STRANGERS PARFUMERIE
BURNING BEN

2018

PERFUMER
PRIN LOMROS

Hay Absolute
Plum
Espresso
Tobacco
Hazelnut
Leather
Patchouli
Incense
Dark Chocolate
Tar
Synthetic Castoreum
Cognac
Labdanum
Beeswax
Cherry
Amber
Allspice
Javanol
Saffron
Burning Tire

Strangers is one of the brands of Prin Lomros and his inspiration for Burning Ben came from the excellent Korean movie Burning. Which in turn is inspired by a Murakami short-story, who happens to be one of the authors who’s entire catalog I’ve read, so it caught my attention with its concept.

If you like heavy, dark fragrances; a bit heavier than most of what’s out there, but don’t want them to be too challenging, this might be the perfect balance. It has everything: Leather, tobacco, castoreum, birch tar, cognac, coffee, chocolate, incense-amber accord, plum, hazelnut, beeswax. And all of those notes are detectable. It’s a giant cacophony… somehow made cozy.

I mainly get two different elements. One being the birch tar, smoky, tobacco. On initial spray, it’s definitely a tobacco scent to my nose, with just a hint of leather underneath. It has the cherry/plum tobacco, but it’s more dry than most. The other element is boozy gourmand; you get the (bitter) coffee, (dark) chocolate and cognac throughout the life of the scent, with a honey and resinous sweetness.

Don’t mistake the combination for a sweet tobacco; this is nothing like a Herod or Tobacco Vanille. The birch and presumably castoreum make a big difference; It’s richer, more daring, more mature, but at the same time equally comforting (as Herod is to me). Nor is it fully gourmand; it’s often compared to Strangers SM Café, but in that the coffee and chocolate are much more pronounced. It does lean into the gourmand direction as it dries.

Burning Ben is a fragrance that gives me a real strong scent memory. The birch is like the fireplace in an old bar full of smells of tobacco and booze. Imagine stepping inside that lively bar on a cold winter’s night; that’s how wearing this fragrance feels. It’s a bit rough, but inviting at the same time.

Sidenote: Prin later created Majnoon for Azman, which feels like a brother to Burning Ben.