When perfumers want to create a smoky effect, they have all manner of tricks at their disposal. They might use birch tar, cade or guaiac wood to evoke bonfires and smouldering logs, lapsang style tea notes for a more diffused haze, or incense materials such as frankincense and myrrh to conjure curling church smoke and sacred rituals.
Oudh – the dark, resinous wood prized for its nuanced depths – is another star player, bringing mysterious, smouldering shadows, especially when paired with leather, labdanum and patchouli. Even “foodie” notes like caramel, toasted sugar, peaty whisky or tobacco can be charred at the edges in a formula, suggesting everything from roasted chestnuts to the last glowing coals of a festive fire. If Santa is going to smell smoky, these are the kinds of notes that will have him leaving a truly memorable trail behind the sleigh.
So, should Father Christmas wish to level up his scented game this year – whether he is whooshing down chimneys or simply dancing around the tree – these five fragrances would suit him (or any smoke‑loving wearer) perfectly…
Sarah Baker Tartan Cask
Tartan Cask smells like Santa has slipped away from the workshop to a Highland hunting lodge, wrapped in a woollen blanket with a glass of something seriously peaty in hand. Well, we’ve long had suspicions that the elves do all the actual work and the snowy-haired one gets all the glory while boozing it up, instead! Lean into the relaxation vibe via peaty whisky, bread and hops give an almost chewy, malty opening, as though nosing a cask‑strength dram beside a bar laden with crusty loaves and ale. Smoke, cedar and Buddha wood billow in like log‑fire fumes caught in thick tweed, while moss, labdanum, leather, heather and tobacco add damp‑stone atmospherics and a gently boozy fug. The overall effect is deliciously smoky, mossy and lived‑in – the kind of scent Santa might wear on his off‑duty Boxing Day walk through the hills.
£165 for 50ml extrait de parfum in the Shop
Kajal Lamar Noir
If Santa ever traded his red suit for a black leather jacket and headed out for a glamorous, lantern‑lit soirée, Lamar Noir would be his signature. A rush of tropical fruits, green apple, bergamot and violet opens like a bowl of jewel‑bright sweets on a polished table, juicy and inviting but already shadowed by something darker. In the heart, caramel, vanilla and balsamic notes melt together with geranium and rose, creating the impression of sticky toffees and lacquered petals slowly turning glossy and smoky at the edges. Down in the base, leather, oudh, amber, cashmere wood, sandalwood, guaiac wood and musk smoulder in slow motion, like perfumed smoke rising from scented woodchips. It is plush, sweet, sultry and gently ashy – the olfactory equivalent of sparks arcing beneath a velvet‑black sky.
£199 for 100ml extrait de parfum kajalperfumes.com
BY KILIAN Smoking Hot
Smoking Hot is what happens when Santa swaps mince pies for a hookah bar and decides to lean fully into his rebellious side. And why not? Hard work deserves a break. It opens with a blast of apple hookah and cinnamon bark – think spiced, shisha‑style apple clouds curling in the air of a dimly lit lounge. As the scent warms, fire‑cured Kentucky tobacco absolute unfurls, rich and smoky, threaded with mossy facets that make it feel like a well‑worn leather armchair beside a crackling fire. Bourbon vanilla Pure Jungle Essence then wraps everything in a thick, caramelised sweetness, with Orcanox adding a musky, skin‑hugging heat that reads as irresistibly “hot” rather than cosy. This is smoke with swagger for Santa babe, a haze of apple‑tobacco and scorched sugar that would trail wonderfully behind Santa as he slips from rooftop to rooftop. Golly.
£225 for 100ml eau de parfum bykilian.co.uk
Edeniste Oud Ghazal
Now we imagine Santa detouring through a Middle Eastern palace, his usual chimney smoke replaced by plumes of luxurious bakhoor. Inspired by the tradition of burning agarwood chips soaked in resins and spices, this fragrance swathes the skin in a rich, incense‑laden haze of cardamom, oudh, cedarwood, vetiver and labdanum. Threaded through this smoky, woody‑spicy structure is a syrupy black cherry accord and davana’s liqueur‑like glow, which lend the composition a mouthwatering, almost candied fruitiness without tipping into dessert territory. Hints of saffron, pink pepper, olibanum and lavender add sparkle and complexity, like sparks flying from an incense burner in a dimly lit salon. If Santa wanted to smell like a cloud of luxurious, cherry‑smudged oudh smoke drifting through a star‑studded night, this should be his pick.
£250 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com
Ruth Mastenbroek Firedance
Firedance feels like Santa has stepped away from the sleigh and onto a moonlit terrace, where bonfires crackle and a single red rose smoulders in the buttonhole of his velvet jacket. It opens with a crisp, tart crunch of apple and lemon, bright as the first spark from a struck match. Almost immediately, Damask rose surges forward – big, rich and velvety – entwined with a supple leather accord that makes it feel like rose petals pressed against a well‑loved biker jacket. As the scent deepens, oudh and patchouli build a smoky, resinous base, with an amber-y glow that radiates from the skin like firelight reflecting off faces in the dark. This is a rose set ablaze – smoky, sooty and hypnotic – for a Santa who perhaps prefers his festivities with a hint of flamenco drama and a trail of embers in the snow.
£70 for 30ml eau de parfum ruthmastenbroek.com
Written by Suzy Nightingale
