“The brand name BeauFort comes from the wind-force scale devised in 1805 by naval officer Sir Francis Beaufort. Wind is constant and persistent, but ultimately it is always changing and can also be destructive.”
— Leo Crabtree (founder)
Essential Information
Founded: 2013 (first collection launched in 2015)
Founder: Leo Crabtree
Official website: beaufortlondon.com
Pronunciation: BeauFort London (the British pronunciation can sometimes sound closer to “Bo-fort,” although the name is commonly rendered “Byu-fort” in Japanese)
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
A Boy Born on a Boat on the Thames
Leo Crabtree did not start out as an ordinary “perfume enthusiast.” Shortly after his birth, he began living on a boat on the River Thames. Growing up in a family with backgrounds as varied as art, psychology and seafaring, Crabtree always had the sea close at hand.
“My father really loved boats. So did my grandfather. Beyond that, in a broader sense the sea forms a large part of British identity. [Passage omitted] Britain is this small island, and the maritime dimension, where water meets land, was enormously important in shaping British identity.”
— Leo Crabtree
Crabtree had been involved in music since his school days and eventually became absorbed in drumming. Growing up in the countryside, where he could practise without worrying about the noise, helped him along. Later, he continued honing his skills while working as a drum tutor at a university in Birmingham.
Becoming the Drummer for The Prodigy
In 2007 (or 2008), Crabtree joined The Prodigy, one of Britain’s leading techno and electronic rock bands, as its live drummer. His meeting with the band’s previous drummer, Kieron Pepper, is said to have led to the opportunity. From then on, while travelling to stages around the world, his curiosity was quietly growing in an entirely different direction.
The Moustache Wax That Changed His Life
The impulse that led Crabtree to create BeauFort London arose from his characteristically uncompromising attention to detail.
At one point, while sporting a moustache, Crabtree felt that every commercially available moustache wax was “a boring thing in a cheap little tin,” so he began making his own in his London kitchen. He spent about a year experimenting to perfect a handmade wax in a billet-aluminium case. It was when he began working with essential oils during that process that the door to the world of fragrance opened.
“I was trying to make the best moustache wax I possibly could, and started playing around with essential oils. I even bought a bottle of rum because I thought it might smell good.”
— Leo Crabtree
Blending scents, however, did not mean that everything would simply “mix together nicely.”
“It is so difficult. The way compounds react is complicated science.”
— Leo Crabtree
Crabtree began looking for professional perfumers and eventually met two British perfumers, Julie Marlowe and Julie Dunkley. The two Julies joined him for lunch, and Crabtree says he “knew right there that this was it.”
“There Was No Plan”: The Birth of the Brand
In 2015, BeauFort London released its first collection, Come Hell or High Water. Its first three creations, Tonnerre, Vi et Armis and Coeur de Noir, were introduced to the world.
“There was no plan. I have never even sat down with an accountant or a business adviser. I just do what I find interesting. That is all.”
— Leo Crabtree
The collection name Come Hell or High Water was chosen initially because he liked the sound of the phrase and its meaning: pressing forward no matter what happens. Before long, however, it became a “company motto” that he repeated to himself during the difficult early years. Crabtree has a tattoo on his arm depicting London engulfed in flames, and says he has inscribed his conviction to “keep going, whatever happens” on his body.
His Late Father and British Maritime History
At the heart of the brand lies Crabtree’s deep feeling for his late father. A doctor who loved sailing, his father would spend hours showing his son nautical charts, introducing him to a world of depth contours measured in fathoms (one fathom is approximately 1.8 metres).
“When my father died two years ago, I realised that all these themes, the whole brand, were actually fragments of things he had told me or taught me. I had not realised it, but this is what the brand is really about: my relationship with him.”
— Leo Crabtree
Crabtree, who majored in history at university and also studied art history, is particularly fascinated by British history in the Georgian period, from the eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. He also collects prints by William Hogarth. His outlook as an “explorer” of Britain’s dark, contradictory past, its maritime supremacy, trade, war and decadence, shapes the world of the brand.
What Defines the Brand
“Through Smoke”: A Philosophy of Fragrance
Smoke runs through every BeauFort London creation. This is not simply a matter of taste but is rooted in a philosophical starting point. On learning that the word “perfume” derives from the Latin “per fumum,” meaning “through smoke,” Crabtree adopted that idea directly as a guide for his creative work.
“Perfume. Per fumum. Through smoke. It makes sense to me.”
— Leo Crabtree
Cade oil, birch tar, styrax, frankincense and lapsang souchong tea are among the smoky materials that many houses use as “accents,” but BeauFort uses them as the “foundation” of its compositions.
