Arborist

I don't do this very often, but I'm going to start a review with a question: how do you FEEL about this fragrance? This may sound odd. Obviously everyone has their own perspective and opinion about art. The reason why I even ask this is because I find this particular fragrance very intimate compared to other fragrances from this brand. It's almost like an illustration of a relationship between you and the Scottish forest. That's incredibly difficult to do. I castigate myself because I didn't think this house was very good at first. Boy was I wrong! And boy did I waste a lot of time. I will provide myself a lifeline however and say this is for the more advanced noses out there. And I was not ready. I still have a lot of learning to do, but I can at least acknowledge where I am at this point. This is a beautiful and complex forest fragrance to say it plainly. If it is dark and stormy outside, and you put this on, you are in for quite the experience. It's like the forest comes to life inside of your mind. A vibrant imaginative experience. Of course you have to allow it, which is key, but if you do allow it, there is not one stone unturned and not one flower untouched. So much detail! I didn't even know you could do that in an olfactory creation, so that shows you yet again how much more I have to learn. And that excites me! Fragrance houses like this are what excites me and hopefully many other people. I'm not going to go through the description of the fragrance itself because that's not going to do anyone any good. It is so rich and so complex that I could probably paint it better than I can explain it. Just imagine a dense forest toward the evening. The forest has come alive in every shape and form. The ground illuminates in Energy and life. It's fantasy the most realistic environment imaginable. This is a must have for people who are interested in nature, the forest, spirituality, and just literally even connected to the force at all. It is awesome

The outdoors sensuality of Arborist is unmatched: some of what I visualize would be deemed indecent, but they might have to do with Wranglers and boots and the prickle of pine needles and cones against one's back and fundament. The opening is an oily, pungent accord that is immediately addictive. I detect a slug of saffron lifting an omnium gatherum of woods. It's sharp, fuzzy, warm, and something that even reminds me of hiba wood (Thujopsis dolobrata), which I have in my collection of coniferous essential oils. Used for centuries in Japan as a building material for temples and homes due to its resistance to termites and fungi, it has a unique scent profile. It's sharply citrus and smoky, cedar-like, with wormwood facets. Arborist also features spikenard, one of my favorite natural materials, with its sacred history, heavy and deep in its scent profile, sweet calamus facets, starkly woody, animalic undertones, reminiscent of the still water of a marsh on a warm day. It seems to serve to underline the whole effect of the unembellished reality of the woods, as things grow even more coniferous and thickly resinous. There is a blurred line between the surroundings and the excited human body, as if Arborist is a scent poem for merging with nature. Heated skin, hands still showing traces of grease that the Lava soap couldn't quite entirely remove, it was a long day and it's time to retreat, and the protagonist can't decide whether it is meditation or mischief on the menu in his favorite wooded corner. Arborist is one of the most captivating releases I've discovered in the past year.

This is a monstrous concoction top-loaded with base notes which all but smother any and everything else in the note pyramid. It combines the best sides of vintage and modern, very much in the same ilk as Papillon, although it doesn't resemble Anubis to me as much as to others. I can see it's in a similar ballpark but honestly Anubis is 10 times better than this, it's a masterpiece. The Jorum DNA is here; it has the witchy, natural feel and a twinge of whisky, which I perceive in all of their perfumes to varying degrees. On card, the bone dry resins and saffron make it smell like some sort of bland niche fake-oud saffron sludge, but it doesn't smell at all like this on skin. This perfume has to be worn to be understood. The base starts to remind me of Fate Man before long, though there's none of the cumin funk. The edge here comes from the burnt charcoal, forest fire element. This is not an easy perfume to pull off, but I do like it. It's probably best worn in a well ventilated environment for the sake of those not versed in hardcore niche perfumery. Wearing this again, I'm finding it bogged down by the crumbly texture. I wish there were more of the listed florals peeking through. It's definitely not a bad perfume and I can enjoy wearing it, but it does tend to make me start thinking about others I'd rather be wearing. I think the malt here is too strong, it's overpowering everything else and lacks the sweetness that would make it more charming.

I legit thought that there was a soapy-cumin element to this, but BOY was I wrong! I guess the myrrh, fir and labdanum are working to achieve that. Not sure what I think about this, to be honest. It’s a bit dirty, spicy-stinky, which isn’t a bad thing, but it just feels like there’s something missing or left out. I can’t put my finger on it, to be honest. I don’t mind it at all, in fact, I quite like it, I just feel something is missing from it. Definitely need to try this one again, methinks... ***EDIT*** So, on my 2nd or 3rd time around, I'm not sure this will work. There's a stinging urine element about this, it's minor, but it's there. I can't get it out of my mind. It's a bit metallic-animalic, too, obviously an accord between some of the ingredients. I did overspray this morning, mind you, so I'm happy to try again, with only one spray, but it doesn't look good at the moment... ***EDIT*** So I tried it again, and with only ONE spray, and that unpleasant, pissy-metallic element is still there, but minor. It's at a manageable level, meaning it's still on the 'to buy' cards. Next, for me to 'live in it', and see what I think... Generally speaking, it's a dense woody, leathery, resinous scent. It works for a variety of reasons, and whilst I really want to like it, I'm not sure it suits me. But I'm thinking it might be a yes...

Arborist is like Kilian’s Sacred Wood on steroids. I’m not a huge fan of the opening on my skin because it comes out very turpentine-heavy, but once that sharpness burns off, the whole composition settles into something hypnotic. It’s as if someone took Sacred Wood’s creamy, meditative sandalwood DNA and dragged it into a damp Scottish forest - roots, resin, sawdust, and all. After the first 40 minutes, the aggressive varnish notes melts into this gorgeous blend of mossy wood chips, milky sap, and the impression of freshly split logs. It feels textured, almost tactile, like running your palm along a rough cedar trunk. There’s a hum of earthy sweetness beneath it too, something that keeps the whole thing from going full lumberjack cosplay. "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK; I sleep all night, and I work all day." - Michael Palin from Monty Python for those under 40. PS: Since it’s late November and still about 27°C here in Southern Arizona, the base opened up a strong body-odor accord that really peaked while I was mountain biking in the Sonoran Desert. It came across as a distinctive, masculine, almost pheromone-like note. Surprisingly attractive, actually.