Rake & Ruin
Eau de Parfum, Beaufort London (2018)

This is probably one of the smokiest fragrances I’ve ever smelled, and it’s easily my favourite from the Revenants collection. It’s also the most challenging to wear because it leans almost entirely into smoke and ash. Even so, there are enough supporting notes to give it depth and keep it interesting, and you’d be surprised by how wearable it actually ends up being.

Where something like Nar by Jazmin Sarai goes for a savory, almost umami take on smoke—with those BBQ-adjacent facets—Rake & Ruin is all about ashes with just a touch of lingering smoke. It reads more like charcoal smoke rather than campfire or incense. Campfire and incense have those woody, aromatic qualities; here, it’s the raw smoke itself and the powdery ash that follows. It honestly feels like something CDG could’ve released.

I also get slight echoes of Yatagan by Caron—there’s that pine and castoreum vibe—but Yatagan is more herbal and nowhere near as smoky. This one is definitely more of an artistic scent than a crowd-pleasing wearable, but that’s exactly why it feels bottle-worthy. If I didn’t already have other fragrances on my wishlist, this could easily be my next purchase. Performance is solid, and I’d keep it strictly for fall and winter. It’s the kind of fragrance you mainly wear for yourself, but genuinely, if Tom Ford put something like this out, it would probably become a hit classic.

Blast furnace of flavor. Burnt metal. Metal being welded. Fire, smoke, and heat. Freshly snipped conifer branches thrown into a roaring bonfire. Sneezy pepper bits. Carrots - I smell wild carrots.

It doesn't take too long before this calms down a bit. It becomes less intense. I still smell lots of conifer. Some other smoky herbal things move in. A hint of some little, powdery flowers in the background. There is so much going on here. It's a cauldron of aromatics, simmering in some warlock's kitchen. I'm smitten. If I were to splurge on another new bottle, it might be R & R.

It becomes more calm in time, with its relaxing herbal and aromatic flavors. Has less of a smoky ambiance... More wood later with touches of an amber accord. The ending is mellow and smooth. Love it!

I am in general agreement with FumeHood's entertaining review below. My first impression of the fragrance was something very original, savory, burnt or roasted. The savory aspect which can certainly be compared to celery is also very like the herb lovage, a common ingredient of soups. It could come also from angelica roots which is listed among the ingredients, and is a characteristic component of gin of course, which is in keeping with the backstory.

You could end up smelling like a soup kitchen but somehow the perfumer pulls if off and just makes a fascinating and creative blend, very avant garde and different from anything else on the market, that I'm aware of.

The dominant effect for me of this excellent fragrance in summary is savory and herbal. It is earthy and rooty. I don't think it is at all animalic and any association with sweat, prostitution and debauchery is ridiculous. However, most reviewers on Fragrantica and elsewhere seem preoccupied by that perception after reading the advertising story.

Opening is 2 hours of smelling like celery. Scrubber

Not as striking as Vi et Armis, but perhaps a more wearable concentration of its predecessor's dry down, Rake & Ruin is a dark, smokey, peaty, barrel-aged brown spirit-infused concoction that continues Beaufort's knack for incredibly sensual wearable liquors that feel alive and festering (or only recently deceased). Yes, there's always something composting in these scents (with the exception of Lignum Vitae–that one is the azure-hued salubrious wonder of your maritime dreams; it smells nothing like death). Rake & Ruin is the spawn of a pirate and a chimney sweep, and it may turn off those looking for the bright top notes and dry woods of more traditional European perfumery. Here you get Green pepper over fresh greenery and slippery wet planks over dry incense. But, strangely, it maintains a calming and beautiful hum, perfectly accompanying those dark-stoned interior scenes from Game of Thrones. Truly marvelous stuff.