Pony Boy.

The Scottish Odyssey collection draws from the landscape, the weather, and the peculiar magic that lives in the everyday. For Pony Boy, Euan McCall worked with rhubarb as an ingredient. The result is a fragrance named for something in Scottish folklore, a creature that seems familiar until it isn't. Pony Boy operates the same way. It looks like it should be sweet. It isn't. The tart, almost verdant quality of the rhubarb presents itself immediately, commanding attention without apology. There is nothing soft about the opening, nothing apologetic. Instead, the rhubarb asserts itself with the kind of confidence that turns heads, the kind of presence that makes you lean in rather than pull away.

What makes Pony Boy unusual is the rhubarb, and how the composition handles its intensity. Beetroot in the heart feels strange on paper, but it reads less like a root vegetable and more like a grounding mineral quality, something that keeps the tartness from tipping into candy. Pink lotus and calamus add quiet complexity beneath the surface. The vetiver and red cedar form the foundation, giving the drydown an aromatic finish that keeps skin smelling clean hours later.

The opening hits hard. Rhubarb and pink grapefruit arrive together, tart and electric, the kind of sour that makes your mouth water. Fig is there too, just barely, adding a whisper of something soft underneath. The sharpness then begins its gradual evolution, opening into something more layered as the beetroot arrives, shifting the energy from sharp to earthy, almost medicinal in its concentrated green character. Pink pepper appears in the heart alongside pink lotus, these two keep the fragrance from getting too serious, adding a floral warmth that balances the green. The cedars settle last, staying close to the skin, giving Pony Boy its final form.

Pony Boy stands apart by refusing to be safe. The rhubarb note, tart and almost savory, creates an immediate divide. Some find it challenging, even off-putting at first encounter. Others find it compelling, returning to it again and again until that tartness becomes the very thing they look forward to. The fragrance rewards patience. What seems sharp and strange on first spray settles into something more nuanced as time passes, revealing layers that weren't apparent at first.