The Haunted Mill

[Seajewel]

A quiver of boot leather, a forbidding shadow of patchouli, poppy tar, and oud against a backdrop of worn oak panels.

[LavenderCoffee]

In the bottle, the boot leather is most prominent to me, but as stated, it's a quiver and not a kick. 

 

After applying to my wrist, the oak and tar notes, as well as the leather are evident, but each quickly fade as the oil dries. All these typically big, bold notes blend and settle to create a quiet, ghostly effect. Absolutely appropriate for "An Evening with the Spirits," but I'm thoroughly impressed by the composition and excited to see if it changes with age. There is just a suggestion of patchouli once it's completely dry, and I'm always looking for more patch.

 

For comparison, I find the Scorched Oak and Tobacco duet to be a much warmer oak blend (duh, it was on fire!), while this is cool and dark. I also dabbed a bit of You're a Daisy for that boot leather note, and while that smells like a whole leather goods store, this blend suggests someone wearing boots was just passing through - or maybe passed on. 👻

[starbrow]

An unexpected favorite from the Yule 2021 collection. There is no hiding the leather in this blend; it boldly marches, authentic and strapping but also lived-in. The oak panels immediately make their presence known too, but where I find most oak heavy and oppressive, this interpretation is chilled, indeed ghostly. It is surprisingly agreeable. The poppy tar is the third ghost dancing in this blend. Tar is right; it is just short of a little ashy, but for me that leaves it on the side of wearable rather than heading in a perfumey commercial direction the way several of the Weenie poppies. This opium is thick, dark, pitchy. It's goth af, and I'm here for it.

 

In quietly grounding roles are patchouli (a bit earthy, but not truly filthy) and oud (which honestly I can't isolate in this blend, so it's not a very indolic oud if that ever is a problem for you). There's a shadowed quality to the resulting blend of dark and brooding notes, with the perfect twang of hypnotic opium to offer counterpoint. I don't know where the chilly quality is coming from but it's fascinating. I keep coming back for more and more sniffs. This is not just a leather bomb of a scent; there's complexity, there's a story. This is a mill with many ghosts and they each have a tale to tell.

 

In spite of leather and oak historically being two difficult notes for me to wear, I am going to acquire a full size bottle of this in my next lab order. The Haunted Mill might be my favorite BPAL leather of all time, and I'm kind of shook!

[Casablanca]

Simply the coziest productive wood shop.

 

No cedar is listed, but I seem to be getting a lot of it among the lovely woods here---warm, comfortable cedar and well-used tan leather ahead of a melange of oak and other woods, and a smudge of dark, natural tar.

 

Something gives an impression of sweetened snow outside and woody warmth within, as though a single sugared snowflake has made its way through the door, but is easily missed and already melting. And, somehow, a whiff of opium combines with the woods to make them more welcoming.

 

A wonderful wood and leather blend.

[dancingchair]

Oddly enough, I get more of the haunted parts of this perfume rather than the mill parts. There's a thick haze of smoky opium fog enshrouding this mill, which does also have a tar-like sharpness to it. I get a worn brown leather note very prominently, much more than a quiver. The oak and oud are both in the background, hidden somewhere under the opium. I'm not sure that I can pick out the patchouli, but I think it might be adding an incense-like quality to the opium.

 

If you like opium and leather, this is the perfume for you! I thought this perfume would be primarily wood with a hint of leather and opium, but I do like what I got instead.

[zankoku_zen]

Leather and wood polish. It's dark, sort of masculine, woods. Good throw and wear length.

[Llanval]

I passed on this last year because the lab's leather notes and I usually don't get along. But everything else in this bottle is usually a hit for me so when deepquietvoice offered a swap for this bottle I decided to give it a shot.

 

OH BOY SO HAPPY I DID. Apparently boot leather and leather are NOT the same. I love this scent, it's cold and forbidding and then soft, sweet, and woody. The tar is great, the patchouli really is just a shadow and the oud and oak work well together. I really love the lab's oak notes in all their forms, and it's beautiful in this scent too. Really love this! I wore this one two days in a row, which I never do. The lab's boot leather is really something else and I'm excited to explore this note more!

 

Good throw and wear length. By the end of the day, it is a soft boot leather slipper rather than a loud stomp.

[Lucchesa]

I only got a decant of The Haunted Mill when it came out because I am avoiding oud, but it’s very much in the background here, not problematic at all. The other notes are all favorites, and it’s a lovely blend, kind of a cross between a weenie and a Yule. The patchouli also stays in the background, and it’s primarily soft leather and opium tar on me, with woody base notes. Much more comforting than forbidding!

[patina]

Sweet opium. It would be perfume opium except for the ton or rugged boot leather, oak, and something that smells like nettles reduced down to a green soup. As it is, the opium smells like a stand-in for a humid dark night.

I like it, but it's very creepy woodshed.