Bramble Smoke

Bramble Smoke is the fragrance Abbey Perfumery is most confident about, and it is the one that most justifies the confidence. Blackberry opens it alongside pink pepper, and the fruit is handled as something dewy and slightly tart rather than as a sugared jam, which is the decision the whole composition depends on. Bulgarian rose takes the heart and is treated as a dark, wine-toned material, deepening the blackberry rather than brightening it. Underneath, oud, leather and patchouli give it a base that is smoky, animalic and earthy in roughly equal measure, and the fruit never fully disappears into it, which is why the fragrance holds together instead of splitting into a fruity phase and a dark phase. This is not a versatile scent and it is not trying to be. It projects strongly, lasts a long time and announces itself in a room. Autumn and winter are its seasons and evening its time. It is a poor office choice and an odd casual one, but as a going-out fragrance it is the most interesting thing in the range by a distance.