We Owe Allegiance to No Crown

[doomsday_disco]

The scent of jubilant freedom, endurance, and justice: juniper berry, oakmoss, ti leaf, terebinth, lemon peel, neroli, white amber, black cherry, pink pepper, and orange brandy.

 

 

John A. Woodside
 

Edited October 23, 2025 by doomsday_disco

[RoseThornAndOak]

Ooo I really like this! I've been reading about Patrick Henry and his wife Sarah, so the opening bright greenery plus a sort of metallic note, instead of evoking jubilance, instilled a sort of sadness at first, making me think of "the next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle?". It invoked imagery of sons and fathers dying in cold, damp, grassy fields with swords and bayonets clashing.

 

Things get better, though. Henry was once paid for his lawyer duties with 10 gallons of peach brandy, and another time, 30 gallons of rum (could you imagine? ), so this makes me think of that when the fruit notes emerges under the greenery after a while, and the metallic note recedes, going much more cheerful. It's mostly a sweet, bright orange, yet with the cherry and lemon peel, it reads as more of a general fruit than anything specific, and just lightly boozy. The greenery reads more mossy and like a fougere than evergreen thanks to the oakmoss (which stays for the duration of the fragrance). I don't get anything fussy with the juniper berry, either, usually a problem note that goes wet sock on me, haha. No, here it is lending more of a brightness with the neroli perhaps, maybe a teeny bit of spice with the pink pepper. Some of the notes here were used in fragrances of the 18th century (neroli, citrus, oakmoss, etc), and the juniper berry reads more like an aromatic herb that would be added to fragrances at the time. So, it's kind of more, I dunno, fougere-like oakmoss plus some intrigue and depth than any of the other notes really jumping out (fougeres technically are a late 19th century thing, but oakmoss goes back much further in use). I don't get much white amber, which can often be sweet but sometimes indolic, so I don't have any issues with it here, just lending a touch of sweetness overall, but this is largely gender neutral.

 

The final drydown is a clean and green moss, with barely a whisper of the fruits and no metallic note, and some subtle spices and aromatics, which I'm absolutely happy with. BPAL is absolutely eating these historically inspired blends, and I'm surprisingly liking this better than most of the Fire Down Below blends.

 

Tldr: a classic, 18th-19th century, mossy fragrance starting with a short lived metallic bite, with a fruit brandy emerging in the mids, drying down to a clean mossy blend with some herbal, aromatic depth, brightness, and a touch of sweetness.

Edited 4 hours ago by RoseThornAndOak