Season 8 • Episode 5: Through the Smoke with Beaufort London’s Leo Crabtree
From a single, hand-poured moustache wax to one of the world’s most daringly distinctive fragrance houses, BeauFort London’s story is as elemental as the scents themselves. Founded in 2013 by musician Leo Crabtree, the brand was born from salt-spray memories, naval histories and a fascination with the poetry of smoke — quite literally “per fumum” (‘through smoke’).
[AD: This episode is proud to be in partnership with BeauFort London - a house Suzy has championed from the start, spoken about passionately over the years, and continues to be excited by.]
In this episode of On The Scent Podcast, Suzy Nightingale and Nicola Bonn sit down with Leo to trace that journey: from the formative fragrances he wore as a teenager to the moment he realised scent could become a storytelling medium for his fascinations with maritime might, Shakespearean drama, and the awe-inspiring power of nature.
With the launch of the Come Hell Or High Water trio in 2015 — featuring the now-iconic Tonnerre, Coeur de Noir and Vi Et Armis — BeauFort London set out its stall with unapologetically bold compositions, rich in unusual materials and deliberately ‘overdosed’ in their intensity. [Which is why Leo & Suzy got into trouble when they first sprayed them!]
As you listen, you will hear Suzy, Nicola and Leo smelling some of the creations together — Nicola encountering them properly for the first time, while Suzy revisits fragrances she has worn and championed for years, having known Leo since the brand’s earliest days and even helping to shape the direction of Fathom V.
Together, they delve into the inspirations behind the scents, the emotions they stir, and the evolving landscape of perfumery that Leo reflects upon with candour. It is a conversation about transformation — personal, creative, and within the industry itself — and one that invites you to explore these boldly original fragrances for yourself…
‘Vi Et Armis Eau De Parfum is described variously as 'chaos in a bottle' and 'an alchemist's Christmas party' this addictive fragrance is a celebration of that which is smoked: lapsang souchong, heavily peated whisky, dark tobaccos, spice and opium combine to produce an intensely provocative fragrance using heavily ‘overdosed’ ingredients. Vi Et Armis Eau De Parfum is paradoxical and challenging - singular and narcotic.
THE WEARING EXPERIENCE
Top Notes: cardamom, black tea, whisky
A wildly spiced opening of cardamom, smoked black tea and whisky.
Heart Notes: frankincense, opium flower, ylang ylang
Gives way narcotic bloom of opium florals and incense.
Base Notes: tobacco, oud, amber
Drying down to deep tobacco, oud and amber.
Perfumer: Julie Marlowe.’
£45 for 7.5ml eau de parfum
‘Inspired by the innovative use of materials that allowed early clockmakers to construct the first accurate marine chronometers, Lignum Vitae Eau De Parfum combines elements of wood, metal and salt to produce a truly unique, transportive fragrance.
In combining unexpected and exotic raw materials, we celebrate the innovative spirit which brought to an end the search for lost time.
THE WEARING EXPERIENCE
Top Notes: mandarin, black pepper, Madeleine cake
Opens brightly with mandarin and sharp pepper cutting through the buttery gourmand sweetness of madeleine cake.
Heart Notes: juniper, ginger, lignum vitae wood
The heart warms with ginger and depth of lignum vitae wood anchoring the fragrance.
Base Notes: frankincense resin, amber, moss
Resinous frankincense, salted moss and amber create a long lasting contemplative finish.
Perfumer: Julie Marlowe.’
‘Fathom V Eau De Parfum is a fragrance for the intrepid: challenging preconceptions of what ‘Aquatic’ truly means. In contrasting the above and below, light and shade, we imagine the eternally changing state of the sea – in constant flux between calm and wild.
Salt meets earth, sparkling herbals blend with dark mosses, bright floral notes meet intense dark spices and pepper.
THE WEARING EXPERIENCE
Top Notes: Juniper, Blackcurrant, Green Leaves, Aquatic
Crisp green cut stem brightness open, darkened with earth.
Heart Notes: Lily, Jasmine, Cumin
Lush white flowers bloom at the heart.
Base Notes: Vetiver, Moss, Salt, Atlas Cedar
Salted woods, moss and vetiver leave a deep mineral resonance.
Perfumer: Julie Marlowe.’
‘Orkney, an archipelago located to the north of Scotland, plays host to the inspiration of this fragrance. According to ancient Orkney myth, shapeshifting creatures – Selkies – inhabit the bodies of seals and, coming out of the water, shed their skin to walk among the human population. Often in these stories the selkie’s skin is found and hidden by local men, and they are forced to marry their human captor.
In our rendering of this tale, however, the selkie takes the upper hand… horrified that he has tanned her precious skin, the selkie poisons her captor, reclaiming the leather and returning finally to the tumbling sea.
Sirenide Eau de Parfum therefore, is a suitably formidable fragrance: powerful and haunting, with triplicate aspects of ‘skins’ developing on your own. PVC melds with pinseal and an unnerving bitter almond note… water flowers blossom and die, returning to the water.
THE WEARING EXPERIENCE
Top Notes: blue flag iris, water hawthorn, bitter almond, aniseed
Sharp aquatic florals pierced with bitter almond and anise open haunting and irresistible.
Heart Notes: water lily, pink lotus
An ethereal heart emerges, with water flowers blooming briefly.
Base Notes: ambergris, cedar atlas, woodruff, pinseal
Dark leather, salt soaked ambergris and cedar ground the composition.
Perfumer: Euan McCall.’
Suzy and Nicola could honestly have gone on smelling these incredible fragrances for another two hours, but suggest if you are intrigued to smell you seek out the Beaufort London Discovery Sets (one for each collection) samples and travel sizes (now available for all the BeauFort London fragrances in 2ml and 7.5ml) on their website…
Want to get in touch with feedback or questions for Suzy & Nicola? Message via a DM @onthescentpodcast and they’ll try to get back to you with an answer!
