FRAGRANCE | Bois Sikar EDP by Atelier des Ors puts the smoke in smoky

I just love smoky accords in fragrances. Releases like Thomas Kosmala's Bukhoor, Black No. 1 by House of Matriarch, and Tom Ford Rose de Russie all tickle my fancy with that alluring, dark edge their respective smoky accords provide in each composition. And it's almost always like the smokier, the better for me. With Creed Aventus, for example, while I do like it's overall scent profile (yes, I do), I wish its smokiness was much stronger. Then I got hold of Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors.

Simply put, Bois Sikar blew all my smoky fragrance expectations out of the water. I'm not saying that it's the ultimate smoky frag but it literally put the smoke in smoky. For a moment there I even second-guessed myself if I really wanted smoke in a fragrance because what I got were thick, billowing fumes right upon spraying. It was just a fleeting thought, though, because I quickly realized what was burning, what the source of all the smoke was—wood, of course. 

The wood here is presented in varying stages of burn—dry, smoked, and charred—all at the same time. There's also an obvious sharpness present. I'm thinking it's saffron, pepper, or some spice that's causing it but I'm not sure. As usual, I'm not a fan of anything too sharp. Good thing the smokiness is compensating for that annoyance big time. More and more, I find myself drawn to it, to that wonderful campfire smell (sans the barbecue and marshmallows). Odd, I know, but works for me. 

A resinous sweetness starts developing after several minutes, helping the dry wood balance the scent. Lest we forget, this is still a perfume and not simply bottled smoke. Even though they don't have it aplenty, the resins slowly spread whatever sweetness they have. It's far from the viscosity of resinous sweets like Amouage Opus VI, as smoke and wood remain the stars of the show here. Nevertheless, they manage to impart a certain flavor and a bit of warmth to the composition, adding body to the fumes and tempering that spicy sharpness. There's supposed to be tobacco here but I don't pick it up; probably covered underneath all that peat.

For a couple of hours, the prominence of each accord shifts constantly. At times, it's that burnt smokiness that you'll pick up most; other times, it's the sharpness. The scent lasts really long, its strong projection declining only after about two or three hours. The decrease in intensity is also very slow and remains in moderate territory overall. Eventually, all the smoke, the dry and burnt wood, the sharpness, and the resins settle into a nice and warm hum, their individual characteristics now blurred just enough that you can still pick out hints of each one of them.

Bois Sikar wasn't made for everyone. It's far from being a crowd-pleaser, like an acquired taste that not many will appreciate. Its scent profile leans masculine by mainstream standards and entails unshakable confidence and a devil-may-care attitude to pull off. The standard Atelier des Ors presentation looks stunning in black, by the way, a perfect representation of this dark and truly niche fragrance.