Tobacco perfume samples: what to try

Tobacco perfume samples surprise people who expect an ashtray. In perfumery, tobacco usually means the dried leaf: a sweet, honeyed, slightly hay-like warmth that works well with vanilla, spice and wood. It appears in nearly thirty of our samples, mostly in the heart, and the perfumes differ a lot depending on whether rum, honey, cocoa or citrus stands beside it. This guide groups eight by that company, with the notes exactly as recorded.

Tobacco with citrus

Ibraheem Al Qurashi French Tobacco is the lightest way in. It is tagged moderate, and the record reads mandarin, blood orange and green apple on top, ginger, neroli, cinnamon and tobacco in the heart, and lemongrass, frankincense, guaiac wood and iris at the base. Fruit and neroli keep the tobacco from turning heavy.

Tobacco as dessert

Ibraheem Al Qurashi Spanish Tobacco goes the other way. Its top is aquatic notes, tonka bean and saffron, the heart tobacco, cocoa and amber, and the base iris and woody notes. Cocoa and tonka give the leaf a chocolate sweetness, and it carries the strong tag.

Rayhaan Italia puts honey beside it. The top is lavender, lemon and bergamot, the heart honey, cashmeran, cinnamon and jasmine, and the base tobacco leaf, vanilla and tonka bean. Tobacco leaf at the very end is an unusual placement, so the honey and cinnamon come first.

Pernoire Otimo mixes fruit and spirit with praline: quince, cardamom and rum on top, tobacco, praline, patchouli and tonka in the heart, and cedarwood, vanilla and osmanthus below. Quince and rum are a rare opening, which makes it a sample to test before anything bigger.

Tobacco with rum and whisky

Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club is the cleanest boozy one. The recorded top is pink pepper essence, primofiore lemon oil and neroli oil, the heart rum absolute, clary sage oil and Java vetiver oil, and the base styrax resin, tobacco leaf absolute and vanilla bean co2. It is an Eau de Toilette tagged moderate for autumn and winter.

Nishane Fan Your Flames pairs rum with coconut: coconut and rum on top, then tobacco and tonka bean, and oakmoss and Chinese cedarwood to finish. The oakmoss base gives a dry, mossy end to a sweet start.

Sarah Baker Tartan Cask is the most unusual in the group. The recorded top is peaty whisky, bread, hops and heather, the heart cedar, tobacco and leather, and the base smoke, moss, buddha wood and labdanum. It is the only sample here that lists smoke, and its peaty whisky and bread make it a pub rather than a lounge.

Tobacco with leather and oud

Ibraheem Al Qurashi Brazilian Tobacco is the darkest. The top reads bergamot, red pepper, pink pepper and lavender, the heart tobacco, oud, cedarwood and cherry, and the base leather, patchouli and vetiver. Cherry in the heart is the surprise, and our records tag it strong, for autumn, winter and evening.

What the eight share

Tonka bean links Spanish Tobacco, Italia, Fan Your Flames and Otimo, and rum links Otimo, Jazz Club and Fan Your Flames, so sweetness and spirits are the usual company. Cedar links Brazilian Tobacco, Tartan Cask and Fan Your Flames, and leather links Brazilian Tobacco and Tartan Cask. Only the last two share a woody-leather frame, which is why they feel closest. Following leather or vanilla from here takes you to the dark or the sweet side of the same note, and the leather guide picks up where the darkest of these stops.

How to choose

If you fear smoke, begin with French Tobacco or Jazz Club. If you like sweet, Spanish Tobacco or Italia. If you like boozy, Fan Your Flames. The brand guide which Ibraheem Al Qurashi sample to try first covers the three Tobaccos in more detail. Wear one per day on clean skin in cool weather, and check the dry-down the next morning. The routine is in how to test perfume on skin, and winter perfume samples offers more warm choices.

All tobacco samples are collected under tobacco, and Ibraheem Al Qurashi has a collection of its own. Every vial is decanted and labelled by FragranceGems, with no involvement from the houses, and the steps are in how we fill your sample, the FAQ and sample sets.

FAQ

Does tobacco perfume mean cigarette smoke?

Usually not. Perfumers use tobacco leaf and absolute for a dried, honeyed, hay-like warmth. Where smoke appears it is a separate note, and the recorded list shows it. Only one sample in this guide lists smoke.

Which tobacco sample is the lightest?

Ibraheem Al Qurashi French Tobacco is tagged moderate and opens with mandarin, blood orange and green apple. It is the easiest way to meet the note without the sweetness or the rum.

Is tobacco only for cold weather?

Most samples here are tagged autumn and winter, because the warmth suits it. Some tobacco perfumes in our range are also tagged spring and summer. Try a tobacco sample in the weather where you plan to wear it.