La Fumee

It's strange it's taken me so long to write about the fragrance that not only was my introduction to niche perfumery, but first made me begin my olfactory journey and I only get to it now that it's been discontinued along with the range. And to my great surprise I have found that Miller Harris remains unknown to a lot of fragrance enthusiasts even now. Right at the top I get a good dose of incense and cedar with birch and coriander trailing right behind them. And this is interesting to me, because for birch to come through so loud and clear when there's both oud and sandalwood in a fragrance is very uncommon. The cedar here is enhancing the incense, but never gives it an overly green or aromatic feel. At the heart I get all the spices (cardamom, cumin) and resins with sandalwood entering the picture. Only then do I begin to distingush the oud in here. And funnily I only recognize the chamomile at the beginning of the drydown, right when the oud emerges. I think all the other versions of La Fumee in the collection remain similar to the original, with the exception of La Fumee Alexandrie which has strayed a bit far from the original DNA for my liking (it's rose that dominates that one). The others mainly differ from the original in their dominance of oud over other woods (Intense and Arabie) and in the addition of fruits into the composition (Maroc and Ottoman). The original is still the most complex one in the series, and I think the intense (which I do like a lot) is a slight simplification. The most long lasting among the bunch is in my experience Arabie, exceeding even the intense version. To me the whole series remains unique in a sea of fragrances that often appears to be somewhat oversaturated with more of the same. What they offer is a refreshing lack of florals, especially rose (with the exception of Alexandrie of course). I am obviously biased, but I do think La Fumee and its siblings deserve your attention.

I AM IN LOVE with this fragrance, I am. And while so different from my usual blends, La Fumee is eerily similar to the rose, oud, wood, resin, patchouli, sandalwood stuff that I love. This fragrance is absolutely beautiful. As a more "linear" fragrance than what I usually wear, I love the simplicity and purity of this fragrance a whole lot! The opening is intoxicating with glorious incense notes followed by a rather intense smokiness, which I love! Throughout the opening, I couldn't refrain from smelling my inner wrists and forearms. I find La Fumee totally feminine when shortly after the opening notes, creamy, silky, velvety, smooth ethereal vanilla notes rise and interplay with the ongoing lovely incense & smokiness! Dreamy and almost light (which I'm starting to prefer, given my fragrances tend to play heavy with resinous, rather oily notes), La Fumee cloaked me in a cloud of smoky, creamy, resinous, vanilla, woody incense. The fragrance places me in a near meditative, dream-like state...it really does! Middle floral notes quickly emerge and once again mingle nicely with all the notes and scents in play. And while I would not consider this fragrance to be complex in nature, somehow all the notes blend together nicely and land in pleasant harmony. I imagine there's elemi, sandalwood and other woody, resinous notes emerging, which contribute to the pleasant dry down and base. I did not think silage was great but when I picked my husband up from work, he immediately commented on how I (and his truck) "smelled like incense." Interesting. Now, I timed all of this loveliness and I'd say the fragrance greatly diminished on my skin at approximately 3.5 to 4 hours. So, for me longevity is moderate, not great. As another reviewer stated, "This truly is magical stuff." I love this fragrance. I can see wearing it for quite some time to come.

miller harris house has a very very unique “form” .in general, miller harris “form” is lush and at the same time its thoughtful . Its posh but at the same time its very social . I believe la fumee from MH is a revolution in spicy and incense genre . An incensed and spicy fragrance that can control these two difficult elements fantastically and turns the oriental spicy genre which can be too much sometimes , to a very lush ,gorgeous,classy ،moderate and sociable scent ! Each word and scene of la fumee keeps the “form” And harmony . thoughtful timing and changes , never looses its balance , and whispers the journey , A beautiful autumn or winter journey. Remember , when fire goes off ..then , La fumee starts ! sharp ,incensed woody ,cardamom and labdanun race ,in a semi sweet field. For about half hour ..then slowly changes ,after all that heavy incense now you can see lavender more clearly and la fumee Incensed face changes to kind of smoky and mid spicy .this smoke is coming from cedar , from far away .you can see the view and there is a lovely silence in the scent , absolutely beautiful landscape . As la fumee goes ,it gets more and more smoky , birch ,smoked woods and amber .. and goes on .. On my skin , La fumee has a great longevity and also good sillage which suits the scent very well . Completely unisex, And I must point it out , La fumee belongs to the cold weather ,i mean not even spring , its a completely different fragrance in colder seasons , then you’ll see how beautiful she is .

