Fantome de Maules

“Who is Fantôme de Maules?” asks Stora Skuggan, the mysterious Swedish fragrance house whose name translates to “Big Shadow.” Good question. Maules, a French-speaking village in Switzerland, is purportedly home to a fantôme – a benevolent loner/spirit/survivalist who haunts the local woodlands – picking flowers, cracking twigs, rustling leaves and cloaking the forest in a phantasmal veil of eeriness and intrigue.

And what does this specter smell like? On first blast, leaves and lemon, quickly followed by a spicy, herbaceous mix of lavender, coriander, and cardamom. He’s cool but hot; grassy, but with a dash of earthy, edible nuttiness that dries down to a meditative walk in the wilderness. A powdery, thoughtful, mossy wood that implores us to ask, again, who the hell this Fantôme de Maules really is. A spook? An outsider? A friendly wraith? We’re still not sure. But we’re okay with that.