Rook by Rook 2020 Edition

Rook perfume was launched in the year 2018, but the perfumer Nadeem Crowe decided to reformulate his fragrances because of the changes imposed by IFRA. So, this review will address the current version, relaunched in early 2020. Rook's fragrance has 17% essential oils in its current composition, which carries notes of tobacco and birch tar in output. In the body, notes of cardamom, ginger, oud, castoreum, and civet were combined. In the base of the olfactory pyramid, we have incense, ambrette seeds, ambergris, guaiac wood, and musk. A note: it is worth remembering that the notes of castoreum, civet, and ambergris are currently reproduced in the laboratory. The word Rook can mean, in Portuguese, terms such as smoke (if translated from Dutch) and trickster (if translated from English). Here, the perfumer's inspiration came from the figure of a diplomat dressed as a punk rocker. He likes to explain that Rook was a perfume created for him, initially. However, with a little conviction, he decided to share it with everyone. Rook's fragrance is brutal in several ways. As soon as it touches the skin, it has a strong tobacco content with rich herbal and alcoholic nuances, in addition to being slightly sweet. In the original fragrance, much was said about the strong birch content (with its leathery nuances) together with a lot of incense. In this current version, the smell of leather remains, but the incense facets are not as vivid in the beginning. There is also a huge presence of the ambergris note during evolution. Here, more than a warm and oriental effect, it gives a salty aspect. At this stage, the fragrance behaves like a modern fougère, with an odor reminiscent of burnt moss, as if the leaves and branches were not completely dry when thrown over a fire. Over time, Rook changes its personality and becomes a kind of classic chypre, full of musk and animalic nuances, plus a slightly citrusy accord. This time, it is not the good and old bergamot, but the ginger. There is no way to criticize the power of this fragrance. Everything about it brings what the public seeks to find in the perfumery that does not yield to commercial appeal: quality, impact, differentiation, and durability. The problem is: does your personality matches that of the perfumer? If the answer is yes, then Rook is an indispensable item in your luxury collection. Extraordinary creation!

A very pleasant perfume. It is strongly incensed and smoky, with a very powerful birch tar, in the line of perfumes like hyde by Hiram Green, but much more wearable. In addition, the spicy part takes weight off the burning smell, giving it, in my view, a more personal character to the fragrance. The animalistic part produced by the civet, the castoreum and the oud is present throughout the duration of the perfume but always in the fat one, in the distance, without ever being intoxicating. Although it is a very original scent, sometimes it feels classic, like with small bursts that remind me of the typical barber shop scent. Although I think anyone could use it since it is quite rough I see it perhaps a little more oriented towards the male gender. Due to the type of aroma, I would see it more suitable for cold climates and nights but, since its intensity drops quite a bit after the first minutes, it can be a valid perfume for day to day for those who are looking for a signature perfume with which to differentiate themselves rest. I am looking forward to trying more Nadeem Crowe creations. Scent: 8 Longevity: 9 Projection: 8 Quality / price: 7 Versatility: 7 Originality: 10 Overall: 8.5

I never had the opportunity to try the 2018 Rook, but I must say that the 2020 is extraordinary. On me, it opens with a very herbal-green smokiness, then it moves into an animalic spicy tobacco that I can't quite relate to anything else I have ever smelled before. It's interesting that others interpret the opening as tarry, because I get this deep, herbal-green vibe instead; I guess more like cade oil so I can assume that must be the birch tar in action. But it doesn't stay dry and tarry or smokey; the journey into the spices and the way it warms up into a glowing wood ember that's semi-sweet makes me think for a minute that this is everything that I'm looking for in a fragrance of this category. Supposedly, there's agarwood (oud) here, but I wouldn't consider this a typical oud-dominant fragrance. Regarding any misgivings that this unisex fragrance may lean too masculine, I have this to say in response: if men can wear Bandit, then women can easily wear Rook.

