Folkwinds
Midwinter Storm
Midwinter Storm si apre su ghiaccio di mela fermentata e segale pungente, per poi collassare in un cuore di iris (orris) denso e incipriato, così concentrato da sembrare più una sostanza che una nota – bianco, amidaceo e freddo, ancorato in profondità da tre distinti legni di agar (oud) e da un fondo di sandalo con la ricchezza della crema tiepida.
La Storia
Parte della Reserve Series di Folkwinds, Midwinter Storm è concepito come un soliflore di iris a spettro completo, costruito da ogni materiale naturale di iris e isolato disponibile, stratificati alle concentrazioni più elevate possibili. La fondazione polverosa di iris è ancorata da agarwood di primissima qualità, con il sandalo al posto del più convenzionale benzoino. Pubblicato nel 2026 in un'edizione strettamente limitata di 50 flaconi.
Il Naso
Midwinter Storm è stato composto da Jono Bornstein, il naso dietro il catalogo di Folkwinds, tra cui Cloud Illusions, Santi Ana e By-And-By.
Floreale
petali in piena, morbida fioritura
Il profumo tondo e rugiadoso dei fiori in fioritura, morbido e lievemente dolce con un bagliore cipriato e nettarino. Risulta romantico e gentile, evocando un giardino di tarda primavera e una sensazione di leggerezza sulla pelle.
Legnoso
la grana asciutta del legno tagliato
L'odore di trucioli di cedro, sandalo e radici secche di vetiver, un calore levigato e resinoso con un lieve graffio da astuccio di matite. Risulta radicato e composto, la spina dorsale silenziosa che fa leggere un profumo come serio e duraturo.
Cipriato
il silenzio soffuso della pelle vestita
Una morbidezza vellutata e lievemente asciutta di radice d'iris, violetta e talco fine, come cipria o lino pulito scaldato dalla pelle. Risulta intimo, raffinato e nostalgico, sfumando un profumo in una foschia gentile e ovattata.
Fresco
aria pulita dopo l'acqua fredda
Una brillantezza nitida e trasparente che suggerisce acqua fredda, pelle lavata e aria aperta, spesso venata da uno slancio agrumato o acquatico. Risulta pulito e leggero, rinfrescante e senza complicazioni, come uscire all'aperto dopo la pioggia.
Lattico
latte cremoso e pelle calda
Una morbidezza cremosa e lattea che richiama il latte caldo appena montato, la pellicina del latte o la polpa di cocco senza la dolcezza. Risulta vellutato e avvolgente, levigando fiori e legni in qualcosa di tenero e lievemente nostalgico, come il conforto dei latticini tiepidi.
Sidro Ghiacciato
Orchard fruit gone warm and faintly boozy
What it is
An evocative accord rather than a single raw material, built to conjure pressed apples fermenting toward cider. Perfumers reconstruct it from fruity esters, apple aroma molecules, a touch of acetic tang and warm spice, since fermented cider itself is not distilled for scent.
How it smells
Crushed ripe apple, sweet and juicy, edged with a tart vinegary sparkle and a soft yeasty, faintly boozy warmth. Mulling spices of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg often hover at the edges, giving an autumnal, just-pressed orchard impression that feels cozy and a little tipsy.
In perfumery
A heart accord driving fruity-gourmand and seasonal autumn compositions. It blends with cinnamon, caramel, brown sugar, woods and ambers, and sits naturally beside other orchard and harvest notes. It anchors cozy fall and apple-orchard themed fragrances and home scents.
Good to know
The bright apple lift in such accords often leans on alpha-damascone, a rose-ketone prized for its fruity apple effect with floral and plum nuances. So beneath the juice and spice a cider note can carry a surprising soft rosy glow from that single molecule.
Spezia Di Segale
Caraway-dark crust of warm rye loaf
What it is
Rye Spice is the warm, aromatic facet of rye grain and its bread rather than a single distilled oil. Perfumers reconstruct it from caraway, cumin and fennel-type seed materials layered over toasted-grain and yeasty accords, echoing the dark loaf that rye flour bakes into.
