Nicholas Nilsson

The American perfumer behind Pineward, a house devoted almost entirely to pine and fir, and since 2022 the custodian of the cult house Apoteker Tepe.

The story

Nick Nilsson set out to build what he calls "the ultimate line of pine and fir perfumes". He works in small batches on a base of 200-proof grain alcohol, pairing heavily concentrated absolutes with modern aromachemicals, and he openly marks every perfume that contains non-vegan ingredients. His references come from the forest floor rather than the perfume counter: abandoned farmsteads, damp bark, the mycelium of morel mushrooms.

The work

Pineward launched in 2020 with forests such as Murkwood, Steading and Fanghorn, and has grown into a long series of dense, resinous studies of conifers, moss, smoke and wet earth. In 2022 he acquired Apoteker Tepe from its founder, Holladay Saltz, and brought the much-missed New York house back into production.

At Scentorium

The Pineward collection, including Murkwood, and the Apoteker Tepe perfumes he now produces.

• Based inUnited States
• HousesPineward (2020) · Apoteker Tepe (since 2022)
• MethodSmall batches, concentrated absolutes