Cotswold

The quintessential oak fragrance that delves into all of its boozy, smoky, sweet, and (needless to say) woody nuances. scent breakdown - Opens with an extremely realistic freshly coopered oak barrel accord. The smell of the freshly cut oak wood combining with its slightly smoky and sweet resin drying out under a late summers sun. In the dry down the natural sweetness and smokiness get amplified by some vanilla, tonka, and pine along with an unlisted whiskey booziness to my nose. In the deep dry down it smells like one of those fancy old fashions you get at a froofy “gastropub” where the waiter pulls the lid off the drink to reveal the smoke. personal thoughts - I worked at an old sawmill for a summer or two back in my high school years with one of my cousins who’s like a brother to me. During that time I had to cut a lot of wood, and I largely attribute my love for the scent of wood to those summers. That all being said, we did occasionally cut oak wood for a local whiskey distillery, and it was one of the most intoxicating smells ever. That smell, from freshly cut wood to brown booze in a barrel, is bottled here. If there’s one brand/perfumer I trust to make woody fragrances, it’s Nicholas Nilsson and Pineward perfumery. Simultaneously dark academia and drunken country nights, go figure. performance - As with most of the darker catalog from Pineward, it’s a beast and lasts 16ish hours on skin and until I had to do my laundry on clothes. Projection is strong and it can take a good hour or so until it’s “mass appealing” so easy on the trigger. rating - 9.2/10. when to wear - Whiskey & Cigars at a jazz club; Romanticizing Melancholy; Rainy nights night walks in the city song vibe - Deference for Darkness by Martin O’Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Halo TLDR - Fleshly Cut Oak + Oak Whiskey Barrels + Smoldering Vanilla + Smoked Pine. Smells like an old fashioned in a suit while at an old oak speakeasy. Timbered. Smoked. Slightly Sweet. Inteospective. If you love oak, whiskey, or smoky woody fragrances, give this a try. Side note - as with most Pinewards, the juice is very dark and will stain lightly colored garments, stick to spraying skin.

There are genuinely not enough words in the world to describe how much I love this fragrance. Oak, Cedar and Pine Needles are layered with smoke as they transport you to a campfire that was just put out and the scent has lingered. If the fragrance consisted of the woody and smoky notes alone, it would be a really nice fragrance on its own. The true star of this mixture is the vanilla note. Just when you think this scent is going to be all woods and a hint of smoke, the vanilla sneaks up on the back end and sweetens this out just enough to blend everything together. It's a warm, dry, slightly sweet delight that has really great longevity and solid projection. It's the perfect scent to wear when the leaves start to fall and the weather starts to turn cold. I cannot begin to express how perfectly this is blended and how pleasant it is to wear. If you enjoy scents like By The Fireplace, you will fall in love with Cotswold.

The smoke here is quite subtle, and I can’t really pick it out as a stand-alone note. Instead, it seems to contribute to the overall effect, which to me is a remarkably rich and cozy vanilla with a slightly sharp and dirty edge, imbued into cedar and oak. This dirty edge is where I imagine the smoke note lives, but it has more of the quality of stale air and dirt than smoke to me. I think it’s a fascinating combination that grounds a very vanilla-forward scent. To me, this smells precisely like a winter cabin I used to drive to in the winters and for that reason I find it absolutely precious. There’s quite a bit of complexity here so if you are looking for a not overly sweet vanilla-forward fragrance with elements that will keep you glued to your wrist, I highly recommend you sample this.

This is wonderful--complex, difficult to parse, distinctly reminiscent of a barn: a bit animal, a bit smoky, a bit of hay, and something I can't put my finger on. The vanilla is present if I think about it, but adds to the sense of cozy-ness also conveyed by the smoke without adding sweetness as such. Over time, it develops into a comfortable, interesting sawdustiness, in a way that evokes my father's woodworking shop without being directly representational. And while I find that many Pineward fragrances just don't last well on me at all, this is among a handful of very well-performing exceptions.

Definitely one of my favorites from Pineward so far. The biggest flaws of this fragrance is how cloying and syrup-y it can be - you need to use just a bit of this to get the best experience. The performance on this thing is incredible. It envelops you. This is an old log cabin during a cold winter night. It is smoky and dusty. Your home is old and weathered, yet undying. The fire is going, you are safe, embraced by a warm presence in your rustic sanctuary withstanding the cold.