This is one phenomenal scent. The birch tar is the first noticeable note although this is a well blended scent. Yes it does have animalic notes but they don't stand out but are a low key supporting act. I'm usually wary of the animalic notes but these furry critters are not too wild. It's a potent scent rich in resin, tar and zing. I can see in my minds eye a raging t Rex stuck in a tar pool fighting hard to break free. Thank the gauiac wood and birch tar. There is a lot of amber gris, tobacco, incense and yes oud. The oud sits towards the back though. What makes this potent scent really sizzle though is the addition of the cardamom and ginger. Love it! Great longevity and sillage even in a cool room. For me it's unisex but I suspect others might consider it a touch masculine. If you love Zoologist T Rex then do try this!

Smokey, incensey tar and leather. Even i was younger, my town was funding a shipbuilding project that recreated a viking ship using traditional methods. This is how the shipyard smelled during that time. Tar covered woods, smoke and some resinous sweetness. I love the smell, but I think you have to be a certain kind of man to pull it off, and in a certain context. This isn't an office fragrance or a date fragrance. It's a fragrance for going on cabin trips, hunting, and fishing. Considering getting a full bottle just to bathe in it when I'm out in the woods. I still prefer Rook's forest to this - it's fresher, more wearable, and evokes the great outdoors even more, but if it wasn't for that, this would be their best fragrance in house.

EDIT: I ended up buying this one. Three words - COAL TAR SOAP. In more than 3 words? Here goes... On my skin, this fragrance opens up with a very light touch of smoke that dies down very quickly into a birch tar soap scent. To me, this smells exactly like Wright's Coal Tar soap. It's very wearable with decent longevity. I get about 2-3 hours of longevity with a soft projection of about 1ft, lasting for about half an hour before becoming a skin scent. Very nice scent, but I'd like more longevity out of it. Maybe I'll have to revisit this in the cooler weather... I'd give this one an 8/10 for creative prowess, with the 2 marks taken off for the mediocre performance.

After purchasing the forest first I thought I couldn't go wrong with "rook". I didn't. This is a powerhouse. Birch tar, bonfire smoke and a medicinal twang,almost like TCP (but in a good way) This will last for a very long time but will remain on your skin after showers. I've woken this morning after showering last night and I still get a very faint smell off of my wrist. I am excited for this houses next three lines, thurible (which I've also had the pleasure of smelling) suede and amber. And undergrowth will be my next purchase. Rook by rook is a winner.

This is such a phenomenal perfume. I find it opens with a strong smokiness, like burning wood in a bonfire. Then the leather + tobacco become more prominent all whilst being held together with an animalic undertone. Quite wearable in my opinion, although more suited to a night out down the pub. I'm pretty new to collecting fragrances and Rook was the first niche brand that was recommended to me. So far I've collected most of the lineup and I'm yet to smell one I didn't like, but Rook by Rook is a particular standout!

Extraordinary. My least favourite of the brand's fragrances I've tried, but still an amazing one. Opens up with a boozy tar that takes you somewhere dark and damp. Then, as the tar mellows, a beautiful smoky musk takes the stage. This is tobacco I like. The cardamom is very subtle, and as for the civet and castoreum... I admit I don't know what to look for. It's potent and with beast sillage for the first half an hour and then mellows down and becomes a soft whisper of darkness I can feel only as I move. Love it.

Divine, medicinal, smoky, and calms down into an incense scent. It’s all I wear. The best 👌🏻

I got this in a full bottle, I can wear it most times being female and all that. I like this a lot. First of all it brings an odd comfort, the tar note reminds me of my dad who worked in road construction who smelt of tar, then that note fades quickly. I don't get many elaborate notes but fades to the musk background so nicely. It's a cool rainy day scent. I've read that it has dirty and clean notes, I agree. It also works on my partner and it comes through slightly different on him and lasts longer. It's truly different to the cosy scents I wear, but go me! Would recommend samples as I find its certainly different. Also give it a few wears, I wore Rook several times before adoring it, I wasn't keen at first, that why samples are important I got good few wears out of mine but I was gentle it's not a few blasts spray and walk, take it slowly.

Smelling this from the discovery set. After that initial hit you get strong hits of animalic and dark leathery notes, spiced up with a decently strong gingery note. The ginger quickly dissipates and the scent settles into something oddly familiar. My first thoughts were of museums, and an old cottage I grew up in. It smells nostalgic and historical. It has quite a soapy vibe to it, but not at all in a modern sense. It smells like a very old and traditional recipe soap.. Someone below says it smells like Imperial Leather soap. I've not smelled that in a long time, but I remember it when I was a kid so it feels like it matches up. It's not exactly my first choice for a soapy scent but I can definitely see how some people could enjoy wearing this, if only for nostalgic reasons.

