Smoke
Eau de Parfum, Akro (2018)

When it comes to ‘smoke’ fragrances, Akro’s SMOKE, stands alone. It is not campfire or bonfire nor is it ash. What it is… that cigarette-infused smell on clothing that sits crumbled on the floor…reflective of a really fun evening.
You take a whiff and the memories of the night before take up space in your mind. It’s that day-after cigarette smell that for some, like me, is actually appealing (even if real cigarettes are not).

All the smoke. Opens with acrid hints of burned insulation but pivots immediately to the smoke from a 3 alarm fire - a tenement, a furniture manufacturing plant. It quickly softens and a sweet note reels in. A woman wearing a spicy scent and smoking a cigarette half a block away. A hint of backyard BBQ coals, lovingly tended. Finally something like a plush velvety rose topping the best pipe tobacco ever put up.

Yes, this is smoky. But this is smoky in a way I just can't handle, especially in its first twenty minutes or so. Cade oil was not meant to be overdosed so as not to evoke the aftermath of a five-alarm fire, I suppose Cresp threw caution to the wind and decided "f--- it, let's burn this motherf---er to the ground."

Ashtrays? Yes, along with the wayward cigarette that resulted in the blaze. Smoke at a point legitimately like I am inhaling charred wood. I am convinced that the vice here is not smoking cigs but rather it's arson. Like, come on...

The dry down is far more merciful, even downright lovely in its more nuanced tobacco accord with benzoin, but not worth enduring what precedes it.

This fragrance is an equal blend of tobacco and smoke, resulting in a dark and hazy tobacco scent. The amber in the drydown provides some sweetness, reminding me of Tobacco Vanille and Herod. However, I was a bit underwhelmed as I had high expectations for this fragrance. While it's a pleasant scent, it's quite linear and takes inspiration from a few other fragrances.

Why, bleeding is breathing
You're hiding underneath the smoke in the room
Try, bleeding is breathing
I saw you crawling on the floor

I do get a slight smokiness in the opening but it quickly turns into a tobacco leaf-dominant fragrance. Versace Dreamer used to be my go-to tobacco leaf scent but Smoke is now my reference.

It smells very natural and reminds me of actual tobacco leaves that have been curing. I grew up in town with a couple of tobacco processing plants and you could always smell the curing leaves in the air during certain times of the year. It always had a distinctive, sweet, and green scent. That's what you get here with Smoke along with the addition of nicotine, giving it a hint of unsmoked cigarettes.

My wife hates cigarette smoke but liked this fragrance, so don't be afraid of this being too smokey or dirty. It's not that at all and is quite pleasant.

I get very good projection during the first 3-4 hours and then it settles nicely and sticks around for 9-10 hours.