Stranger in the Cherry Grove Thorn & Bloom 2015

Top note: Black cherry. Nonsense! The cherry has not only been forgotten here, but burned, tarred, and feathered. BLACK ... yes! Tar by the shovel, still hot and smoking. Raw leather. I wouldn’t want to meet this stranger in the dark without a flashlight. Black as the night indeed.

It remains completely unsweet, woody, and bitterly ashy for hours. Only hesitantly does vanilla sketch a picture that is imperceptibly softer. Despite the gloomy start - perhaps precisely because of it? - I actually find the scent in the heart phase to be somewhat warmly welcoming. I attribute the sweet edge that appears over the afternoon to sandalwood and amber. A spicy accord also mixes in; vetiver?

100% natural and 90% organic waft in the black man. I am somewhat amazed. Anything but typical natural perfume art. "But he who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose," quotes Thorn & Bloom on their website. I attest this boldness not only to Jennifer Botto as perfumer and founder but also to any wearer of this fragrance. Dark, but definitely wearable. And it lasts like the (black) plague. Just good cherries are not exactly easy with this stranger.