Scent Trunk Black Hemlock Review: Bathed in Boreal

Since I was a young boy, I have always been entranced by the Northern Lights. The strokes of lime green and fluorescent pink painted across the night sky, with sparkling stars as the backdrop. I never wanted to be an astronaut, but looking up at the clouds and stars always made me feel so tiny. It was almost a dizzying sensation, in a good way. It just reminded me of the vastness of our world.

Along with my love of everything coniferous, I had my eye on Black Hemlock from Scent Trunk. I honestly wrote the brand off at the start, thinking it was one of those wonky subscription services that fails to deliver. When I actually looked at the scent, I noticed who made it – Joshua Smith. If you don’t know him, he was the perfumer for Libertine Fragrances, know known as Paraphrase Perfume. I was aware of Joshua’s work with Sex & Jasmine, Sweet Grass, and Soft Woods, which were all solid releases, so I decided to give it a shot, along with various other indie perfumers that have made fragrances under the Scent Trunk label.

A 30 ml bottle was only $65 at Ministry of Scent. Yes, I purchased it. Given the price and the name behind the scent, the allure of conifers called to me once more. Like a banshee pulling you from a sea shanty, I was hooked.

Black hemlock isn’t an ingredient that is used in perfume often, and it truly adds this feeling of a boreal forest or perhaps even a Siberian one. Think of a dark, cold forest with conifers singing a song of balsalm and smoke, and that is just a small part of the joy that this material holds.

Black Hemlock begins its northern escape with a gust of forest magic. The black hemlock absolute is front and center, showing a richly turpenic sap oozing from snow-draped needles and the smoky, peppery lumber of the cold-loving tsuga tree.

There is almost a mossy, loamy, forest floor quality to it, but not damp and rich in petrichor, but rather mossy with hints of dry soil. There isn’t any oakmoss listed, but there is a certainly quality that make you think of a forest floor, but not one covered in snow, more of one full of life and vegetation.

Light wisps of smoke do appear, but not akin to a ritualistic incense offering, but instead it portrays the slightly charred remains of a forest fire. Like a memory etched into the bark of the trees that inhabit this forest, it’s not a recent memory, but something whispered on the wind that gracefully meets your nose.

I detect an almost clove-like warmth, mixed with a slight earthy hue. It reminds me of autumnal woods growing up in New England. The coziness of the season viewed in orange, yellow, and brown with the gentle lingering of earth rising from a light sprinkle of rain.

I honestly didn’t expect to like Black Hemlock as much as I do. It’s evident that Joshua has spent ample time in the Canadian backcountry. There is no other way that he would respect the materials in the way that he does without this knowledge, and I heartedly applaud him for it.

I will say, as with most of the scents that I feature on this platform, it is not for those that want a perfume to wear them. It’s not an overly potent scent, but it does last a moderate six hours with a few hours of projection. This is more for the ones that are wild at heart and challenge nature with every breath while respecting it in its majestic beauty. This is for those that look at the Aurora Borealis as I do, and wonder what mysteries nature may hold beneath those gleaming lights. It’s a captivating scent at a bargain price.