The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Underhill came from a collaboration between a Louisville designer and British perfumer Sarah McCartney. The designer approached scent the way he approached leather goods and ceramic flasks, as a material curiosity driven by instinct. McCartney gave that curiosity structure. The name Underhill suggests a hill path, the kind that winds through countryside or forest, somewhere you walk rather than arrive. The 2016 release brought together tobacco and beer, a pairing that reads on skin like an honest one. The scent captures the experience of being outdoors, not an idealized version of nature but the real thing, wild herbs, woodsmoke, the materials you encounter when you're actually out in it.
The combination of beer and pine tar sets Underhill apart from conventional colognes. Pine tar brings something resinous and slightly medicinal, while beer adds an unexpected dimension to the base. Together they create a foundation that evokes a forest floor after rain or the smoke from an open fire. It's a substantial base that doesn't apologize for what it is. The tobacco opens the composition with warmth and a natural sweetness, then cedar and herbaceous notes add structure and a green edge that keeps everything from going too heavy.
The evolution
The opening announces itself with tobacco smoke, immediate and warm, backed by herbaceous green notes and cedar's clean woodiness. Then the beer arrives, a sour note that cuts through the tobacco sweetness, unexpected. The leather emerges shortly after, softening the sharpness and adding warmth. The wheat becomes more apparent in the heart, bringing a grain-like richness that adds depth to the composition. By the second hour, the pine tar takes over. The beer and tobacco blend into something that smells like a campfire in a forest, smoke, resin, a faint echo of the hops that started it. This phase has presence and endurance, lingering close to the skin rather than projecting outward. The drydown settles into a quiet earthiness that can linger for hours, a faint trace on fabric long after the initial spray has faded.
Cultural impact
Underhill occupies an unusual position in the indie fragrance landscape, bold enough to polarize, distinctive enough to be remembered. The combination of beer and pine tar makes it immediately recognizable, the kind of fragrance that sparks conversation. Misc. Goods Co. built its identity on functional objects with considered design, and Underhill extends that sensibility into fragrance. The scent embodies the same values found in the company's other products, materials that earn their place, nothing decorative for its own sake.