How it smells
Astringent, peppery caraway leads, edged with anise coolness and warm cumin. Beneath sits toasted crust, a sourdough tang and a faintly earthy, molasses sweetness. The overall impression reads dry, grainy and rustic, more savoury bakery than dessert, with a lingering seeded warmth.
In perfumery
Used as a gourmand-spice bridge, it lends edible warmth to amber, tobacco and leather bases and pairs with coffee, fig, immortelle and dark woods. It anchors playful bread-and-grain accords, the kind of rustic loaf effect explored in Demeter's Rye Bread and savoury niche gourmands.
Good to know
Caraway, the seed that defines rye's character, is not the grain itself but a spice baked into the dough. Its pungency comes from S-carvone, the mirror-image twin of the R-carvone that makes spearmint smell cool and sweet, the same atoms built the opposite way.
Mirtillo
A rare all-natural impression, painted from fruits and resins
What it is
There is no blueberry essential oil — the fruit yields nothing usable by distillation or expression, so a true natural blueberry simply does not exist as a raw material. What artisanal natural-perfume houses offer instead is a hand-built accord: an artful impression assembled entirely from natural ingredients, with not a single synthetic in the blend. It is a reconstruction, an interpretation of the berry, never an extract of it.
How it smells
Soft, plump and gently jammy, with a cool blue-purple sweetness and a quiet green-leaf edge that keeps it from turning sugary. Because it is woven from naturals, it reads rounder, warmer and more three-dimensional than a single fruity chemical — the smell shifts and breathes as it dries rather than holding one flat note. The effect is less photo-real and more painterly: a suggestion of blueberry rather than a sharp snapshot.
In perfumery
The accord is coaxed from natural fruity and aromatic materials — think jammy fruit-toned absolutes, berry-leaning floral and herbal extracts, a whisper of wine-like or balsamic facets, and soft musky naturals to give body. A perfumer layers these so the brain assembles 'blueberry' from many honest parts, none of which is the fruit itself. It lends a fresh, fruity glow to the top and early heart, flattering florals and soft woods.
Good to know
This all-natural route is the connoisseur's path and a genuine rarity: natural materials are costly, vary batch to batch, and demand real skill to balance into a convincing berry. The trade-off for that expense and labor is honesty and depth — a living, slightly unpredictable accord rather than a fixed one. If a fragrance smells of blueberry yet declares itself fully natural, it is this patient reconstruction at work, not a bottled fruit.
Abete Rosso Bianco
Cool northern forest air made fragrant
What it is
A tall evergreen conifer, Picea rubens, native to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging from the Adirondacks down the Appalachians. The aroma material is an essential oil steam-distilled from the freshly cut needles and small twigs of the tree.
How it smells
Softer and sweeter than most evergreen oils, with a clean balsamic, resinous heart. It opens fresh and green with a crisp coniferous snap, then reveals gentle woody warmth and a subtle fruity facet, rounder and less sharp than pine or fir needle oils.
In perfumery
A fresh top-to-heart note bringing airy, forest-clean character to woody, aromatic and fougere accords. It pairs with cedar, fir balsam, vetiver and citrus, lending a crisp, outdoorsy evergreen lift especially suited to cool-weather and coniferous compositions.
Good to know
Spruce gum, the hardened resin of red and black spruce, was chewed across rural North America and sold by John Curtis from 1848 as the continent's first commercial chewing gum. Red spruce also supplies prized resonant tonewood for guitar and violin soundboards.
Iris
Powdered violet rooted in patient buried earth
What it is
Orris is the aroma material from the rhizome of iris flowers, chiefly Iris pallida grown in the hills of Tuscany. The roots are harvested, dried and aged three to six years so enzymes slowly develop irones, then ground and steam-distilled into a waxy, ivory orris butter.
How it smells
A cool, powdery violet scent with a suede-like, almost edible carrot-and-raw-flour facet. It reads dry rather than sweet, evoking face powder, soft leather and damp soil, carrying a silvery, slightly metallic shimmer that feels both floral and rooty at once.
In perfumery
A heart and base material prized for its body and a powdery lift that smooths sharp florals and woods. It pairs with violet, rose, iris leaf and ambrette. It defines a whole lineage of refined powdery-iris and aldehydic-floral compositions.
