As a child, one of my most frequently read books was A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, with the opening chapter seeing the eponymous anthropomorphic bear disguise himself as a little black rain cloud and travel up a tree via helium balloon to steal honey from a beehive. To my five-year-old mind, the risk of a thousand stings always seemed like a tradeoff for the acquisition of the sweet nectar.
For while a spoonful of sugar may make the medicine go down, there’s a certain primordial comfort to a spoonful of honey. While global sugar cultivation is a relatively new development and was formerly considered a luxury good or ‘fine spice’—and priced accordingly—in ancient civilisations, honey dates back to prehistoric times and was a relatively accessible saccharine comestible. Honey collection long precedes the domestication of the honey bee, dating back to the Mesolithic age. In ancient Egypt, honey was not only used to sweeten food and as a base for medicinal salves, but in Kyphi, a form of incense made with honey, wine, aromatic resins, herbs, and raisins — likely the oldest form of honey perfume.
There’s no singular honey taste either — while the sweetness of sugar is typically one-note, honey derives much of its flavour from the nectar consumed by the bees making it, with multi-floral honey having a different taste and scent profile to mono-floral honey. There’s the light, delicate taste of acacia honey which can be contrasted with the robust, earthy, and slightly menthol notes present in eucalyptus honey and the woody, smokey profile of buckwheat honey. It’s this nuance that makes honey such an alluring fragrance note to work with, with perfumers increasingly embracing it in a starring—rather than supporting—role in their fragrances.
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”
Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne
Tapping into the art of anticipation that Pooh experienced yet struggled to articulate, the best honey perfumes go beyond smelling good enough to eat and instead impart a rich, elegant, and often sensual energy to their wearers. On the delectable side, our favourite honey perfumes eschew the characteristics of classic gourmands and instead form part of a new crop of dark gourmands, which are sweet and indulgent while boasting an alluring depth and complexity. Elsewhere, honey meets florals to create sophisticated summer scents, or lends a subtle sweetness to tobacco fragrances.
The best honey perfumes
There’s a reason it’s the favoured term of endearment — after all, who wouldn’t rather be referred to as a difficult-to-acquire golden nectar than a mass-produced granulated crystal? Even the word ‘honey’ rolls smoothly off the tongue like nectar. For those who want to smell equal parts sweet and complex, these are the best honey fragrances to try.
1. Zoologist Bee
Not merely a honey perfume, Zoologist Bee is an ode to the sticky sweet syrup’s maker itself. There’s a photorealistic honey note (and it hits you hard upon first spray), but it’s accompanied by beeswax, the sharp sting of a bee represented by ginger, royal jelly, and the complex florals that go into every drop of honey. Rich, sticky, sharp, powdery, and addictive, this is what Pooh would’ve smelt if his mission into the hive was successful — a true honey lover’s honey perfume.
Price: $389AUD/$240USD
Scent notes: orange, ginger syrup, royal jelly accord, broom, heliotrope, mimosa, orange flower, benzoin, labdanum, musks, sandalwood, tonka, vanilla
2. Hiram Green Slowdive
A warm, luscious honey fragrance, Hiram Green Slowdive smells like being in nature. Rather than a punchy hit of honey, it’s a languid walk through the wildflowers, tinged with smokey buckwheat honey and tobacco flower; the latter imparting a soft spicy woody quality, much gentler than pipe tobacco.
Price: €195
Scent notes: neroli, orange flower, tobacco blossom, tuberose, honey, dried fruit, resin
3. Guerlain Tobacco Honey
Guerlain has long pioneered the use of honey in its skincare, and it’s equally adroit at crafting a good honey perfume. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise; after all, the brand’s logo is a bee (Guerlain also has a robust bee conservation program). Guerlain Tobacco Honey is a true sensual dark gourmand, pairing the soft, syrupy floral sweetness of honey with rich spices, fine tobacco, and a hint of oud.
Price: from $300USD
Scent notes: honey, cloves, anise, tobacco, vanilla, sesame, agarwood, sandalwood
4. Floris Honey Oud
Oud often dominates everything it touches, but here it almost takes a backseat to the edible honey notes. A quintessential refined British cologne, the honey and oud and complemented by a lush jammy rose note and warm amber. Akin to putting on a warm sweater, it’s a beautiful honey perfume that’s more comforting than sensual.
Price: from $205AUD
Scent notes: bergamot, honey, oud, patchouli, rose, amber, labdanum, oud, musk, vanilla
5. BORNTOSTANDOUT Mad Honey
Inspired by a rare red-hued honey found in Turkey and the Himalayas that contains grayanotoxins from rhododendron nectar, invoking hallucinations and feelings of euphoria, BORNTOSTANDOUT Mad Honey gets wearers drunk off a heady opening of rum and vanilla, while jammy rose and honey dabble in a game of flirtation. The honey here is more saccharine and a touch artificial; more like a classic gourmand than some of the other honey perfumes on this list.
