Penhaligon Terrible Teddy
Incense opens this one cold and a little austere, church-like almost, before leather comes in and warms things up with that particular smell of a jacket that's been worn through a few winters. Ambroxan carries the whole thing into a long, skin-close drydown, smoky and a little animalic without ever going heavy.
It's part of Penhaligon's Portraits collection, built around a fictional character, a hunter and a seducer both, and the fragrance has that same restless, slightly dangerous energy. Three notes total, and every one of them is doing real work.
Why We Carry This
Quentin Bisch proves here that you don't need fifteen notes to make something complex. Three ingredients, each one load-bearing, is a harder trick to pull off than it looks, and Teddy pulls it off.
Scent Pyramid
Top: incense
Heart: leather
Base: ambroxan