Gun Smoke
Note Profile
About
Gun smoke is the smell of the instant after a gun fires: burnt saltpetre, hot metal and carbon residue in a sharp acrid cloud. It is an atmospheric note, built as an accord rather than distilled from anything.
Scent Profile
Sulphurous is the note. Premiere Peau states it three times and calls it diagnostic: 'Acrid, sulfurous, metallic', 'the sulfur component is distinct, a hot, chemical bite that is specifically gunpowder rather than fire'. Mineral carries two things the source treats as one, the 'dry mineral finish' and the 'metallic-mineral undertone (like hot brass)'. Metallic has no home in the 32 facets, so mineral holds it and the vector loses the hot-brass character the source calls the distinguishing feature. Smoky is the carbon residue and the smoke itself, scored above published gunpowder's 0.55 because the source separates them on exactly this axis: gun smoke is 'sharper than campfire smoke', gunpowder is 'less acrid than fresh gun smoke, more settled and dusty'. Earthy is a trace for the carbon. Powdery is left at zero on purpose, because that is what the source gives gunpowder for the settled dust and it is what gun smoke is said not to have yet.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Not a material. A perfumer's accord reconstructing the discharge of a firearm.
Usage in Perfumery
One Fragrantica listing, none on Parfumo. Used for narrative effect, usually alongside leather, tar or dry woods.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Gun Smoke
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Gun Smoke appears prominently.
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