Good to know
Orris ranks among the costliest naturals in perfumery. A ton of aged rhizome yields only about two kilograms of orris butter, and high-irone grades can exceed one hundred thousand dollars per kilogram, the cost driven by years of aging before any scent develops.
Loto Blu
The sacred water lily of pharaohs and dreams
What it is
Blue lotus is Nymphaea caerulea, the blue Egyptian water lily, a star-petalled flower rooted in Nile mud and ponds across North and East Africa. The blossoms are solvent-extracted with hexane into a concrete, then ethanol-washed into a thick, dark absolute that preserves their delicate aromatic compounds.
How it smells
Sweet and honeyed with a green, watery floralcy and soft fruity, lychee-like undertones, edged by an earthy, slightly spicy warmth and a waxy, powdery backbone. It opens cool and aquatic like a pond at dawn, then dries down resinous and balsamic, more meditative than bright.
In perfumery
A heart note prized for an exotic floral character bridging aquatic freshness and warm sweetness, typically dosed below five percent given its strength. Rare and costly, it appears in niche compositions and amber-incense accords built around ancient Egyptian and meditative themes.
Good to know
Ancient Egyptians revered the flower as a symbol of rebirth and the sun, depicting it on tomb walls and steeping it in wine for its mild psychoactive effect. It opens at dawn and closes at dusk, a daily cycle that tied it to resurrection myths.
Assoluta Di Aglaia
Rice-grain blossoms breathing fruit and green tea
What it is
Aglaia Absolute is solvent-extracted from the tiny golden flowers of Aglaia odorata, a shrub in the mahogany family known as the Chinese Perfume Tree or Chinese Rice Flower. Each bloom is barely the size of a rice grain, so yields are minute and the absolute remains genuinely rare.
How it smells
Sweetly fruity and floral, with juicy peach and pear flesh wrapped around a soft, leafy green-tea note. A gentle lemony radiance lifts the top, earning the plant the nickname mock lemon, while a quiet hay-like warmth settles underneath, giving an impression both luminous and rounded.
In perfumery
A precious natural used in small touches, it adds fruity-floral radiance and tea-like freshness to oriental, amber and East-Asian themed bouquets. It blends naturally with osmanthus, peach, oolong and forest-green accords, reading as a softer, sunnier cousin to osmanthus in fine fragrance.
Good to know
The plant belongs to Meliaceae, the same botanical family as true mahogany, an unusually woody lineage for so delicate a flower. Its yellow blooms are at their most fragrant by day, releasing a strong lemony-floral scent that gives the tree its perfume-plant name.
Muschio Di Quercia
The damp green soul of the forest floor
What it is
Oakmoss is not a true moss but a lichen, Evernia prunastri, growing on oak and other deciduous bark across temperate Europe, notably the Balkans, France and Morocco. The harvested thalli are solvent-extracted into a dark, viscous concrete and absolute, the raw materials used in perfumery.
How it smells
Deeply earthy and forest-green, with damp bark, wet stone and a leathery, inky undertone. A dry, faintly bitter mossiness carries marine and tar-like facets. The effect is shadowy rather than fresh, evoking the cool floor beneath old trees after rain has soaked the ground.
In perfumery
A base note and the backbone of the chypre family, lending structure, depth and a vintage signature. It pairs classically with bergamot, labdanum and patchouli. It defines the great peach-spiced chypres and the green core of classic galbanum florals, plus countless mossy fougères and masculines.
Good to know
Oakmoss extracts contain atranol and chloroatranol, potent skin allergens the EU effectively banned in 2017. IFRA now requires reduced-allergen, low-atranol versions, capping these molecules to trace levels, which has quietly reshaped how the classic chypre smells in reformulated modern perfumes.
Vaniglia
The warm sweet heart of comfort itself
What it is
Vanilla comes from the cured seed pods of Vanilla planifolia, a climbing orchid native to Mexico now grown mainly in Madagascar, Réunion and Tahiti. Green pods are picked unripe, then blanched, sweated in the sun and slow-dried over months until they darken and develop their aroma and vanillin.
