The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Black Alchemist collection arrived in late 2019, three fragrances, three perspectives on the same mood. Old Piano is the middle act. The brief, according to the brand, was simple: an old jazz club in New York. Lacquered wood. Leather banquettes. A piano in the corner nobody's played in years. Whiskey and cigar smoke soaked into everything. Aistis Mickevičius built Old Piano as that room would smell an hour before closing, quieter than the entrance, warmer than you'd expect, heavy with the residue of good evenings.
What makes Old Piano interesting isn't any single note, it's the way resinous and woody materials talk to each other here. The amber and benzoin don't arrive immediately. They're held back by incense at the opening, then allowed to build as cedar and leather soften the composition. The oud reads mineral, not animal. It's the smell of wood that remembers being played, not wood that wants to dominate. Frankincense and labdanum add structure to the blend, their warm resinous character threading through the composition to keep the warmth grounded rather than soaring.
The evolution
The opening arrives smoke-first, incense threading through the air like the memory of a candle just extinguished. Within minutes, cedar and leather enter, the lacquered wood and broken-in seating of the room itself. The oud shows itself slowly, adding mineral depth that prevents the composition from feeling merely cozy. Two hours in, the amber and benzoin have taken over. Warm, slightly sweet, resinous without being heavy. The leather is still there, but it's softened now, skin-warm, close to the wearer. Old Piano lingers well, its benzoin and resinous base notes holding firm through an evening. The composition fades gracefully, leaving a quiet trail that remains noticeable even hours after the initial application. On fabric, the scent clings stubbornly, its presence detectable long after it has disappeared from skin.
Cultural impact
Old Piano belongs to a small corner of perfumery, conceptual, artist-adjacent, made for collectors who seek out fragrances by story rather than by pyramid. The Black Alchemist triptych positioned these as olfactory objects first, fragrance second. They're not trying to compete with commercial niche. They exist for the person who wants to smell like a room they've never been in but somehow recognize.
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