The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Silky Woods began with a question the Australian landscape seemed to pose on its own: what does sandalwood sound like when it meets the traditions of French fine fragrance? Goldfield & Banks built the answer into a house devoted to that exchange. The Harrods Exclusive, launched in 2024, takes that thesis and tightens it. Perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani composed this edition as a limited release for the London house, a separate creation rather than a reformulation. Tahitian vanilla and Australian sandalwood still anchor the composition, but the texture here feels denser, the heat more deliberate. It's the same forest at dusk, seen through a sharper lens.
What defines this composition is the way it draws materials into conversation. Australian sandalwood, with its creamy density and almost milky sweetness, meets the smoky depth of oud and the dry warmth of Ceylon cinnamon. Tahitian vanilla arrives with a rounder, almost tropical softness against frankincense's austere resin. Ylang-ylang adds a sun-warmed floral edge that keeps the whole thing from collapsing into pure gourmand. The result is a composition that reads as woody on paper but wears warmer, spicier, more lived-in on skin.
The evolution
The first ten minutes belong to cinnamon and that Australian sandalwood, bright and almost raw, like resin warmed in a cupped palm. There's a flash of saffron-adjacent warmth even before the heart fully settles. The opening speaks quickly. By the thirty-minute mark, tobacco arrives and the composition darkens. Oud threads underneath, not dominant but unmistakable, giving the sandalwood a shadow it didn't have at the start. Frankincense adds a dry, almost architectural lift, and the vanilla begins its slow work in the background. This is the heart phase, and it's where the fragrance earns its name. Everything warm you hoped for is now present. Six hours in, the drydown is a study in patience. The tobacco fades to a murmur. Sandalwood and vanilla settle into something close to skin, a creamy amber warmth that holds its shape through the evening and into the following day.
Cultural impact
Silky Woods Harrods Exclusive exists in a specific corner of the fragrance world: Australian-native-botanical luxury compositions with French structural bones. Wearers who reach for it tend to know exactly what they're after. Warm woody fragrances with real tobacco presence, the kind that read as grown-up without tipping into dated. The composition announces its intentions clearly in the opening and delivers on them steadily through the heart and into the drydown. The tobacco gives the fragrance a grounded, almost contemplative quality, while the sandalwood keeps it creamy and inviting rather than austere.
The House
Goldfield & Banks AustraliaGoldfield & Banks Australia is a niche fragrance house founded in Sydney in 2016 by Belgian-French perfumer Dimitri Weber. The brand occupies a singular position in the global fragrance landscape as Australia's first luxury perfume house, dedicated to translating the continent's distinctive botanicals into modern fine fragrance. Working at the intersection of native Australian ingredients and classical French perfumery methodology, the house has developed a collection of 19 eau de parfum expressions that draw on rare essences rarely encountered outside their native terrain. Central to the collection are ingredients such as Australian Sandalwood, Buddha Wood, Brown Boronia, Blue Cypress, and Golden Wattle, alongside introduced botanicals like agarwood cultivated in the Queensland tropics. All formulations are cruelty-free, vegan, and compliant with International Fragrance Association standards. The house produces fragrance in both Switzerland at Firmenich and in Melbourne at Australian Botanical Products, and maintains a gender-free approach to fragrance design.
The Creator
Hamid Merati-KashaniFrom the evidence available, Merati-Kashani's style tends toward the opulent and the gourmand, with a clear appreciation for rich, complex accords. There's often a signature use of vanilla, spices, and woods, creating fragrances that are warm and inviting.