Opens sharp and smoky, almost astringent, but rapidly dries down into really lovely realistic birch tar. It's almost like a birch beer grew up and became a sultry, sexy cocktail with smoked bitters--not the acridness or bitterness of smoke, but the rich flavor of smoke in a cocktail. The tobacco is pleasant and dry, like unsmoked cigarettes. I love a really animalistic musk, so the civet really works for me as well, and it blends with all the spice and incense to make a beautiful, dry base for the birch. As it wears, it sweetens slightly. I could easily imagine how many would find this scent masculine, but I'm the type of woman who's into that. Definitely not a daytime scent or a dinner scent, but drinks before a jewel heist? Hell yeah.

I got a sample set today of 6 perfumes. I tried Suede and it’s not wearable for me, but Rook is gorgeous and interesting and powerful. It opens with a Smokey birch tar and woody ashy tobacco and hovers around for about 10 mins then it morphs into a beautiful shimmering feminine, sharp, floral Chypre......for a while......this stage lasts about 3-4 hours and then it softens again and turns more Smokey. If Chanel marketed this it would be a triumph of exquisite daring, a masterpiece of smoke and mirrors and gentleman’s relish or maybe a dealers relish.......this is not for the feint hearted but my god it’s good. It’s so different, so well crafted and you get a voucher for £15 towards a full bottle! Ching ching!

Very unusual and extremely strong! This smells like my grandpa's garage and to a certain extent like my grandpa (he really liked coal tar soap and the birch tar in this is a serviceable substitute). I think I shall layer this with Kamrah, which will save me having to get Kamrah Dukhan and a few other things that might need a smokey note.

A wild one. Starts out a mix of clean & dirty, like a well-groomed hippie. Then the soapy notes come to the fore, followed by a smokey phase, which is quite pleasant. It ultimately dries down to a dirty animalic fragrance. One hell of a ride.

There’s something bookish about this, but also animalistic. Fit for a goat-footed librarian! However I’m neither of those and I’d wear it.

Whoever thought for a moment that this smelled anything remotely like Fall into Stars, clearly has a vastly different sense of smell to mine. No offence but Nadeem’s skills are in no way comparable to Christophe’s and even if they were these two perfumes are at completely different ends of a spectrum. That’s not to say that I don’t like it, Rook’s signature has notable complexity, opening with a strong but well managed birch tar note, effectively acting as a kind of smokey top note, which gradually fades as a kind of deep, soapy, gentlemen’s leather emerges. It evolves throughout the wearing, and lasts forever on skin but I wouldn’t say Rook is intrusive. It feels accomplished but suitably dense, Indy and rustic, quite strange in actuality. It’s hard to describe because it’s muddled, and that’s not a good adjective to use about a perfumers work. I wouldn’t wear it and therefore it’s not a success in my book. Clearly there’s some quality here and reasonably good value along with strong branding, interesting packaging. I think there’s good things to come from Rook, but the three I tried didn’t excite me particularly.

Rook is sooo strong you guys! I've rarely sprayed on such a potent scent. This fragrance reminds me a lot of chai tea (cardamom is very present and strong here, natural and realistic) with a charred/blackened quality from the birch tar note. Every other note makes up the base of the perfume and I can't single out any of them. Rook isn't as wearable as I hoped it would. The tar is strong and harsh, but the rest of the notes do round it up a little and give off a rather nice surrounding. It's an interesting olfactory experience, but I'm definitely not going to purchase a full bottle.

I essentially agree with ogunnell's review a few paragraphs down. It's essentially bonfire smoke and soap or shampoo. There is leather in the background, but it's overshadowed by the smoke and musk/ambergris soapiness. Thankfully that contrast doesn't hang around for more than an hour. The leather comes forward as the smoke recedes. If that sounds good to give this a look. Otherwise, while this isn't overly offensive, and it doesn't hang around too long, I think the smoke/soap combo goes together about as well as toothpaste and grapefruit juice. It's a pass for me.