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6 Colognes That Smell Like Bourbon
Bourbon is the sweet whiskey: vanilla, caramel and toasted wood before any burn. That’s good news for perfume, because those are things perfumers already do well. Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb Extreme lists bourbon by name, and Cremo Bourbon & Oak is the cheap way to smell like a rickhouse.
Why Does Bourbon Smell Sweeter Than Other Whiskey?
Because of the barrel. US rules (27 CFR 5.143) require bourbon to be made mostly from corn and aged in new charred oak containers. Scotch and Irish whiskey usually go into used barrels, often ex-bourbon ones, so most of the oak’s flavour has already gone.
Charring and toasting break down the wood. Lignin turns into vanillin, the same molecule behind vanilla. The oak’s own whisky lactone smells of coconut and fresh wood. Sugars in the wood caramelise into toffee notes. A new barrel gives all of that to the spirit at full strength, which is why bourbon tastes like vanilla and caramel even though neither was added.
For perfume, that means bourbon is less about alcohol than about vanilla, oak, caramel and a bit of smoke. Most of the colognes below build it that way. Our whiskey cologne list covers the drier, smokier Scotch side.
There’s a second bourbon in perfume, too. Bourbon vanilla has nothing to do with whiskey: it’s vanilla from Réunion, which used to be called Île Bourbon. Our vanilla list has the history.
| Cologne | The booze | What’s with it |
|---|---|---|
| Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb Extreme | Bourbon | Tobacco, cinnamon, saffron, vanilla |
| Cremo Bourbon & Oak | Smoked bourbon | Distiller’s spices, oak |
| Kilian Angels’ Share | Cognac | Oak, cinnamon, praline, tonka |
| Kilian Apple Brandy on the Rocks | Apple brandy | An “on the rocks” accord |
| Maison Margiela Jazz Club | Rum | Tobacco, vanilla, styrax |
| Bath & Body Works Bourbon | None listed | White pepper, amber, Kentucky oak |
6 Bourbon Colognes
Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb Extreme
Spicebomb Extreme lists lavender, cinnamon and saffron, then tobacco, vanilla and bourbon. It’s the most bourbon-like of the designer colognes because it has everything bourbon is made of in perfume terms: vanilla for the barrel, tobacco for the dry leaf and a little smoke, cinnamon for the spice. Lavender on top keeps it from going syrupy. It’s dense and warm, and best kept for cold nights.
Cremo Bourbon & Oak
Cremo describes distiller’s spices, smoked bourbon and oak. That’s the drink and the barrel and nothing else. One wearer gets woody, spicy sweetness and a powdery barbershop feel up close, while another finds the bourbon sharply alcoholic. Both make sense: it’s a literal bourbon scent, burn included. Cremo also makes Bourbon Vanilla and Distiller’s Blend, which are different colognes.
Kilian Angels’ Share
Not bourbon but cognac, and Kilian’s richest drink. Angels’ Share lists cognac and oak, then cinnamon, tonka and praline over sandalwood and vanilla. Kilian Hennessy comes from the cognac family, and the name is the distillers’ term for the spirit that evaporates from the barrel as it ages. It’s sweeter and more pastry-like than bourbon, but the oak and vanilla are the same idea. If you want it without the price, Lattafa’s Khamrah gets the dessert but not the drink.
Kilian Apple Brandy on the Rocks
Sidonie Lancesseur made Apple Brandy on the Rocks for Kilian’s New York shop, and Kilian lists just three things: an “on the rocks” accord, apple and brandy. On paper it’s the freshest drink here, crisp apple over a cool, glassy accord rather than warm wood. Pick it if you want the cocktail-bar idea in spring rather than December.
Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club
Jazz Club is rum, not bourbon, but it’s the drink in its setting: pink pepper, lemon and neroli, then rum, clary sage and vetiver, over styrax, tobacco leaf and vanilla. Styrax is a balsamic resin with a faintly leathery edge, and with tobacco and vanilla it smells like an old bar with leather seats. Dossier’s Woody Tobacco has almost the same list.
Bath & Body Works Bourbon
Bath & Body Works lists white pepper, dark amber and Kentucky oak, with no actual bourbon note. It’s the barrel without the drink: oak and amber with a peppery lift. That makes it the most wearable cologne here and the least boozy, despite the name.
More Booze and Smoke
The whiskey list has Kilian’s Old Fashioned and Bentley’s rum-laced Intense. If the tobacco is what you like in Spicebomb Extreme and Jazz Club, the tobacco list goes further.
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