Bonded Rogue 2025

All they found of the town of Bonded were moss-covered timbers of a hut, the remains of some of which had sunk into the floating peat, everything else seemed to have disappeared. But everywhere there were root lumps growing out of the humid ground, the ghost of the old barber of that town. His brushes of damp green tobacco leaves. The nut-grassy, crackling soft foam in the oak jar that he used for mixing and sometimes also for the bourbon. He made thought photographs with vanilla grains and maple syrup crystals in the old reseda and sepia colors. They were all shaved when they went home again.
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Californian self-taught perfumer Manuel Cross has only been producing fragrances for his own Rogue label since 2017. Anyone who has smelled a few of his fragrances will be able to blindly recognize his very own DNA, as it is mostly heavy, earthy, rather vintage-oriented mosses that carry his creations.
This also applies to "Bonded", although the oakmoss here in combination with the Vietnamese oud initially comes across as a slightly sour, rooty, bulbous vetiver-nagarmotha hybrid, naturally very earthy and woody and, in the course of time, also subtly soapy. The bourbon-whiskey accord scatters slightly vanilla-like maple syrup crystals and I imagine that this is what gives the earthy notes a peaty twist. The tobacco also strikes me as green and spicy, having just been harvested and lying in the damp mosses.
All in all, this combination suggests a classic vintage barbershop fragrance. Even if this term is more of a vague convention, “Bonded” only contains elements that are associated with it. The barber's scent is clearly to moderately perceptible for several hours.

(With thanks to FrauKirsche)