The “Overdose” Approach
Another characteristic is its use of ingredients in a way described as “overdosed.” Whereas a typical eau de parfum has a fragrance concentration of around 15–20%, BeauFort’s fragrances are blended at a high concentration of 30%. This reflects Crabtree’s refusal to let a scent “fade into the background” and his intention to design each perfume as “an overwhelming experience with a story.”
History and Literature as the Brief
The briefs, or creative instructions, that Crabtree gives his perfumers are said to be “based not on mood boards or market research, but on historical events, paintings and poems.” The Battle of Trafalgar, the British East India Company’s opium trade, Georgian architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney: from each fragment, he and the perfumers turn “untold memories of the past” into fragrance.
“The perfumers really enjoy working with me, because the briefs they get from me are unlike anything they usually receive.”
— Leo Crabtree
Bottle and Packaging Design
Although no detailed official brand story about BeauFort’s bottle design has been published, each perfume’s packaging features motifs that visualise its olfactory story. For example, the packaging of Terror & Magnificence uses a print of Hawksmoor’s celebrated Christ Church Spitalfields. Early prototypes of Lignum Vitae, whose name is Latin for “tree of life,” also experimented with actual lignum vitae, the hardest wood, also known as ironwood, for the bottle cap. Crabtree says that he met a craftsman with a workshop in an old boatyard on the Thames, and that the aroma released when this wood was cut became the direct inspiration for the perfume. Several retailers describe the bottles as “simple, jet-black rectangles.”
The Connection with BeauFort Spirit
BeauFort London has a sister brand, BeauFort Spirit. While creating Rake & Ruin for the Revenants collection, Crabtree noticed how much perfume-making and gin-making have in common and wondered, “What if, in reverse, I made gin with a fragrance-making approach?” The resulting Fifty-Seven Smoked Gin won a Gold Outstanding award at the 2020 IWSC (International Wine and Spirit Competition).
The Fragrance Lineup
BeauFort London currently has three regular collections. The structure and representative creations of each are introduced below.
Collection 1: Come Hell or High Water
Launched in 2015, this collection draws on British maritime history and is the starting point of the brand. It is known for a powerful, almost excessive presence built around birch tar.
- 1805 Tonnerre: Taking the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 as its theme, it layers smoke, gunpowder, blood, brandy and sea spray. The perfumer is Julie Marlowe. Lime and lemon citrus notes were included in reference to the story that Admiral Nelson said he “wanted some lemonade” shortly before his death in battle.
- Coeur de Noir: Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Drawing on the scene in which sailors talk aboard a boat on the Thames, it layers ink, rum, leather-bound books and vanilla pipe tobacco. It also pays homage to Crabtree’s grandfather, who was a painter of boats in ink.
- Vi et Armis: A story connected to the British East India Company’s opium trade with India (the Opium Wars). It also incorporates the personal history of Crabtree’s great-grandparents, who were missionaries sent to China. Accords of lapsang souchong, peated whisky and dark tobacco have earned it the description “chaos in a bottle.”
- Lignum Vitae: Based on the hardest wood, whose name means “tree of life.” The fragrance embodies the dual nature of a material that is wood yet has metal-like properties.
- Fathom V: Its name comes from a passage in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Contrasting materials express the duality of the ever-changing sea: tranquillity and wildness, light and darkness.
Collection 2: Revenants
Launched in 2017. As its title, meaning “ghosts,” suggests, the collection’s concept is to summon figures from British history, or their “spectres,” through fragrance.
- Iron Duke: An homage to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. Accords of cognac, snuff, saddle leather, oud and hay evoke an image of horse and rider as “man and beast united.”
- Terror & Magnificence: Taking Georgian architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, known as “the devil’s architect,” as its subject, it combines Somali frankincense, dry woods, a wet-stone accord, opium smoke, papyrus and kyphi. Created by perfumer Pia Long. Its packaging features a print of Christ Church Spitalfields.
- Rake & Ruin: Inspired by Hogarth’s print series A Rake’s Progress. Juniper, coriander, angelica and other gin botanicals compose the scent of a decadent, gin-soaked night in a tavern. Another point of interest is its use of the same botanicals as BeauFort Spirit’s gin.
- Acrasia: Taking the philosophical term “akrasia,” or weakness of will, as its theme, it expresses temptation and conflict through the scents of rosé, wine and smoke.
- Absent Presence: Inspired by the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella. With high concentrations of violet leaf absolute, Bourbon vetiver oil and smoked leather, it is said to have the highest proportion of natural materials in the collection.
Collection 3: Force Majeure
Released in late 2024 to commemorate the brand’s tenth anniversary. Inspired by the wild, mysterious terrain of Britain’s coastline, all three fragrances were created by Scottish perfumer Euan McCall. This marked the first collaboration between BeauFort and McCall.
