“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream... messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire” - Joseph Conrad
The fragrance owes it’s inspiration to a passage at the start of Joseph Conrad’s novel ‘The Heart Of Darkness’. Here, a group of sailors await the outgoing tide on the lower reaches of the Thames to begin an adventure and recount stories to one another of their adventures.
Coeur de Noir represents this rich sea-faring tradition of storytelling and its deep connection to British Culture. Stories contained within the covers of leather tomes, pricked into skin, routes captured on fading maps - tales of journeys to brave new worlds recounted over clinking glasses and smouldering pipes.
A characteristically rich fragrance in which ‘overdosed’ concentrations of key ingredients are used. Black Ink, West Indian spiced rum; the familiar, dry accords of leather bound books combine with warm smoky notes of pipe tobacco. A ‘dark heart’ of birch tar and labdanum was employed to create an extremely tenacious fragrance. In trying to capture the scent of ‘old books’ it was revealed that when paper degrades over time it produces a compound akin to vanillin -This warm, inviting aspect was emphasised as a result, rounding the composition.
Perfumer Julie Dunkley was tasked with creating a rich, striking fragrance that was both warm and inviting yet also has a very dark side.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Black Pepper, Rum, Ginger, Ink.
Middle Notes: Leather, Suede, Lavender, Dry Woods.
Base Notes: Cedarwood, Incense, Tobacco and Birch Tar, Labdanum and Vanilla.
50ml
Brand: Beaufort London
Perfumer: Julie Dunkley
