5 fragrances that smell like By the Fireplace

Five bottles get you to the campfire without Maison Margiela By the Fireplace, and only two of them are clones in our data. The original is Designer tier and an acquired taste: real woodsmoke for an hour, then sweet roasted chestnut. The two Lattafas below copy it; the three after them take the smoke somewhere else.

What you are trying to replicate

• The smoke. Guaiac and cade, real enough that half the reviews call it ash. Only Memoirs of a Trespasser here matches the realism; the Lattafas trade it for caramel.
• The chestnut sweetness. Roasted chestnut and vanilla under the smoke. Ameer Al Oudh keeps it, Raghba Wood Intense turns it to burnt sugar, the Niche three drop it.
• The performance. A full day and a full room in our data. Every bottle here matches it, and two exceed it.

Quick picks

Top pickLattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense OudThe loud oneLattafa Raghba Wood IntenseThe dry oneImaginary Authors Memoirs of a Trespasser

1. Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud

Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense OudEDP

Nutmeg · Saffron · Woody Notes · Geranium

MasculineBudgetacquired taste

• Cold nights
• If you want the cheap version
• Burnt rubber for the first few weeks

From · EUR€17.76100 ml · NotinoCompare prices →Very close, more caramel.

The pick this list is built around, and the closest clone in our data. Marshmallows burning at the edge of a fireplace in a wood-panelled room, sweet smoke settling on a wool coat. It rates very close to By the Fireplace and matches it for a full day with strong projection, longer still on a scarf. What it changes is the smoke, which reads as caramel and incense rather than burning wood. A fresh bottle smells of burnt rubber for the first few weeks. For cold nights.

2. Lattafa Raghba Wood Intense

Lattafa Raghba Wood IntenseEDP

Licorice · Caramel · Cashmeran · Oud

MasculineBudgetacquired taste

• Cold nights
• If you want it louder and drier
• One spray

From · EUR€13.17100 ml · NotinoCompare prices →Same idea, on steroids.

The loud one. An oak barrel that used to hold dark rum, set on fire, with a marshmallow toasting over it. It rates as the same idea as By the Fireplace in our data, and its owners say it came first and is not a copy. It is louder and drier than the original and than Ameer Al Oudh above it: one spray lasts a day and fills a room. It is an acquired taste, choking to some noses. For cold nights, if you want the campfire turned up.

3. Imaginary Authors Memoirs of a Trespasser

Imaginary Authors Memoirs of a TrespasserEDP

Guaiac Wood · Oak · Vanilla · Myrrh

UnisexNichepolarising

• Evenings and home
• If the original is too sweet
• Loud for an hour, then quiet

PriceNo live price in this market yetSee prices →The less sweet campfire.

The dry one, and the bottle that keeps the realism of the smoke. The inside of a whisky barrel in a cold cellar, a match just struck somewhere behind you. Then a dry, boozy, woody vanilla with a little myrrh. It is the less sweet By the Fireplace by consensus, with no clone link in our data. It is loud for the first hour and quiet after, and it is polarising, so do not buy it blind. No live price in our default market yet. For evenings at home.

4. Amouage Interlude Man

Amouage Interlude ManEDP

Oregano · Allspice · Frankincense · Opoponax

MasculineNichepolarising

• Special occasions and formal
• If you want the smoke at Niche scale
• One spray

From · EUR€365100 ml · DouglasCompare prices →Incense instead of chestnut.

The biggest one, and the smoke at Niche scale. A black dragon asleep in a pine wood next to a fire at night: dried oregano, incense smoke, hot resin and a leather-oud floor. It keeps the fire and drops the chestnut, so it reads as incense and resin rather than cosy. One spray lasts all night and fills a room, the loudest projection rating we track. It is polarising in our data. For special occasions once fall has turned cold, if you want the fire without the sweets.

5. Serge Lutens Chergui

Serge Lutens CherguiEDP

Tobacco · Honey · Iris · Amber Accord

UnisexNicheacquired taste

• Formal and cold evenings
• If you want the evening, not the fire
• Powdery, test first

From · EUR€132.76100 ml · EasycosmeticCompare prices →The same evening, no smoke.

The cosy one, and the one to end on. A hot wind over cut hay, dark honey open on a wooden table, pipe tobacco in a drawer. It keeps the warm, wood-panelled evening of the original and takes the fire out of it. The smoke here is tobacco and the sweetness is honey. It lasts a full day at moderate projection, and it has been named in fall threads since 2001. The iris powder reads as old on some skins. For formal evenings and cold nights, if you want the room, not the flames.

Is the original worth it?

The facts only. By the Fireplace is Designer tier; two of the alternatives are Budget and three are Niche. Performance does not follow the price: Ameer Al Oudh matches it for a full day and Raghba Wood Intense and Interlude Man outlast it. What the original keeps is the realism of the woodsmoke, which only Memoirs of a Trespasser here reproduces, and the chestnut, which nothing else has. It has two clone links in our data.

Common questions

What is the best By the Fireplace clone?

Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud, very close in our data and the same full day of performance. It has more caramel and less real smoke than the original.

Is Ameer Al Oudh the same as By the Fireplace?

No. Very close is the highest step in our clone table and it means the idea is the same and the first hour is not. Ameer Al Oudh opens on burnt rubber for the first few weeks of a new bottle and settles into sweeter smoke.

What smells like By the Fireplace but less sweet?

Imaginary Authors Memoirs of a Trespasser: the same burnt-match smoke over a dry, boozy vanilla, loud for an hour and quiet after.