Byredo’s Havana Tonka Is a Gourmand With a Dark Side

Presented by Byredo

It’s been twenty years since Byredo’s founding, and in those two decades, the once-niche Swedish fragrance brand has become a household name. From Mojave Ghost to Bal D’Afrique, its scents line the fragrance walls of the industry’s most fabulous faces, practically fly off retailers’s virtual shelves, and admittedly, help set the standard of what an indie brand could be.

The perfume house, though, is still looking for ways to innovate. Take The Night Veils, for example, which seeks to capture the spirit of the night through fragrances that can best be described as primal and mystic. The collection initially launched in 2015 with four extrait de parfums: Rouge Chaotique, Casablanca Lily, Vanille Antique, and Cuir Sellier, with Bois Obscur joining their ranks in 2025. Last year marked its renaissance (and total reinvention) by introducing taller glass bottles with a gold-hued, antique-inspired cap to match. Its design serving as a visual reminder of its differentiation from the rest of the Byredo family. This month, the brand has introduced a sixth scent with Havana Tonka—a decadent fragrance with nothing adolescent about it. “I wanted to create something warm and indulgent, but without making the sweetness too obvious,” master perfumer Jerome Epinette tells Vogue. “There’s a gourmand quality, but it’s balanced by something smoky, woody, and quite sophisticated.”

Byredo Havana Tonk extrait de parfum

• Why We Love It: Rich, decadent, and far from impish best describes Byredo’s Havana Tonka. “The crème brûlée and roasted tonka bring a beautiful creamy richness, while the tobacco, suede, and patchouli introduce a darker, more textured side,” says Epinette, emphasizing that the fragrance‘s contrast is what makes it most interesting. Well after the perfume’s initial spritz, its skin hugging, animalic notes linger on the skin, only slightly softened by it’s more delectable counterparts.
• Key Notes: Bergamot essential oil, rum, pink peppercorn essential oil, crème brûlée, tobacco leaves, violet, cashmere woods, white suede, skin musk, roasted tonka bean absolute, patchouli essential oil, benzoin resinoid
• This Smells Like: A smoke break with freshly rolled cigar during dessert

Formulated as an extrait, the fragrance uses high-concentration essential oils, which naturally last longer. “The idea is to create fragrances that feel rich, expressive, and full of character, with an emphasis on the depth and complexity of the ingredients,” Epinette explains. “I love the creative freedom that comes with working in this format, where you can really push certain facets of a fragrance and create something with a strong, distinctive presence.” Per Epinette, it’s less about making the fragrance shout its presence as it enters the room and more about adding depth and richness to its overall composition.

That richness points to a pattern—each fragrance in Byredo’s Night Veils collection offers a darker, moodier side of the brand. Even Havana Tonka offers an edge in its interpretation—though that edge isn’t angsty teen, but rather an elegant Morticia Addams type. So complex that the olfactory concoction’s raw materials play differently depending upon its wearer. Take it from me and Vogue’s beauty shopping editor, Kiana Murden. When sprayed on my wrist, tobacco and musks stood out as star notes, while on Murden, the fragrance read sweet and less resinous.

Achieving such multitudes was a practice of refinement over many months, nailing the balance between wood, gourmand, and smokey facets, while still ensuring the final result wasn’t too heavy. Still, even with the decadent elements, calling this scent a gourmand would do it a disservice—it’s much more unexpected and nuanced than an adolescent sweet scent. “It has a sensual, sophisticated character that makes it especially beautiful for evenings,” Epinette asserts. Will Havana Tonka convince you gourmand-adjacent scents can be for grown-ups too?