- Cape Wrath: Named after the sheer cliffs at Britain’s northwesternmost point. Elemi, frankincense, mastic, seaweed and ambergris combine in a fragrance like “peering into a deep green sea through the bottom of a glass.”
- Pyroclasm: Its theme is the shipyards along Scotland’s River Clyde. Tar, oxidising metal and scorched tones of saffron.
- The Grudge: Built around natural ambergris, it is considered the most “wearable” fragrance in the collection.
By the Way…
- The Duality of the Name “BeauFort”: On the surface, the brand name comes from the wind-force scale devised by Irish-born Royal Navy Rear Admiral Francis Beaufort (1774–1857). Crabtree, however, reads the name more deeply. In French, BeauFort combines two contrasting words, “beau” (beautiful) and “fort” (fortress). “This says a lot about British culture… it is very contradictory,” he says.
- Which Came First, Perfume or Gin?: Gin-making and perfume-making are closely connected, both historically and chemically. As Crabtree points out, “aqua mirabilis,” considered the first “wearable perfume,” was a distilled liquid for both drinking and external application, and is said to have been essentially the same kind of liquid as gin when Samuel Johnson cited it in his dictionary of 1673.
- Arrival in Japan: In June 2024, NOSE SHOP first presented BeauFort at a secret customer event. Six fragrances chosen by participants’ votes made their Japanese preview debut at Salon de Parfum 2024 @ISETAN MEN’S that October. Full sales began on November 22 of the same year at NOSE SHOP’s Shinjuku, Azabudai and Osaka stores and online shop.
References
- “BeauFort London – Parfinity Brand Introduction” – https://www.parfinity.com/en/brand/beaufort-london
- “BeauFort London | BFF2025” – https://www.barnesfragrancefair.com/beufort-london
- “Life Lessons with Leo Crabtree – Club Oenologique Interview” – https://cluboenologique.com/story/life-lessons-with-leo-crabtree-perfumer-distiller-and-prodigy-drummer/
- “British Niche Fragrance Brand BeauFort Launches Fully in Japan – fashionsnap.com” – https://www.fashionsnap.com/article/2024-11-21/beaufort-launch/
- “Story – BeauFort London Official Website” – https://beaufortlondon.com/pages/story
- “BeauFort London – Parfumo Brand Information” – https://www.parfumo.com/PerfumeBrand/Beaufort
- “Leo Crabtree – The Prodigy INFO” – https://theprodigy.info/members/leo-crabtree.html
- “New British fragrance house BeauFort London launch – Perfume Society” – https://perfumesociety.org/beaufort-london-the-force-is-strong-come-over-to-the-dark-side-as-a-new-british-fragrance-house-launches/
- “The Big INTERVIEW with Leo Crabtree ‘BeauFort London’ – Nicheweek.blogspot.com” – https://nicheweek.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-big-interview-with-leo-crabtree.html
- “BeauFort London Cape Wrath, The Grudge and Pyroclasm reviews – CaFleureBon” – https://cafleurebon.com/beaufort-london-cape-wrath-euan-mccall-2024-plus-force-majeure-giveaway/
- “Smoke on the water: The BeauFort Spirit story – Master of Malt” – https://www.masterofmalt.com/blog/post/smoke-on-the-water-the-beaufort-spirits-story/
- “Leo Crabtree Interview – UKDrummer.com (2010)” – https://ukdrummerold.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/leo-crabtree-interview/
- “Tonnerre – Beaufort London, Sens Unique Paris” – https://www.sensuniqueparis.com/en/beaufort-london/3-tonnerre-beaufort-london.html
- “Absent Presence EDP – smallflower.com” – https://www.smallflower.com/products/beaufort-london-sample-absent-presence-edp-1-ml
- “Terror & Magnificence – Beaufort London Official Website” – https://beaufortlondon.com/products/terror-and-magnificence-eau-de-parfum
- “Terror & Magnificence – Sensunique Paris” – https://www.sensuniqueparis.com/en/beaufort-london/11-terror-magnificence-beaufort-london.html
- “Rake & Ruin – en.perfumum.it” – https://en.perfumum.it/product-page/rake–ruin-beaufort
- “Fragrances Woven from the Essence of Britain’s Seas and Smoke – NOSE SHOP Blog” – https://noseshop.jp/blogs/blog/241122-bfo-debut
- “BeauFort London – scentsplit.com (Brand Introduction)” – https://www.scentsplit.com/collections/beaufort-london-samples/for-her
- “Francis Beaufort – SNAC (Archive)” – https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w689176c
