Tobacco was launched in 2014 by Paris-born Fashion designer Franck, who started his career in textile engineering before developing his own bold, ‘punk-chic’ signature style for men’s clothing. In 2011, he launched his own line for men and women called Claw. In 2013, he launched a fragrance line, creating fragrances to complement his collections. Each fragrance is named for one key ingredient in the composition, and so Tobacco was launched in 2014. I am so taken with this fragrance that it will be difficult for me to find a better tobacco-based scent.

It opens with a note of bright, spicy ginger surrounding a note of rich, warm tobacco. I smell plum here, too – fruity, sweet and lush – and a door to my childhood blows open. But Tobacco is more than just a trip down memory lane; this EDP comes alive on skin and doesn’t need to rely on sentimental childhood memories to make me love it – it stands on its own a gorgeous fragrance. As it blooms, clove comes forward and extends the spiciness of the opening deeper into the fragrance. Tonka bean, adds aromatic coumarin, the smell of hay, to the heart, making it beautifully aromatic. Cedar gives it a woody backbone that is extended to the base with vetiver. Benzoin, with its amber aspects, and vanilla are at the base, too, sweetening up the woods just enough so that it smells more like true pipe tobacco.

The drydown is rich, warm, sensual and intimate. The thing I most love about this fragrance is that the tobacco is prominent, and stays right through to the drydown.

Writing this, there is an urgency to tell you about Tobacco and how much I love it, and how I relive the excitement of that first whiff each time I do.

Notes: ginger, tobacco and plum, clove, tonka bean and cedar; base notes are vetiver, benzoin, vanilla and musk.