We Found the Ultimate Cold-Weather Cologne

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links. Here’s how we test products and why you should trust us.Florence Sullivan3 min readShop $225, fultonandroark.comWelcome to the Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.Halloween is in the rearview, Daylight Saving Time is over, and the sun has decided it has better places to be (although I am grateful for that extra hour of sleep we got). You know what all that means: It’s officially time to bring out the poofy coats, the cable-knit sweaters, and the winter scents. We’re talking spicy, smoky, sophisticated, and a little dark. Think of it as the olfactory equivalent of a cashmere scarf or quilted jacket. But before you reach for the same old colognes of winters past, consider making room for something new in your fragrance rotation.Allow me to suggest my new cold-weather go-to, released just last month by one of my all-time favorite niche fragrance houses, Fulton & Roark. This extrait has a pretty sick name: Cathedral of Ruins—and it smells every bit as atmospheric as you’d hope for with a name like that. It’s moody without being gloomy, warm without being cloying, and oh-so intriguing. Put a spritz of this stuff on and you’re guaranteed to start hearing the words, What are you wearing?Shop $225, fultonandroark.comFlorence SullivanThe Story Is What Draws You InFulton & Roark does what it calls “American fine fragrance,” meaning it doesn’t follow all the rules of your classic European perfumery. The perfumer looks to new ingredients, formulation methods, and scent combinations for all of its fragrances. Oh, and every fragrance is unisex, truly unisex. My boyfriend loves the scents as much as I do, and we often share them.And since this is American fine fragrance we’re talking about, it only makes sense that each of the brand’s fragrances are named after and inspired by a real American place with a story behind it. That rule even holds for the brand’s name: Fulton is for Fulton County, Georgia; and Roark is for Roark’s Cove in Sewanee, Tennessee. So where is this Cathedral of Ruins? Gary, Indiana. Birthplace of the Jackson 5, and our clearest example of Rust Belt deindustrialization. The once-booming steel city is now also home to thousands of abandoned and decaying buildings, including the City Methodist Church—once one of the grandest churches in the Midwest.Fulton and Roark co-founder Kevin Keller showed me photos of what City Methodist Church looks like now, which he took on his own trip to Gary, and the immediate sense I got from these photos was a devastating sort of beauty (or a beautiful sort of devastation). The church’s roof has fallen in; the only living congregation is the vegetation that reclaims more and more of the space every year. But, its Neo-Gothic stone walls still stand. It’s a dead relic, but it is not a dead space. It pulls up mixed feelings. This Cathedral of Ruins extrait de parfum is Fulton & Roark’s homage to it, and it nails everything you get from seeing a picture of the place.Shop $225, fultonandroark.comFlorence SullivanBut, the Scent Is Why I’ll Wear It ForeverLike I said, Cathedral of Ruins is the perfect cold-weather scent. But instead of the typical rich, gourmand notes you get in fall and winter fragrances like vanilla, caramel, and amber, Cathedral of Ruins relies on spices, smoke, and woods to create a warm atmosphere. This is not a syrupy sweet winter scent—it’s smoldering, Gothic-inspired, sophisticated, and unlike any scent you’ve ever smelled before.At the top, you get resinous cypress, spicy black peppercorn, and, unexpectedly, floral rose. The lush, velvety notes of rose lead into the more delicate floral notes of saffron, symbolizing the grace of the cathedral (and possibly the new natural growth of vegetation over the ruins). Rich Peru balsam finishes out the heart with more warm, woody vibes.But the base is where this fragrance really stands out. The star of the show here is burned frankincense, the classic scent of sacred ritual—imagine smoke rising above the walls, past the ceiling that’s no longer there. Frankincense is, obviously, smoky, but not in the same way as something like tobacco; the frankincense here is dry, resinous, and subtly fresh like pine. To me, frankincense even has a waxy-green quality similar to olives. The warm depth of leathered woods and musks finish out the fragrance, leaving the intrigue of smoky woods to linger on your skin.Shop $225, fultonandroark.comPhotographs by Florence Sullivan