How it smells
Sweet, warm and creamy, with a balsamic depth recalling custard, caramel and dried fruit, a faint smoky tobacco-like edge sitting underneath. It opens soft and gourmand, then dries into a powdery resinous warmth that clings close to skin and reads richer than synthetic vanillin alone.
In perfumery
A base note prized for richness and lasting warmth, vanilla rounds sharp edges and anchors oriental and gourmand compositions. It pairs naturally with tonka, amber, sandalwood and spice. Many of the most enduring oriental and tobacco fragrances build their core around it.
Good to know
Vanilla ranks among the costliest spices because each orchid flower opens for one day and must be hand-pollinated, a technique devised in 1841 by Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old enslaved boy on Réunion. Most commercial vanilla flavor now relies on synthetic vanillin.
Legno Di Tigre Argentato
The grain and warmth of trees themselves
What it is
A category rather than a single material, covering aromas from tree woods, roots and bark plus synthetics that extend them. It spans sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, guaiac and patchouli, drawn by steam distillation or solvent extraction, alongside lab-made woody-ambers like Iso E Super, made entirely by chemical synthesis.
How it smells
Dry to creamy, evoking sawn timber, pencil shavings, fresh resin and sun-warmed bark. Cedar reads pencil-sharp, sandalwood milky and smooth, vetiver earthy and rooty, guaiac smoky-sweet. As a group the impression is grounding, textured and faintly smoky, the backbone many compositions stand on.
In perfumery
Mostly heart and base material, woody notes give structure, longevity and a natural backbone tying a composition together. They support nearly every family, anchoring florals, ambers and fougeres. Modern woody-amber molecules drive countless contemporary scents, the dry cedar-vetiver register among them.
Good to know
Much of today's woodiness is synthetic, partly because natural sandalwood and rosewood were overharvested into protected status. A single molecule, Iso E Super, grew so dominant that an entire cult fragrance was built around it almost neat, near-imperceptible up close yet glowing on skin.
Malinau Selvatico
Vaporous blue-green agarwood, camphor lifted over ripe fruit
What it is
Genuine agarwood (Aquilaria) distilled from trees grown on Borneo — the Indonesian Kalimantan side and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, among the oldest rainforests on earth. The finest examples work from real, single-origin Bornean wood rather than a reconstructed "oud" base, so the oil carries the terroir of that specific island. Borneo's distinct species and soil yield a resin profile that no synthetic oud accord reproduces.
How it smells
The signature is a high, vaporous "blue-green" lift: bright camphor and a cool mentholated whistle that some describe as magic-marker or eucalyptus, riding above ripe stone fruit — pear, peach, apricot — and a soft berry sweetness. Underneath sits a clean, golden-woody, faintly creamy base with green-floral and powdery facets, never sour or fecal. It reads airy and luminous — more forest-canopy than forest-floor.
In perfumery
Borneo oud is prized as a base note that stays lifted and radiant rather than heavy, giving a composition long wear without the funk. It marries beautifully with rose, sandalwood, amber, and green florals, its fruity-camphor top brightening a blend where Hindi would darken it. In a natural attar it can be worn neat, the camphor evaporating to reveal the fruity-woody heart over hours.
Good to know
Compare it directly to its siblings: Hindi (Assam) oud opens animalic and barnyard — hay, dung, leather; Cambodi is sweet, sticky, and jammy with red berries; Thai/Trat leans warm and resinous. Borneo splits the difference and adds the camphoraceous blue note that is uniquely its own — drier and cooler than Cambodi, cleaner and fruitier than Hindi. Genuine Bornean agarwood is scarce and slow to distill, which is why a real single-origin oil commands its price.
Malaccensis Thai Viola
Smoky leather and embered medicinal woods
What it is
Thai oud is distilled from Aquilaria crassna grown in eastern Thailand, with Trat province on the Cambodian border its most celebrated source, the same Cardamom Mountains range that yields Khmer oud. Wood is often aged for years before distillation, building the depth that defines the region's character.
How it smells
Leathery, smoky and medicinal, opening with a plush full-bodied smokiness like smouldering embers. A distinctive fruity sweetness threads through tannic leather, warm spice and honeyed tobacco, with camphorous, almost antiseptic facets that give Thai oud its bracing, resinous edge and a faint animalic warmth.
