In autumn, I tend to lean on the fruity chypre portion of my perfume collection. But when the weather cools further, and nights become longer than days, I turn to oriental fragrances. A good oriental offers an olfactory blanket that warms better than a chinchilla coat.

The trouble is to find an oriental that doesn’t smell like a spice cookie or doesn’t pack so much amber that it fries your nasal hairs. Lately, I’ve relied on Guerlain Vol de Nuit, Arquiste Anima Dulcis, Etat Libre d’Orange The Afternoon of a Faun, and judicious spritzes of Serge Lutens Participe Passé (wow, is that stuff powerful) — among many others stuffed in a box labeled “cosy” in my perfume cabinet. If I had a bottle of Hiram Green Voyage 2019, it would fall into rotation, too…

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