Engin Extrait de Parfum — 32% — Grapefruit. Black Pepper. Incense. Woods. Ambered Smoke.

What it Smells Like — Bitter Grapefruit. Black Pepper. Sparkling Aldehydes. Incense Smoke. Aged Birch Tar. Smoky Woods. Dark Resins. Dry Amber.

Engin is built around juxtaposition: clean against smoky, bitter freshness against dark woods, and sharp spice against smooth resinous warmth. White grapefruit opens with a bitter, bracing freshness as aldehydes sparkle above it, giving the opening a bright, crystalline lift. A blast of black pepper absolute cuts through with intense, dry spice while deep smoke begins to pull at that brightness from beneath.

As the sparkling top notes descend into the heart, incense and aged birch tar emerge through dense smoke and dark woods. The contrast is deliberate: luminous aldehydes and bitter grapefruit remain suspended against something deeper and increasingly resinous, as the smoke slowly draws the freshness into itself. Styrax and dark resins add weight and texture while black pepper continues to flicker through the composition.

As Engin develops, sandalwood, amyris, dry amber, and smoky woods begin to smooth the sharper edges. Flecks of grapefruit, aldehydes, and black pepper remain within the darker base while incense, aged birch tar, resins, and woods settle into a deep, persistent trail. The result is a powerful, dry extrait defined by contrast: sparkling yet smoky, bitter yet warm, with brightness and darkness continually pulling against one another.

Originally Released in 2014

Engin was one of the original MadHat fragrances, first released in 2014. After recently uncovering some of my old formulas, I kept coming back to this strange little outlier. Even twelve years later, there was something about Engin that still felt unmistakably like MadHat: bitter grapefruit, an almost excessive amount of black pepper, sparkling aldehydes, smoke, incense, tar, and woods pushed together into something that probably shouldn't have worked as well as it did.

I still have the original Engin formula, and it became the starting point for this version. I went back through the composition and considered what made the original work, what needed to remain, and what could be refined. The goal was never to reinvent Engin or simply make something new under an old name. I wanted to retain the elements that gave the original its identity while using the considerably larger palette and experience I have today to develop them further.

Birch tar was a major part of the original Engin and one of its defining materials. It remains in the composition, including a small amount of the same rectified birch tar I used more than a decade ago, but its presence has been dialed way back. Rather than allowing birch tar to dominate the smoke profile, modern incense materials create a more expansive and refined smoke while the aged birch tar remains underneath, lending darkness and a connection to the original.

Natural black pepper absolute gives the spice greater richness and dimension, while white grapefruit and sparkling aldehydes preserve the strange brightness that cuts through Engin's darker side. Incense, oud, styrax, sandalwood, amyris, resins, and a broader woody structure give the fragrance considerably more depth and texture, while modern fixatives help smooth some of the harsher edges and extend the composition without stripping away its character.

This version of Engin isn't intended to be a perfect replica of the original. It is a considered refinement of it: still strange, still slightly smoky, still unapologetically heavy on black pepper, and still built around the contrasts that made the original Engin work. It's the Engin I imagine I would have made twelve years ago if I had the materials, experience, and palette I have today.

Fragrance Notes

White Grapefruit, Black Pepper Absolute, Aldehydes, Star Anise, Incense, Oud, Aged Birch Tar, Smoky Woods, Dark Resins, Styrax, Sandalwood, Amyris, Dry Amber, Ambered Smoke.

Style

Incense Fragrance. Woody Fragrance. Smoky Fragrance. Bitter Citrus. Black Pepper. White Grapefruit. Sparkling Aldehydes. Aged Birch Tar. Smoky Woods. Resinous Incense. Oud. Dry Amber. Ambered Smoke. Sandalwood. Amyris. Styrax. Spicy Woods. Dark Woods. Modern Incense. Extrait Strength. MadHat Engin. Pepper fragrance.

Concentration

Extrait de Parfum — 32%

Disclaimer

Do not use if you are allergic or sensitive to black pepper or citrus. Contains black pepper absolute and white grapefruit. For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes and sensitive skin. Discontinue use if irritation occurs. Keep out of reach of children and pets. Do not use if you’re pregnant or nursing.