I bought this blind after reading the reviews and decided to take the risk and omg am I glad I did. I'll start by saying I really like the simplicity of the bottle and the sketched flowers on it. It's very lovely but the juice that is contained within is AMAZING! This was truly a spiritual experience. Initially you get almost drunk with frankincense. There is no denying that this is strong at first and you'll definitely not need to spray a lot. After a few minutes you get this hint of beautiful lavender and then the citrus notes. They are soft and in the background. You then get thrown into a Catholic mass; it smells like the moment of communion. You are quietly entwined by the incense and smoke as it starts to give way to the spices and woods. Wow! My head is spinning. The smoke, the spices and the woods. The experience is incredible and the notes are all played in their proper sequence. The dry down is a solemn prayer. The sandalwood remains sweetened by the amber. Quiet, gentle yet ever present in the air that surrounds you for hours. In my opinion this is a totally unisex fragrance. I feel it's slightly more feminine than masculine although it's not too sweet which is perfect to me. This is my new favorite. It'll be great moving into Fall and Winter. Highly recommended if you love spicy and smoky scents. Six hours later and I'm still sniffing my arm. Btw this is my first experience with Miller Harris and it was great. I'll definitely be trying Terre D'Iris next as I love iris. ❤️

I love smoky balsamic scents, and I'm really into this one. It's a spicy/woody incense that stays fairly linear on my skin but that's okay with me. I enjoy cumin in perfume and here the warm-skin scent it imbues is for me enhanced by the cardamom and coriander. And these spice notes feel dry like the seeds in my kitchen jars which helps give this scent a dusty aged character that I like. I have a jar of dried chamomile too, and here its creaminess, along with the labdanum, goes beautifully with the resins and smoke. The lavender plays a bigger part in the meld than I first realised - I can pick out this note among the others throughout, but like I mentioned, I get a fairly steady linearity from the start. Elemi up top and amber at the base ensure resinous tones through this too. The arid parchment-like quality eases after an hour or so and gives way to a woodier vibe with sharpish cedar sap; leathery birch; creamy sandalwood, and a beautifully restrained drop of oud. As it moves further into dry-down a slight sweetish floral tone comes out in the woodiness. Overall, this starts as an ancient book might smell, then later reminds me of inside a dusty old chest of drawers that once had lavender drawer-liners. Not a great deal of development but I really enjoy wearing it all the same.

Nose Note #587 It's good, but feels just like another labdanum/incense niche perfume. It reminds me of something a lot, but I can't say what it is. Givenchy Xeryus Rouge, but with labdanum? It feels like something from the 90s, but rediscovered by a modern niche house and... made to smell niche, of course. What niche pathways do we have, let's see... add a lot of oud? A lot of leather? A funky fruity note? Weird mineral note? Make it smell industrial? Ok, let's just go the more conventional route and add incense, make it smell middle-eastern. Unfourtunately, didn't impress me. It's nice and all, but just very common. And very expensive. The actual middle-eastern brands since the time this was made have conquered the market and you can now have something like this for about $40. This is not very well performing, despite its thick incense nature. And sillage is very very limited. Nicely done, not overly niche, but just unimpressive and unmemorable. 7/10, solid "7" upd. after 6 months: It may not be very impressive, but damn how good this is... I wish I had a full bottle. I could rock this any day. One of the best warm labdanum/incense dominant scents I've smelled. 9/10, superb

Lately, someone complained to me that La Fumée is not a real incense fragrance but on my skin, it develops a very beautiful incense smoke/woody scent with just the right subtle amount of spices with a very good longevity(close to skin). Sillage is moderate. This is a very natural and not too sweet scent at all (on my dry to normal skin). Everything here is elegant: it ́s not warm, it ́s not loud, it ́s not too quiet, not too dry, not too sweet and and it is not boring at all! It is a very beautiful perfume. As the gentle sweetness coming from laudanum begins to disappear, a subtle "grim", "colder" aura starts surrounding this scent without completely enclosing it. When I wear La Fumée, I feel somewhat like coming back from a walk in the forest, in a cloudy winter with no snow, after the rain ceased to fall. I ́m wearing a long hooded cape, swinging a censer as I walk, in silence, alone, as I reach my cabin and stop to catch some wood to burn inside. There ́s some herbs drying in a dark corner and some spice on a small old , beautifully hand carved wood table. I just want to sit down and read.

File under: a cut above. Gorgeous, lush, opulent, oozing sensual spice in every direction. An absolute diva of a perfume that's somehow also interesting enough to wear without cloying, and magnetically rich and complex when you give it time. Its floral qualities are actually a little too forward for me (female, tending to prefer masculine-tending woodsy unisex stuff) and the smoke is exceedingly perfumed - this isn't bonfire or charcoal, but gentler and more soothing. So it is both girlier and less smoky than you might expect, but it's still damn fine perfume. It may not be the most outre or experimental smoky/spicy out there, but it is certainly leagues ahead of 80% at least of the competition at any price, and the best value by miles if you can find it discounted. Wearable in any weather other than really sweltering heat, and more adaptable than you may think. I'd really urge anyone to give it a try, but do test before going for the FB ... it has a decided character and definitely is no wallflower.r

This was a blind buy, so I was quite suspicious when the unpretentious little box came in the mail... Then I gathered courage, opened it and sprayed.An explosive opening ! Smoke, incense, lemon, resin, all at once like fireworks !Then a little pause and tar came in, alone, close to the skin.Stayed a while, then smoke and incense sneaked back in for the dry down.And I suddenly realised that it reminded me strongly of Shiseido ́s Feminite du Bois, as it smelled on fabrics and never on my own skin. I couldn ́t detect the smallest whiff of sandalwood, but then again, it doesn ́t come out on my skin even from heavy sandalwood perfumes, like Samsara... I think La Fumee is a gorgeous, warm, feminine (at least with my own chemistry) perfume, very well composed and a joy for all those who love resinous, incensy, smoky perfumes which rather whisper in your ear and seduce you stealthily rather than shout their sexiness from the rooftops !

