Winter Woods

I actually don’t get a lot of birch tar or smoky cade from this scent - the smokiness is subtle, like a waft of scent from a far off fire. Winter Woods begins as a strong animalic castoreum note, tempered by something gourmand but not too sweet - though it smells like maple syrup and butter. There’s also a bit too much booziness in the first minute, but luckily it dies down quickly. The butter note reminds me of a toned down version of the butter co2 used in a lot of Kyse scents. It adds interest, and keeps me sniffing my arm, going “what is that?”. The scent then develops into a lovely, warm and sweet amber scent. The castoreaum, butter/maple, slight booze, ambergris and sandalwood are identifiable to my nose. The ambergris is actually very strong in the heart of this perfume, it adds a sweet animalic and salty aspect. I have a small attar of sandalwood and pure ambergris and it smells similar to this note in Winter Woods. This scent is interesting, well constructed and melds with my skin chemistry in an enchanting way. It holds the place of one of the few primarily animalic scents on my want list. I appreciate the fact that this scent is not spicy - I love spicy notes but I feel as though the impulse with woodsy / ambery scents is to dump a bunch of spices on them and call it a day. I admire the perumer’s restraint here, and the ingredients are able to stand on their own. Edit: I've also gotten some lovely compliments on this scent, which indicates that it's not too animalic for the general public! Just today a girl said "Oh my god you smell so good, what a pleasant scent!".

This is such a simple fragrance but it's fantastic execution pushes it into a whole new class to me. Theres not much going on here besides a ton of amber, a clearly detectable smoky facet (no doubt castoreum and birch tar) and some subtle, but important woodsy notes. I don't consider myself a fan of amber -dominant fragrances in general, but here the note is blended so nicely with the others that it reads less like amber and more like a familiar, comforting sweetness. It actually awoke some dormant memories of a church I was forced to attend as a child...It was a small cozy old ramshackle building full of warm air and the scent of old books. There was also always a little bit of smokiness from years of frankincense burning. I hated being dragged their every Sunday but looking back I can't deny that it had a certain charm. I sprayed a bit on this morning and all day I was catching whiffs of sweetness and woods. It was totally pleasant and a few friends of mine were raving about how good it smelled. They both compared it to a chai tea latte. can't say I see the connection but I love it regardless. This is one of my favorites from Sonoma. It's a great example of a fragrance that is focussed and accessible while still retaining uniqueness and quality. I highly recommend it for it's general pleasantness, evocative quality and affordability. 8.5/10

One of the best transformations i have ever experienced. And it happens very very fast. The beginning is smokey and woody kind of dark and just ok... Then, the magic happens. A beautiful amber sweet incense with a touch of vanilla envelope the woods. Theres all kinds of woods dancing around. Very good longevity and projects average. This and Tabac Auera are two must haves from this house and i am ordering two full bottles this Friday. The perfumer is just a email away and i think she is just as gifted if not more gifted than some very famous perfumers i have in my collection. I wanted to get incense pure, but i think wazamba got me over it, we will see. I am still trying to find an incense better than incense oud by kilian and havent yet, but that neither here nor there. This stuff is amazing. Dont pass this up without at least visiting her website and order a sample first. I was skeptical at first but this is a perfect example of why i dont judge a book by its cover

This is a very nice winter fall scent...You have the feeling that you are in a village after a heavy rain, cloudy weather, you get the smell of earth, the trees and roots with the smoky-sweet smell coming out from the fireplaces in the houses. It is very natural, strong and attractive. For those who love woody scents, especially potion and silver wind woods from Dsquared2, this is a must have and much better with great sillage, longevity and unigueness. When you apply this, you want to sit outside in the winter with all this cold and wind just to smell the maximum of this scent...great, definitely great. Laurie Erickson who created, runs and sells the perfumes is a professional, very friendly and you will get the maximum of respect needed. I totally recommend this but only only for winter and fall! it is great for an afternoon trip to the mountains and outdoors generally! You get a so natural mountain/rainy/woody/smoky smell that you will never forget it!

This little known gem is possibly the best spin on woods and amber I have yet encountered - there is, literally, nothing that smells quite as woodsy and amber-y, like the love child of a fine cabinet maker's shop and an attar store in the Middle East. Its so spectacular, in my humble opinion, that I wonder why it hasn't garnered a huge cult following, with thousands and thousands of us little perfume lovers trudging through the online shopping forests in hopes of snagging just one little bottle of this incredible fragrant cold weather potion. Winter Woods is nothing short of spectacular as a scent, intense in presence - its an extrait for certain! - , quasi eternal in its duration - 12 hours and then some - and as magical as a walk in blue twilight through snow covered woods. 10 out of 10 for beauty, duration, sillage. Caveat: You have to adore woods and amber, and have a fondness for perfumes with real presence.