In perfumery
Thai oud bridges the sweet Cambodian and animalic Hindi styles, offering smoky leather depth without overwhelming funk, which makes it valued by artisanal distillers and blenders alike. Trat oils in particular are sought for a balanced, full-bodied profile that wears richly on skin.
Good to know
Sharing the Cardamom range with Cambodian crassna, Thai border ouds can echo Khmer sweetness while carrying more leather and smoke. Long pre-distillation ageing rounds the medicinal sharpness, and the best sustainably sourced Trat oil rivals far costlier origins for complexity.
Santaloli
Creamy meditative woods that breathe in slowly
What it is
Sandalwood oil is steam-distilled from the heartwood and roots of slow-growing Santalum trees, classically Santalum album of Mysore, India. As the wild Indian source neared collapse, plantations of the same species in tropical Western Australia now supply much of the world's perfumery-grade oil.
How it smells
Soft, creamy and milky, with a smooth woody warmth and a faintly sweet, rosy, almost buttery edge. It carries no sharpness, only a rounded balsamic depth. It stays remarkably steady on skin, glowing quietly for hours rather than opening and drying in distinct stages.
In perfumery
A base note valued as both scent and fixative, sandalwood lends creaminess, warmth and a meditative softness that binds compositions together. It pairs beautifully with rose, jasmine, vetiver and spice. Many meditative woody and incense fragrances celebrate it at their heart.
Good to know
Genuine Mysore sandalwood was so overharvested that India tightened export controls and the wild tree became vulnerable, with oil prices reported around two thousand dollars per kilogram. Plantations of Santalum album grown near Kununurra in Western Australia now sustainably recreate the original creamy profile.
Carattere della Fragranza
L'apertura è acidula e vivace, con Ice Cider e segale che tagliano attraverso un bagliore di White Spruce prima che l'iris arrivi in piena forza, amidaceo e freddo, bordato da oakmoss e un sussurro di aglaia. Nel cuore, l'orris si ammorbidisce quasi impercettibilmente, con vanilla e Blue Lotus che conferiscono una lieve dolcezza floreale senza mai diluire la polvere. Il drydown è profondo e intimo, Borneo e Thai Oud che si fondono con il sandalo in qualcosa di resinoso e caldo come la pelle, con l'iris ancora presente ma ora più percepito che annusato.
Persistenza
quanto a lungo resta sulla pelle
Questo indicatore legge la durata attesa, quante ore la fragranza continua a parlare sulla pelle prima di svanire. Un indicatore vicino al minimo segnala poche ore fugaci, mentre uno spinto all'estremo promette un profumo ancora presente dal mattino fino a sera.
Scia
l'ampiezza della sua scia
Questo legge quanto la fragranza si estende oltre te e la scia che lascia dietro di sé. Un valore basso si posa morbido contro la pelle, un sussurro intimo percepito solo da vicino; uno alto sale attraverso il moderato e il forte verso l'enorme, riempiendo una stanza e indugiando nell'aria dopo che te ne sei andato.
Sperimentale
per i temerari e i curiosi
Profumi non convenzionali, che spingono i confini, per chi vuole provocare una reazione e distinguersi. Adatto a composizioni artistiche e provocatorie: catrame inchiostrato, gomma, frutto fermentato, sfaccettature metalliche o animaliche che sfidano il gusto facile. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che ricompensa il naso avventuroso, una spenta che gioca sul sicuro.
Ufficio
curato ma mai invadente
Ambienti professionali a distanza ravvicinata in cui un profumo dovrebbe essere percepito solo da chi ti sta accanto. Adatto a composizioni contenute e pulite con una proiezione modesta: agrumi ordinati, muschio morbido, legni pallidi dal tono competente e premuroso. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che funziona negli spazi condivisi, una spenta che si propaga troppo.
Sera
dopo il tramonto, a volume più alto
Cene, drink e serate fuori in cui una fragranza può approfondirsi e proiettare con sicurezza. Adatto a composizioni più ricche e calde: ambre, resine, legni fumosi o fiori sontuosi che sbocciano nella luce soffusa. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che il profumo prende vita dopo il tramonto, una spenta che resta più adatto al giorno.