Price: $330AUD
Scent notes: pink pepper, rum, honey, damascena rose, bourbon vanilla, tonka bean, patchouli, benzoin resinoid, orcanox
6. Stora Skuggan Thumbsucker
Inspired by the Hindu story of King Yuvanaswa who accidentally downs a pregnancy potion meant for his wife, winds up pregnant, and—being devoid of breasts—has to feed his child the life-giving nectar that now courses out of his thumbs (a natural chain of events), Stora Skuggan Thumbsucker is an aptly nurturing sweet scent. The honey is notable for its sweet clarity, combining with powdery narcissus to create an airy, comforting, slightly nostalgic opening. It’s underscored by a base of bitter almond and cedarwood, which lend the honey staying power on the skin. Feels like being tucked into bed with a warm glass of milk as a child. Or, thumbfed life-giving nectar, I guess.
Price: $250AUD
Scent notes: honey, narcissus, violet, cherry, cedarwood, bitter almond, balsam, candle wax
7. Chasing Scents Rain Tea
While Chasing Scents Rain Tea claims to be tea with honey, it’s more sweet honey with sun-dried barley and a little bit of chamomile tea. One of the few honey perfumes to have honey in the base notes, it’s a more earthy, herbal take on the scent category; ideal for those who aren’t in the market for a gourmand.
Price: $150AUD
Scent notes: chrysanthemum, wattle, chamomile, white tea, rain, barley, honey, longan
8. Serge Lutens Chergui
A decidedly old world fragrance, Serge Lutens Chergui surrounds consummate bedfellows tobacco and honey with oriental notes of amber, incense, rose, hay, and sandalwood, with the resultant sweet, smokey, slightly leathery scent speaking to a bygone era. If vintage was a smell, it’s this.
Price: $234AUD
Scent notes: tobacco leaf, honey, amber, hay, incense, sandalwood, iris, musk, rose
9. Art Meets Art Sexual Healing
Don’t let the name fool you, Sexual Healing is a refined, sophisticated honey perfume that translates the mellifluous notes of Marvin Gaye’s voice into olfactory form. The rich, thick honeyed notes are apt here, pairing with smooth tobacco and lashes of vanilla and amber to create a creamy, realistic honey scent you can almost taste.
Price: $234AUD
Scent notes: honey, ginger, tobacco absolute, vanilla, amber
10. Jo Malone London Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne
Jo Malone London never fails to nail simple yet impactful scent pairings and the Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne is no exception. Vibrant and vivacious, it pairs stone fruits of peach, plum, and nectarine, with the lightest, most delicate acacia honey, resulting in a light and cheerful fruity scent that’s perfect for summer.
Price: $260AUD
Scent notes: blackcurrant, petitgrain, cassis, acacia honey, black locust, nectarine, peach, plum, vetiver
11. Fort & Manlé All The Queen’s Men
Floral honey often gets the lion’s share of attention, but forestial honey deserves a look in too. A nod to the workers born to serve the queen bee, Fort & Manlé All The Queen’s Men underscores gourmand notes of cinnamon, rum, vanilla, and dark dried fruits with crisp, coniferous notes of fir balsam and woods. Deep and rich, it’s a sensual gourmand fragrance that perfectly balances the edible dark fruit and honey notes with evergreen and woody notes.
Price: $280AUD
Scent notes: dried fruit, honey, rum, vanilla, cinnamon, fir balsam, woods
12. Diptyque Volutes
Akin to evenings spent as a child waiting for your mother to come back from a night out, Diptyque Volutes is a feminine take on tobacco and honey. The tobacco here is light and delicate rather than sharp and rough; a hint of lingering cigarette smoke on a silk gown. It’s further softened by sweet honey and powdery iris, the smoke becoming a mere lingering memory.
Price: $
Scent notes: tobacco, honey, opoponax, cinnamon, iris accord
13. Lush Honey I Washed The Kids
For those who don’t want dark sensuality and simply want a joyful fragrance that evokes the childlike feeling of licking your sticky fingers—or paws; hi Pooh!—after running them around the rim of an almost-empty jar of honey, Lush Honey I Washed The Kids is the honey perfume for you. A true classic gourmand, it teams honey with toffee, caramel, and vanilla, while a touch of citrus lightens things up and precludes it from being too cloying. Make no mistake though, this is an undeniably sticky, almost sickly sweet gourmand scent. It’s addictive, though.
Price: $45AUD
Scent notes: toffee, honey, caramel, vanilla, orange, bergamot
Words by Arabella Johnson
