Brokilän

Notes are way, way off. Posion hemlock is shown here. This is black hemlock (tsuga) needles. Also spruce, fir, larch, sandarac, momi resin, sandalwood, and Vietnamese oud. Anyway, Brokilän is perhaps the single most true to life conifer perfume out there. A huge presence of spruce needles, backed by a perfectly balanced blend of larch sap, fir balsam, black hemlock needles, and pine, for the most complete blend of conifer resins. I'm not sure what the sandarac and momi are adding, but I'm sure they round out the profile. Oud isn't oudy or dank, but it contributes to the resinous, woody feel, ultimately serving to capture everything about a fresh, sappy young Christmas tree, and bottling it up. This isn't dark, brooding, and loamy as the likes of Fanghorn, Bindebole, and Murkwood, nor is it pine needle-focused, like Boreal and Oxylus. It isn't Norney at all. This is fresh, fragrant, sappy, and almost snowy and chilly. Clean needles and sap. The various conifers lend an almost cooling camphoraceous opening, not dissimilar to eucalyptus, but this settles quickly, highlighting the spruce, fir, tamarack and black hemlock. It's green - almost blue-green, sticky, potent, and really serves to steer from the typical dark and foreboding black hemlock profile, opting for a festive, crisp, decidedly Christmasy conifer, whilst avoiding any typical tropes or PineSol associations. It lasts ages on skin, and projects fairly far for the first few hours. At over 30% concentration, it doesn't readily fade from skin. It is entirely realistic and natural smelling, with no trace of aromachemicals or Little Trees air freshener. Just pure, distilled conifer resins and snowy forest absolutes. It's amount the most unique conifer perfumes out there, and one of Nick's crown jewels. Don't be fooled by the $80/17ml price tag. That 17ml bottle will last ages, ad this only needs two sprays to do its job for the day. Not remotely redundant amoung other conifer perfumes, including good spruce-heavy takes like Dasein Winter or TRNP Black Spruce. It stands completely on its own, and may be the most transportive, authentic, wintery evergreen perfume you'll ever come across. Every bit as Pineward as Fanghorn or Murkwood, but an entirely different direction, and a must have - for conifer lovers, especially towards the wintertime, where this will really conjure up festive holiday imagery. Stellar.

@sniffmonster - I just want to point something out for clarification (I didn't downvote your review, don't worry). In your writeup, you said "be aware that these scents don't last long". Maybe you've only sampled Pineward from dabber vials? Virtually everything from Pineward Perfumes is incredibly potent (at 30+ percent oil concentration!) and longevity - for all Pinewards, is through the roof. Bindebole is on the weaker side as far as longevity (6ish hours) and Boreal isn't a powerhouse, but those are an anomaly. The rest of the lineup (and I've worn every single one, plenty) will stay on skin from anywhere from 12 to 70 hours - many in that 20+ hour range. The dabbers don't convey this very well, but Pineward scents are far from weak. On the contrary, it's some of the most potent perfume you'll find! (Think about the amount of juice a dabber puts on your skin - now compare to a spray. Of course dabbers aren't giving nuclear performance and staying power - but Pineward extraits are impressively beastly and tenacious. Just so you know) Zero disrespect in any fashion! I just felt the need to comment on that so others can see a differing opinion, as I'm quite familiar with the house, and complaints of longevity just don't enter the conversation with Pineward, so it seemed odd.

As an avid Lord of the Rings nerd, I’m thrilled to see references to J. R. R. Tolkien’s work. Brokilan is a not subtle about its reference to Tolkien’s ever-mysterious and incomprehensible Elves of Middle Earth (peep their website’s description, you’ll see the reference, I promise). Just like the Elves, Brokilan is complex, beautiful, unapproachable and decidedly not human. In other words, Brokilan will not appeal to most fragrance wearers, and it doesn’t want to be worn by mere men. The story telling here is seriously impressive; when I inhale my test strip, I’m transported to a forest that nature herself doesn’t want me to know about. It’s earthy, elemental, raw and seemingly indifferent to humanity much like the forest itself. The note breakdown terrified me, even as an avid wood and resin lover. I’m still learning to appreciate the complexities of oud , and I was especially worried how it would be balanced as there isn’t an identifiable tonka or vanilla note at the base. Frankly, I was anticipating an animalic and dirty scent that I would immediately regret testing. I want to return to this fragrance again and again. I don’t want to wear it but I want to experience it often. 7.5/10 for scent but 20/10 for story telling

A conifer forest wrapped in night: moonlight glints off ice crystals, while something enchanted seems to gather around a nearby waterfall. Brokilan is a fragrance with an entirely blue aura. Related to Snoqualmie, yet more layered and profound, it unfolds in distinct strata. The canopy opens as a blue balsamic bubble, built around black hemlock and larch cones—a refreshing green-blue accord, almost ascetic in character, where hemlock imposes a quiet, disciplined gravity. Along the bark run sweet, woody lymphatic lines that soften the composition and lend it continuity. The base ultimately settles into a dark resinous weave—bitter, oily, dense, and meditative. A subtle aquatic dimension runs through the entire development, from canopy to roots, suggesting blue as a physical presence rather than a purely chromatic one. Here, Vietnamese oud plays a key role, imparting the sensation of matter saturated with fresh water. Brokilan may well be Pineward’s most complete and balanced forest, and the starting point I would recommend without hesitation.

Another Pineward fragrance that seems to sit differently with everyone! I adore this, in part because of the realism of the larch and forest-floor notes, and in part because it's among a handful of Pineward issues that manages to be simultaneously fresh and dark. The resin-y and citrusy elements of the larch lift the composition; the forest-floor feeling (a synthesis of that agarwood, hemlock, and sandalwood, if you stop to think about it, which you really don't need to do) grounds it. It's masterfully blended. I also find it good summer-wear (unlike many others, it seems), in how it evokes summer hikes through a conifer forest. My only dissatisfaction here is with performance. While I do find some Pineward fragrances quite powerful and durable, I need to spray quite a bit of this for the effect I want, and to respray mid-day. If it weren't for that, combined with the not-cheap price tag, I'd wear this on the regular.