With Oktoberfest soon to begin, the boozy celebrations needn’t always be searched for at the bottom of a glass – that warming swirl of unctious softness and comfort, together with succulent fruitiness, oak-smoked woodiness and even the sparkle of ice cracking in a cool tumbler of something lovely can be found in fragrant form. Settle down for a scented session with these…
4160 Tuesdays Captured By Candlelight
Always a perfumer with a story to tell, Sarah McCartney weaves a mysteriously evocative tale in uniquely fragrant form with flaming brandy-soaked fruits, a wood-panelled dining room, softly dripping wax candles and the tingling sense of anticipation that precedes a country house party. If you order the 100ml bottle size from the 4160 Tuesdays website, they’ll even send you an accompanying story written especially for the scent – a feast for all the senses
£127.50 for 100ml eau de parfum The Perfume Society Shop
Kilian Angels’ Share
Founder Kilian Hennessy maintains that he is introducing a new fragrance family here – which he should label ‘boozy’, as a reflection of its intoxicating qualities (inspired by his own family heritage). Perfumer Benoist Lapouza takes a jigger of cognac essence, adds oak absolute (an echo of the barrels themselves), spiced by cinnamon essence, tonka bean, praline and vanilla. Family-wise, we’d still position this hovering between Ambrée and gourmand – but we’re certain of its irresistibility.
From £165 for 50ml parfum bykilian.co.uk
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Appealing to his bohemian spirit, this tobacco-laden scent speaks of long liquid lunches in smoky French brasseries padded with faded leather and panelled in dark wood. Musky Cuban cascarilla oil is pierced by the piquancy of pimento berries and a cool shot of pine needles with herbaceously aromatic sage. The gently smouldering base of Malaysian patchouli gets comfortable with a boozy cherry-like sweetness of the toasty tonka beans – perfect for the dad who rather fancies himself as an undiscovered artist.
£63 for 50ml eau de parfum houseoffraser.co.uk
Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling
A sparkling, tall glass of gin that cracks as the ice succumbs to the fresh piquancy of juniper (gin’s ‘signature’ aromatic), then there’s cool measures of angelica and brandy plus the deeper throb of and a beating libertine’s heart in heat-tingled flecks of black pepper popping in the background. Evoking the ‘bright young things’ of the 1920’s, it’s become a modern classic go-to for effervesent, effortless day-wear with oodles of character and a refreshingly different presence that you’ll simply never tire of.
£155 for 100ml eau de toilette penhaligons.com
ILK Libertine
Indulge your inner libertine with this oppulent, swagger of a scent, inspired by Cassonova himself. You can smell his favourite tipple, ‘cordial orgeat,’ through dusky cognac-infused rose and bitter orange flower, with a saffron-soaked throb of leather, hot wax, animalic cumin lashed to the darker base of amber and deep woods.Fanning the flames of passion with that boozy swirl of pure licentiousness it’s one of those scents that draws people to you, intrigued yet perhaps slightly in trepedation of your swaggering sexiness!
£125 for 50ml eau de parfum ilkperfume.com
Written by Suzy Nightingale
Peach schnapps with lychee and crystalised rose petals? Lalique‘s Rêve d’Infini sees us sipping iced martinis in a fabulous Art-Nouveau hotel. Love a drop of rum? Swashbuckler’s should head for the exotic Atkinsons Pirates Grand Reserve, while those more clasically inclined may wish to wear a Chambord and Champagne-like mix in Vince Camuto‘s Amore. Explore all of these (and many more) in this unashamedly decadent Discovery Box…
Many perfume-lovers seem to share a love for gin – perhaps it’s the wonderful array of botanicals that are now being used to infuse various small-batch brands, so reminiscent of the way fragrances are made? For fellow gin-lovers, this is now an absolute classic – a crisply refined cocktail on a pleasingly debauched base of black cherry, soft leather, crytalised brown sugar and exotic amber. To be splashed with abandon and relished at leisure.
Visiting the Kilchoman distillery on their beautiful remote island inspired a scent that captures not only the rich flavours of the golden liquor, but hints of hedgerows and the windswept, rugged mosslands for which they’re famed. Galbanum brings to mind bright yellow gorse flowers, bergamot and orris mirror the citrus-floral notes found in the whiskey itself, while a cade oil and patchouli create a peaty accord that’s reassuringly (and literally) grounding.
Thirst-qunching Watermelons with the freshness of green mandarin, notes of green tea and cooling vetiver; Blood Oranges bursting with vibrant, long-lasting citrus, and Framboise Noire succulent with black raspberries and ripe forest berries with a deep undertone like that of an ultra-smooth red wine… Fruit punch, claret, gourmand liqours, watermelon martinis? Allow yourself to be utterly transported by all in this deliciously curated collection.