Romantico
abbastanza vicino da farsi sentire
Momenti intimi e serate a due pensati per avvicinare qualcuno. Adatto a composizioni calde e sensuali che vibrano contro la pelle: fiori cremosi, vaniglia, muschio morbido, un tocco di spezia o ambra che invita alla vicinanza. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che crea un'atmosfera seducente, una spenta che pende più verso il pratico che il seduttivo.
Formale
raffinato per l'occasione che conta
Matrimoni, cerimonie, gala e occasioni eleganti che richiedono compostezza e raffinatezza. Adatto a profumi levigati e strutturati con una quieta autorità: legni lisci, fiori raffinati, cuoio morbido, nulla di chiassoso o giocoso. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che porta la giusta gravità, una spenta che risulta troppo casual per l'occasione.
Casual
comodità serena per giornate senza fretta
Da portare ogni giorno senza un programma: commissioni, caffè, amici, un weekend lento. Adatto a profumi morbidi e accessibili, puliti e naturali, come agrumi freschi, legni leggeri o un gentile tepore di pelle. Su questa ruota una moneta luminosa indica che la fragranza si addice a questi momenti rilassati, una spenta che chiede qualcosa di più.
Dal Giorno alla Sera
dove cade naturalmente il suo umore
Questo cursore legge l'ora per cui la fragranza è stata creata. Un indicatore a sinistra tende al luminoso e brillante, a suo agio nella luce del giorno e all'aria aperta; spostalo a destra e il carattere si fa più profondo e caldo, il tipo di presenza che appartiene alla sera e alle stanze illuminate dalle candele.
Inverno
calore che attraversa l'aria fredda
L'aria fredda smorza e rallenta una fragranza, perciò l'inverno premia il denso e il caldo: resine, fumo, vaniglia, cuoio e spezie ambrate che irradiano calore contro il gelo. La barra mostra con quanta forza questo profumo regge e risplende nel freddo.
Primavera
fioriture fresche in un tepore mite e crescente
L'aria mite e umida solleva splendidamente le composizioni più leggere, perciò la primavera predilige fiori rugiadosi, steli verdi, cipria morbida e agrumi trasparenti dal tono vivo più che pesante. La barra mostra quanto bene questo profumo si accordi a quella stagione fresca e dolcemente tiepida.
Estate
brillante e arioso nel vero caldo
Il calore amplifica e proietta il profumo con forza, perciò l'estate richiede cose fresche, nitide e ariose: agrumi taglienti, aria marina salata, erbe aromatiche e freschezza acquosa che rinfrescano invece di stuccare. La barra mostra con quanta naturalezza questo profumo si porti nel vero tepore.
Autunno
tepore speziato per giornate che si raffreddano
Quando le temperature scendono, i materiali più ricchi si leggono con chiarezza senza soffocare, perciò l'autunno si addice a legni secchi, spezie calde, tabacco, ambra e frutta dorata dal tono accogliente e contemplativo. La barra mostra quanto naturalmente questo profumo si adagi nelle giornate nitide e fresche.
Come Indossarlo
Pensato per i mesi più freddi e bui, è una fragranza per le serate formali in cui l'occasione esige presenza, indossata da chi comprende la polvere non come morbidezza ma come peso.
Perché il Decant di Midwinter Storm
Con soli 50 flaconi prodotti in tutto il mondo, un decant potrebbe essere l'unico accesso realistico a una delle composizioni di iris più ricche di materiali nella profumeria indipendente recente.
Note Ufficiali
Sidro Ghiacciato · Spezia di Segale · Mirtillo · Abete Rosso Bianco · Iris · Loto Blu · Assoluta di Aglaia · Muschio di Quercia · Vaniglia · Legno di Tigre Argentato · Malinau Selvatico · Malaccensis Thai Viola · Santaloli
Esplora ancora: Decant di Profumi Indie · Tutti i Decant di Fragranze
Correlati: I migliori decant di Oud, classificati per performance · I migliori profumi di nicchia legnosi e al sandalo · I migliori profumi di nicchia per l'inverno
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