the Middle East, but there's a density here that speaks more of temperate climates than shifting desert sands. Zola Jesus Taiga is the scent of a hermit's cabin hidden deep in the woods, where the sole inhabitant spends days and nights contemplating the mysteries of existence before an altar of burning incense. Intact trees of the forest surround the split wood cabin, which in turn surrounds the firelight and gentle glow of incense embers as the fragrance spirals on an inward journey to the depths of the soul. Longevity is amazing at 10+ hours, with powerful sillage for the first two hours before the fragrance settles into something warm, sweet and resinous on the skin.

I was in love with the older formulation, it was a signature for me (I had one from 2020) It was a very subtle smoke, floorboards in front of a fireplace, an underlying ambery pitchy warmth. Unfortunately they had to change the formula and my new bottle (2023) is much more smokey, a bit bbq-cartoonish. Also it's a bit headachey for me, which never happened before. I still wear it, and find it to be a nice warm skin scent in winter, which works if I am going to be outside a lot, but sadly it is nothing like the beauty and subtlety of my original Targa. (weeps) If you like smoke and amber smells it's worth checking out. Blackbird has some other incredible scents and incense so I remain a huge fan.

Targa is a realistic campfire. Very smoky but also lightly floral beneath the smoke. Reminds me of a snowy winter's day, coming inside to warm up by a fire. Cozy but edgy. I remember wearing this at a bar one night and being a little worried that I reeked of campfire but suddenly the bartender says "is someone wearing a really nice perfume?" and I said "is it me? does it smell like smoke?" and he leaned in closer and says "no it smells like really nice perfume" so I guess it smelled very different to him.

gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. i do worry this might be a bit too strong to wear around those w sensitive noses, though!! there's a really lovely resinous depth to it, lots of smoke and woods, and surprisingly it turns a bit spicy after a few hours of wear. similar to moon dust by min new york but without the mineral accords. it's much warmer and of the two, this is the scent i prefer!!

So many notes but all overpowered by the smoke - heavy campfire. I don't love this I was hoping for more resin and woods but let's see how it develops. (Been on me for several minutes now and i still only get heavy campfire smoke and maybe some seaweed.) Eek not for me!