Chypre Fulminare

Upon initial application of Chypre Fulminare and catching those first few moments in the air as they landed on my skin, I thought NOPE! For a split second I thought I sensed a faecal note, Not for me! Oh how very wrong I was!!!!! Literally within another second my senses acclimatised and I realised that what I was interpreting as bodily waste was in part my lack of preparation and the intense, pungent aroma of beautiful ingredients coming together to overwhelm my sense of smell. 😀 Taking a moment, I realised I was fully immersed in a stunning, wonderful, chypre cloud of manliness. The very thing I had hoped this Naughton & Wilson offering would provide. I adore the more traditional scents above all other genres. Barbershop, fougere and chypres are where my heart lies and I feel a real joy when I hit the jackpot. I knew this was the case with Chypre Fulminare, it's gone straight in amongst my favourites, it just hits the spot. Despite that initial moment of panic and orientation, I found myself completely absorbed in an abundance of heavy notes including leather, incense, castoreum, labdanum and beautiful oakmoss. It is topped off with a gentle sway of citrus and pepper to give a little freshness and lift to all the heavyweights in the mix. Its just a little animalic! But it's also just interesting, refined and deep. This is a very manly scent but hey, anything goes these days! Definitely for a mature man who has lived a life and knows what he likes. This is not for boys and anyone who doesn't shave twice a day. 😆. You'll sprout hair all over just by wearing this scent, it's magnificent. Having said all the above, you should've gathered it's fairly powerful.....but in a controlled way. It's doesn't run amok in closed spaces but people will know you are present, in part due to its traditional and therefore noticeable profile amongst a million sweet, blue and generic products that are worn by the masses. Projection wise, you'll be easily whiffable at arms length and a bit for a few hours and then just a little less for several more before approaching something more intimate. You'll leave a decent sillage for many hours though. This stuff will cling to your skin all day and night. Others won't necessarily like this aroma but if you do then I suspect you wouldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks anyway. It's beautifully constructed. As the fragrance progresses through it's cycle all the elements stay detectable but those darker ingredients become even more heavenly, combining to make you smell distinctive, assertive and very alpha. All the while the more delicate notes continue to offer nuances of freshness and come across as someone well dressed and at least a level or two above the average man on the street. It's just so beautifully blended by a master of gentleman fragrances. Just remember though, this isn't a scent that is crafted to be a chemical weapon, this is an elegant potion for an individual who knows how to show a little restraint. If I'm honest, I would've liked just a little more performance to see me through a busy day with a bit more oomph towards the end! I'm nit-picking though, it's genuinely hard to fault! It's a three season scent with only warmer summer days not suitable, in general the cooler days are where this shines brightest but it's hard to tear yourself away from a spritz or two every morning. This is a fragrance that Every well dressed man needs in his arsenal, but only if you're the sort of guy who ploughs his own field and treads his own path. Suitable for any occasion too, but again, only if you have the minerals! If you wear this then in all likelihood you do! Well done, great work from Naughton & Wilson. Looking forward to trying a few more from the brand asap.

Naughton & Wilson Chypre Fulminare is the third release of the house (2022), the follow-up the fresh/spicy gems Gravitas (2020) and Bon Viveur (2021), the former being spicier and the latter being fresher, both excellent. Chypre Fulminare is darker than both, a chypre, yes, but dense with notes of frankincense, leather, castoreum, and pepper that add a lot of intensity to the more standard chypre/fougere-type formula of citrus, florals, and oakmoss. It’s not quite as versatile as Gravitas or Bon Viveur but is similar superb in sophistication and seems very thoroughly-conceived; it’s just a bit more apt for cooler weather and evening wear than it is for warm weather and daytime wear, in general, in my opinion. But it’s just as much of an achievement as the other two. I do like the spicier, borderline-animalic take on the chypre concept, a bit experimental and daring while still quite classy and not too over-the-top, arguably a bit restrained in its edginess. The house’s UK website does not seem to list Chypre Fulminare but it is still sold in the US by Luckyscent, priced at $125 for 100ml, very reasonable in the current market. So perhaps it’s been discontinued? I’m not sure. Look into it, I’d say, if you haven’t yet. The current deals on the house site for Gravitas and Bon Viveur are quite exceptional, also, if you’ve not tried either of those. 8 out of 10

This is an outstanding fragrance that’s growing on me steadily with each wearing. Beautiful projection lifts this scent off my skin into the air and it’s just lovely. Incense, black pepper, leather and oakmoss really stand out to my nose; and the added note of castoreum adds an animalic edge that takes this into another realm or class. The citrus and ylang ylang up top make the opening bright and fresh, but before long heart and base notes come to the foreground and the scent becomes something really special. Well blended and constructed for sure. Definitely a gem. I’m expecting this to get more and more praise over time!!

I have a collection of a couple hundreds fragrances including many Roja, Xerjoff, Amouage and so on. The quality of Chypre Fulminare is superb even compared to those. The ingredients smell natural like a Roja creation and most importantly, the smell is not only unique but sublime. It shares a certain fizzy, effervescent quality with Gravitas but is more powerful. This will sit on the shelf right next to Danger, Scandal, Oligarch and my two bottles of Gravitas. Great job Dan Norton and John Stephen. This reminds me of the Puredistance M cola vibe, plus the leather from Shalimar, plus a wonderful smokey incense effect.

I wasn’t a big fan of Bon Viveur but this is great. Not going by the notes I get a slightly candied citrus top with a nice woody base, smells of cedar to me. The leather is in the background on my skin which is fine by me. Definitely feels like an ode to vintage masculine perfume but much more wearable than brooding so I guess you could say modernized. This isn’t reminding me of anything at the moment so I’m quite impressed with it managing to feel vintage yet carrying uniqueness at the same time. This feels like it could be worn most seasons too depending on the amount of sprays. 8.5 out of 10.