When it’s cold out, fire promises respite. It’s a tool humans have turned to for millions of years to heat our homes, cook our meals and spark our senses. We let its aroma linger, watch its flames unfurl and listen as its embers crack.
Here, six scents that use smoke — sometimes the most prominent component, often a fleeting note — as an ingredient.
Products in the Guide
What to Know About Smoky Colognes
These warm, spicy fragrances aren’t full-on smoke bombs. Simply put, if you’ve ever cooked with liquid smoke, these scents are not that. They’re much more delicate in their ways, meaning the smoke might not be the first note you identify. Smoke, instead, is layered with other aromas, like when a cigarette is smoked at the other end of a bar. That’s why our expert says not to mistake initial strength for quality.
“For a lot of guys, [perceived] good performance is about how long a fragrance lasts or how powerful the fragrance projects,” Clayton Ilolahia of What Men Should Smell Like says. “Fragrances that are very ‘loud’ and enduring often sacrifice more nuanced and subtle characteristics.”
None of these are aggressively aromatic, but they are prominent, each with their own distinct profile. No one, you can’t virtually test them all, but you should be mindful of how each one might engage with your skin.