My second Miller Harris fragrance and I'm not sure what to make of it? This should tread familiar territory balsamic/resinous and judging by the name smokey. I don't know if I expect masses of smoke now because I've tried some smoke bomb fragarances of late but La Fumee seems a bit tame. The opening is a bit unsettled and I wasn't sure it was balanced enough for my liking. It's soft sandalwood, elemi and labdanum which conspire to make a warming woody, incense type perfume which has a very subtle smoke to it. The drydown is sublime though, really lovely a classy sandalwood/herbal mixture and worth considering. Great drydown but didn't grab me to begin with, good longevity though. I like it, my girlfriend commented she wasn't that impressed.

Calming, quite earthy but enigmatic. It's a perfect balance with elemi, labdanum and sandalwood being most apparent, to my nose. Each note complements the other and the general impression is of an incensy warmth. Very natural incense though, not sweet. It's not heavy, you can spray quite a lot and though it retains a certain richness throughout I think the longevity will disappoint those who enjoy a more constant strong sillage from their perfume, but I find this relaxing. As others have noted, it's comforting, but by no means simplistic. I wouldn't wear it for a dressy event but for every day in winter or autumn it's perfect, easy to wear, elegant yet grounded. A new 'love' for me!

I really like La Fumee and find it cozy and original. I am a woman and find it works well on me (I tend to prefer unisex scents, but I will go floral when in the mood). This scent is rich and exotic, with a good earthy and smoky/woody body and it lasts nicely (and stays authentic to itself) for hours. It may be "too much" to wear to work every day, but I enjoy it as a personal treat in the evenings or on week-ends. I would love to try La Fumee Arabie, but that is very pricey and I was unable to find a sample. If anybody has a sample (or is willing to sell me a sample from their actual bottle), I would be interested.

Intensely evocative fragrance, makes me travel from an autumnal garden where leaves are burnt to a High Church service mystically shrouded in clouds of incense smoke. A hint of the Orient somewhere, balmy and warm. Smoke is captured well and it does stay from beginning till the end. Sensual and festive, almost Proustian, if you replace the Madelaines with a smoking fireplace. It is something I would wear in the afternoon or evening, more masculine than feminine, more holy and outdoorsy than boudoir. Synaesthesia at work every time I sniff it, it is definitely takes me on a journey.

I like this perfume very much. But performance is quite poor. After a while it becomes skinscent, no projection. After you spray, thats the only time you get its best. After that, forget everything. (not sure whats wrong..) This range has the resemblance of Amouage style but in a moderate way... incense, woods, oud+flower those thing.. but Amouage has a more extreme approach in defining the notes and projection that i can relate. Overall the smell is truly good, but deterred by its performance. 6/10 !

The opening elemni note is unique and gorgeous. It mingles with a heady mix of incense and spices. The drydown brings pure cedar, birch, and sandalwood accords to the forefront. Throughout the scent's evolution, labdanum is exquisitely noticeable. The entire composition-- a true unisex, in my opinion-- is absolutely wonderful. The quality is excellent, too. I am so sad they have discontinued the La Fumee series.

Beautiful, unforgiving and making no excuses with a super hit of genuine mysore - and you can really tell,.. I sprayed a tiny amount of this at 3 pm today, I'm still getting gorgeous little wafts of a soft drydown even now at 12.15 am.. I could wear this without hesitation. *update... couldn't resist it in the end and have succumbed with a 100ml bottle : ) love it!

I’m not going to pretend that I can detect anything other than woodsmoke and incense here... And not the smoke shop variety of incense - the churchy kind. This scent takes me back to my days at Winterfell. Such a shame it’s been discontinued.

This is absolutely lovely. I really enjoyed Le Labo's 'patchouli 24' and this shares a similar Autumn bonfire scent which I LOVE. I bought feuilles de tabac for my husband, but I will be coming back to buy this one for me...!!

An amazing perfume, animalistic, leathery smoky, deep, but also done in a soft way that makes it enjoyable and high-end. It is a bit on the weak side but one of the best incense/leather fragrances you can find.

One of if not the best incense based fragrance out there. I thoroughly enjoy this. Sometimes I'll spray a little on my hand just so I can enjoy it again. I put this up there with Amouage Epic Man. 9.5/10 -