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.

I am not sure how other people pick up their signature perfumes, but to me, this was an absolute love at first sniff. After I wore it once, I already knew it smells like me. To me, this is the best of what Pineward has to offer. So realistic, so grounding, so lovely. Spicy, resinous, coniferous, with some cooling menthol hidden under, I strongly believe Brokilän to be an all-year-round perfume. It is a smell both faintly familiar and incredibly unique, very-very herbal and only slightly woody, perfectly blended and rounded, a forest in your hands, a beauty you cannot look away from. The projection is just right to cover you in a deliciously smelling cloud, and the longevity is amazing, just as with all the Pineward perfumes. I struggle to find words that are good enough to describe it.

Of the several Pineward dabbers I purchased, this one is my favorite. Brokilan smells like an actual conifer forest. Beneath the pine needles, you can smell wood and also a green, grassy layer that I cannot quite pinpoint. It doesn't smell like pinesol or a Christmas tree yankee candles like many other pine scents do. It's the closest I've found to a scent that makes me feel like I am actually smelling a pine forest. Just be aware: 1) these perfumes can stain 2) longevity isn't particularly strong. Edited to add: apparently the dabber vial I got might be contributing to why the scent isnt lasting as long. I will have to buy a larger spray and report back. I did apply a fair amount to my neck and wrists so it possible just isn't meshing with my skin chemistry.

This one opens extremely fresh and coniferous. It’s almost vegetal and reminds me slightly of celery, it’s really good though surprisingly. These are green accords I haven’t smelled before, they’re definitely foreign to me but I really like them. I enjoy the oud in this too, it’s a background note but it adds a woody smokiness here, and some depth. I believe larch cones are similar to pine cones but they come from larch trees. And you get that smell here, like a pine cone type of aroma. Fresh, woody, slightly spiced. This was described as the prickliest conifer to date on the website and I agree. This scent feels prickly in the best way possible. The sandalwood here does read a bit like sawdust but in a way that oddly works for a scent like this.

Wow, Pineward has struck gold with this one! The scent really comes alive in fall season when temperatures approach freezing and when you spray vigourously (be careful not to get it on clothing as it will cause stains). Imagine the dark pine resin from Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens, but mixed with the sweet incense from La Liturgie des Heures by Jovoy, and with the larch note providing a bit of fruity citrus vibe. I would almost think there is a bit of oakmoss in this as well, due to how it projects. Other Pineward fragrances that I would relate to this one are Sturbridge (more sweet incense and less pine) and White Fir (but sweet resin replaced with orange+clove and more pine).

This is my favorite from Pineward. I lived in Colorado and actually had a Larch (a deciduous conifer) in my yard. This does smell like Larch. I get the oud, sandlewood and resins too. I drink soursop juice a relative to the cherimoya almost daily, and I get a slight odor from a ripening fruit from the Annona family in the drydown as well. The note is well blended and I wish it was used more often. What I do not get is people saying that Brokilon (Pineward spelled as Brokilän) forest is in Tolkein's middle earth. Brokilon is a forest in the Northern Kingdoms of the Witcher Saga. The notes remind me more of the atmosphere and magical sensibilities of the Witcher than middle earth.

My family always chose a balsam fir as our Christmas tree when I was growing up. Brokilan smells just like shoving your face into the boughs of one of those trees and deeply inhaling. Next comes a dark, resinous pool of tree sap that you slowly sink into after a few hours of wear. Really beautiful and naturalistic perfume. This fragrance features black hemlock, not balsam fir, but after a quick google search it seems these two trees are known to have very similar scents. Also, to echo so many reviews before mine -- the juice is extremely dark and will temporarily stain skin. I wouldn't dare spray this on clothing.

Wow. Dark yet serene pine forest. Smells more like pine needles on the forest floor than fresh trees. I definitely see the inspiration from Tolkien's work in this. The juice is dark green, and will stain your clothing and your skin (it looks like a bruise when sprayed which I personally kinda like but I'm just letting you know). Oud is not offensive (and normally I cannot stand it), it's very well done here, and reminds me of oud in Dragon's blood by Heretic.

Super realistic Christmas tree smell. At least the kind of wild sappy Scandinavian firs I am used to go out and chop in the snow the day before Christmas eve. Not as dark and complex as Mirkwood. This perfume is a tree, mostly the needles, not a full forest. A bit simple, but love it.

This smells like a woodworking shop. Tingling, fresh scent of conifer needles develop into a heavy, blend of resinous turpentine and varnish, before eventually quieting into a second voice to cozy notes of freshly cut wood and sawdust. Absolutely love this scent on my partner.

definitly one of the best perfumes in the forest collection it has the scent of a dark forest that is in the midst of fall to me there is also this nutty/granola kind of scent which I love 9/10

A sweet conifer fragrance that is pretty wood-forward on my skin. I can definitely smell the needles and cones, but the wood is what comes through the most.

Editors need to step up their games notes are off. Missing spruce and Sandarac. Where they get chirimoya from?

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my first try from the forest discovery set and it's very promising. this paints such a clear and specific picture: i'm in a dry, dusty log cabin that's been turned into a kitschy shop, the kind with local art and essential oils and buckets where you can buy bags of tumbled rocks. it takes me back to field trips out to gold rush country in the appalachians. my only gripe is with the color, which is such a dark shade of caterpillar guts type green that i can't imagine spraying this on light clothing.

One of the “fresher” pine heavy fragrances from pineward. It’s more citrus heavy than others which I dont mind because it doesn’t smell synthetic to me. My only complaints are the atomizer (as with all pineward bottles) and the performance. The performance is abysmal. I need 5-7 sprays to get the desired strength and that for a cost effective niche perfume does not make.