The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Francisco de Goya painted El Aquelarre in his seventies, living alone, suffering, and essentially deaf to the world. The painting shows a gathering of witches around a goat in a dark landscape, his response to the Inquisition's persecution and the cruelty he witnessed. Miguel Matos was asked to translate this into scent: not a pretty fragrance, but one that holds beauty and ugliness together, that makes you feel something you can't name. The result is Akelarre, released in 2023 by nBitor, a fragrance that exists in that same uncomfortable space where art makes you confront what you'd rather avoid.
The unusual notes carry the weight here. Hyraceum, derived from the musk of the rock hyrax, anchors the base with animalic depth that feels ancient rather than synthetic. Geosmin, the compound responsible for petrichor, adds an earthy wetness that grounds everything. White truffle in the top notes isn't the buttery truffle of kitchens but something darker, more fungal. Cypriol brings a smoky, leathery quality while metallic notes create an almost industrial sharpness in the heart. The rose doesn't soften, it pulses. These choices aren't decorative; they're meant to make the wearer uncomfortable in specific ways, to evoke turbulent feelings rather than pleasing harmony.
The evolution
The opening hits like cold air, apple and coffee with a sharp metallic charge that feels almost aggressive. Ten minutes in, the coffee darkens, and the dried fruits emerge as something fermented rather than sweet. The heart is where it gets strange: cypriol and geosmin create an earthy, mineral quality that some compare to cave air or wet stone, while the rose stays bloodless and strange. By hour three, the base notes arrive, hyraceum's animalic depth combines with patchouli and cedar to create something that feels almost alive. Ten-plus hours later, a skin scent emerges: amber and cedar with a faint echo of the metallic note that started it all. It doesn't fade so much as settle into the skin like a second layer.
Cultural impact
Akelarre arrived in a niche fragrance landscape already saturated with 'dark' and 'animalic' claims. What sets it apart is the Goya connection, the painting exists in a Madrid museum, which gives the fragrance cultural weight beyond marketing language. Miguel Matos built it to be deliberately challenging, more than comfortable for niche perfumery. Wearers either find it compelling or off-putting; the metallic-geosmin combination is frequently cited as the dividing line. It attracts collectors who want fragrances with something to say, not just pleasant ones.
