Afire

Neil Morris Afire is an oddly named but beautifully unique candied citrus and incense oriental with an additional spicy fruit note that Fragrantica is calling red berry, which seems as good a name as any. The red berry isn't any particular red berry and it isn't fresh and sweet, it is more spicy and jammy. This fruit accord blends with some cinnamon, a smoky note, and a base of incense and sweet balsamic something. Altogether a lovely and distinctive scent - something like a fantasy that takes off from smoking incense soaked in Grand Marnier. Neil Morris is one of my favorite niche perfumers (though it should be said that there are so many these days that I am surely leaving out many worthies that I have never even sampled). Here is why. First, he creates distinctive and unusual scents that cover a very wide range of notes (if you want something really unusual try his Midnight at the Crossroads Cafe - something like pepperoni-brandy-salt-brimstone). Some of his perfumes are a bit odd, but others are more conventional; all that I have sampled are well made. Second, he completely lacks the bizarre pretension so common in niche perfumers. He doesn't speak of transcendental love affairs or existential crises (please, are we not talking about a *perfume*?). He speaks of scent memories and evocation of mood. His bottles are the kind you can buy yourself. Look up his interview here on Fragrantica. He doesn't have a million dollar Soho store front. He just makes great perfumes and sells them online. And his prices are consistently moderate. No $300 "exclusif" line (for which you may read "I can afford it and you can't, who cares what it smells like"). Third (and this one is personal), Neil Morris is American. I love French and Italian perfumery, but it is great to see the skill and tradition spreading.

Neil Morris is really intriguing. The fragrances I have smelled so far are very interesting and off the beaten track. I like that, there is history and research and something very personal about the frags he architects. No doubt he is a very talented man and parfumeur. Afire is a complex scent made with very good raw materials. It is warm, hot, spicey and smells like a mulled wine in front of the fire. It evokes a cozy gathering in front of the fireplace, that is, drining some warm mulled wine and perhaps eating cinnamon based sweet stuff. There is a lot of caramel here... and I can see similarities with Hermes Ambre Narguilé. I swear I can get a whiff of cognac - of maybe it is the wood barrels the cognac was in...(!) but definitely the woods you can smell in cognac. There is also some balsamic note like juniper berries that melts in the bakery atmosphere. Delicious. The base is frankincense and vanilla. Great sillage and long staying power. Absolutely worth a try.

I could not get enough of this stuff. One of my favorite fragrances. Opening is citrus, but IMO is dominated by the middle notes of the berries and caramel. Base notes are a wonderful conclusion to this fragrance with the Frankincense and Wood making a nice mixture. The longevity of this is outstanding, lasting over 12 hours. It is very powerful, as well. I had a sample of this and sprayed a bit into the cap of the sample. Anytime I opened the sample to take a whiff, just the little bit in the sample wafted throughout the room and stayed quite a long time. The name, I think fits, but I'm not sure I can explain why. The fragrance isn't spicy, or hot, per se, but there's something about it that's kind of warm....like a fire that's not blazing anymore but is still warm below the surface. Outstanding.

5pm on a December evening.Sipping Grand Marnier in a church.Not a big,cold,scary church but a cosy,friendly little chapel.All the lights are on,the vicar is milling around setting out the hymn books,glancing over and smiling every now and again,letting you know you're welcome there.Something about sipping that sweet alchoholic orange liquer in church seems naughty but the two juxtapose so well even so. That is Neil Morris Afire. Sweet,smooth orange with a hint of booze,overlaying spicy incense. I love this perfume.Not since my beloved Angel have I fallen so quickly and completely. Thankyou Adrienn99 for introducing me to "The One".My search is over.

Most of all I can smell sweet warm mandarine and incense here which is very appealing combination for me. After a while it developes into a mild vanilla fragrance but it isn't simple at all quite the contrary it's the deep and versatile scent. Lasting power is great.