Bonne Chauffe
Frapin (2023)

Once upon a time, I dreamed that I was searching for a fragrance that reminded me of Pruneaux à l’Armagnac (prunes in Armagnac) and then I found Bonne Chauffe. We then lived happily ever after.

Seriously, though, there is more to Bonne Chauffe, the lone Frapin that has made my heart skip a beat. Few 'fumes that fall under the heading of "boozy" agree with them: trust that it's not necessarily them, it's me. It could quite possibly be my chemistry that does not allow for heavy consumption of certain delicacies in the allium family, garlic being the most dangerous. Also, booze. If I drink enough whiskey, I will smell of said whiskey, into the next day. It was even to the point that at a past employer a number of years ago, I was taken in for a conversation to discuss "concerns." Oh, dear. From then one, it was but one dram only, please.

So 'boozy' fragrances often take me back to that uncomfortable incident. Do I smell of an impending intervention? With Bonne Chauffe, however, I just could not resist how delicious it truly is to my palate. The use of glorious davana oil, one of my most favorite essential oils, is used in exactly a way I hoped it would be in evoking plum liqueur. It then grows more malt scotch in its heart, smelling as if aged in virgin oak, intoxicating without the hangover. Benzoin and a warm cedar round off Bonne Chauffe, and when I wear it, I frankly don't care if others suspect I've thrown back a few too many. In fact, I think this one reads as more of a perfume than a libation. Terrific stuff.

Bonne Chauffe is gorgeous. A peppery, fruited cognac with slight malted barley underpinnings. There is also a wonderful oak woodiness that builds a foundation for the more etherial notes. Plum and davana give this the beautiful fruited note and benzoin brings it's resinous vanilla like smoothness that helps blend the pungent pepper into the fruited, woody, cereal notes. I also get a hint of patchouli as well.

This is just a beautiful fragrance...full bodied and satisfying, but not over the top in projection. Bonne Chauffe could be overpowering if it projected more, so this is a plus in my book as it projects perfectly on my skin. Definitely one to at least sample IMO. Two thumbs way up!