Harvest Moon: Campfire Smoke and Bay Rum

[doomsday_disco]

Campfire Smoke and Bay Rum.

[Numanoid]

Sniffing in the bottle, I get a bit of the rum, but not really detecting campfire smoke. But there is something that is making the rum smell a bit... cooked? Not sure if that is right, but it isn't a boozy smell. 

On, the smokiness comes out a bit more. Kind of gives it a more cologne-y smell to it. More of a manly scent to me, but stays close to the skin and doesn't morph too much. The rum is in the background. To me, this might be more of a scent for a guy, but I had to get it to see. Can be unisex, but not sure this is for me. 

[aberrantvirtue]

I've never been disappointed by a bay rum from the Lab. It's the one note I will always be willing to blind buy, no matter how "interesting" the scent. So this was an easy choice. After arrival I let it sit and settle for a few weeks...it's one I didn't want to spoil with the "rawness" of turbulence in the mail. And I'm glad I bought it, I'm glad I waited, and I suspect I'm going to be very glad as it ages!

 

Wet this is the sharp aftershave smell of a high-end barbershop, a place with hot lather shaves and barbers who know how to use texturizers. The bay rum is astringent and assertive, but the woody campfire smoke provides an almost imperceptible roundness that keeps it from being harsh or crystalline.

 

As it dries, it sweetens, becoming a rich, warm cloud of lived-in mid-century modern comfort. The kind of scent that evokes John Coltrane and sazeracs and unearthing a sweater that still, fleetingly, smells like the salt and smoke of the last bonfire of summer. There's a burnt caramel to it, like the clove in the bay rum once dreamed of being in a dulce de leche instead. It's a scent that sits close but hypnotic, luring you in and then holding you close in its cashmere-laced flannel arms.