Description
This fragrance was renamed and repackaged in 2016. Previously known as East India.
“Vi Et Armis Eau De Parfum – Exploring Britain’s complex relationships with other nations and its dominance of international sea trade across the centuries, this heady, narcotic scent challenges as much as it beguiles.
Using the historical cargoes of British ships as its key notes, this addictive fragrance recalls the words of George Bernard Shaw: “Emotional excitement reaches men through Tea, Tobacco, Opium, Whisky and religion.” – a note from the brand
Vi Et Armis by BeauFort London is a Aromatic Spicy fragrance for men. Vi Et Armis was launched in 2015. Top notes are black pepper, tea leaf and cardamom; middle notes are whiskey, incense and opium; base notes are tobacco, birch and agarwood (oud).
Perfume rating: 3.10 out of 5 with 26 votes.
Mriya – :
When you try to make a masterpiece, failure is around the corner. Seeing is believing. Where are the notes that should evoke the spices imported by the British company?
SMOKE, just an incessant, annoying, stunning SMOKE.
Same thing for his brother 1805 Tonnerre. As G. Bernard Shaw said:
“Men fall prey to emotional excitement through tea, tobacco, opium, whiskey and religion.”
I think I let myself get excited.
HORROR TO FORGET!
passatb3 – :
Not very wearable.Smells like turpentine. Got negative feedback from a co-worker.
Wearing it for the first time on 10/10/ 2018 to mark the beginning of my sojourn at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine… Wish me luck!
leljka84 – :
Reading other reviews, apparently one either loves or hates this. I love it! Opium, tobacco, incense, whiskey, dry spices, a little dried fruit, wood…. Vi et Armis is like wearing the hold of an East India Company clipper ship or being in one of Fragrant Harbor’s 19th century warehouses. It’s gorgeously boozy, smoky, sweet tobacco, weedy/druggy, woody, resinous, black tea, and a bit of non-peppery spice. There is something camphorous and slightly nose searing towards the drydown, akin to how cocaine freezes your nose (so I’ve heard). I smell little if any marine note, and as usual, my leather-blind nose smells no leather.
There is definitely an Opium Wars vibe going on here. Two novels by James Clavell, *Noble House* and *Tai Pan*, that I read (and reread) in my twenties and thirties, popped in from long term memory to visit because of this fragrance. Vi et Armis is muscular. I enjoy it on me, but I think I’d enjoy it more on a man.
ELASIAZEX – :
Vile Et Amiss (for Beth C)
I bestowed upon you a balloon.
Your review of this stink made me smile.
So will it be a while, or quite soon,
that you bequeath that meat tea in the vial?
Don’t be so selfish, you loon.
Pay forward that sweet, rotting ham.
Let a swap buddy howl at the moon,
and have flashbacks of ol’ Vi et ‘nam.
nupKeegeruina – :
{gag} I hadn’t even looked at the notes before applying this “perfume” (it’s more like something the cat dragged in). I immediately was assualted by the smells of smoked Kielbasa and iced tea!!! Sillage is massive. Immediate scrubber. I don’t regret much in life, y’all, but…
VattUnsasia – :
This fragrance evokes the bitterness of tobacco smoke from a pipe around a campfire late in the evening after the wood burns pretty far down, to where if you tap one of the black pieces of wood, it crumbles.
It’s excellent as a very short story, but not as a wearable scent.
madjahed666 – :
This. This right here is a masterpiece. There is something intensely intrepid and exotic about it, but at the same time sweet and comforting.
If someone made a boutique selling fine teas, tobaccos, and incenses in bulk out of used whiskey barrels, you might come close to this.
There’s something oddly medicinal about it, too. If you told me it was a cure-all patented tincture from the 19th Century I’d believe it.
I want to roll in this stuff like a cat with a bag of catnip. Superb.
la69 – :
Completely original and entrancing! It opens with a super smokey accord, that has a crazy fresh undercurrent. Maybe the opium. Before I looked at the notes I thought it was fruit, but it must be a mixture of unique notes. The tobacco, incense, birch and tea blend to make a foggy mist over a crisp fresh composite. Has a kind of anesthetic smell to it – like the aroma of scuba gas mixtures. I am continually amazed at BeauFort’s ability to create interesting, uncommon combinations. This one is worthy of its inspiration – rare cargos from exotic ports. It’s aromatic, bold, and has the swagger of a sea captain!
P.S. From the mixed reviews, this seems to be a challenging scent for most. Having lived on the water, around boats and ships all my life, this scent sends my scent memories into high gear. It’s nautical aesthetic is very strong, and singular. But for someone like me who loves marine fragrances, this is amazing.
hulio1984 – :
OMG i dont know why i bought i guess i liked the drydown but the opening is too mich for me just used it once anyone interested i will sell
Just pm me please
Bigser – :
Absolutely terrifying – and I loved Coeur de Noir and can even admire the clangorous conflictive chutzpah of Tonnerre, so this is not just a case of being completely weirded out by Beaufort’s aggressively original bad-boy act. Dark smoky weirdness is my thing (me and Norne, a match made in heaven…). But there is something in here that rockets this one well over the line from ‘daring’ to ‘repugnant’, for me.
It’s not the smoke – I love smoke, even freaky smoke, so even though this is the gunpowder & chemical smoke of Tonnerre rather than any nice woodsmoke – that’s not the problem. It’s not the tobacco or birch tar or black pepper or whisky either (again, all notes I love in other things, some of them even Beaufort things.) In this, there is Something Else I can’t identify – a little drop of pure evil, something that to me reeks of on-the-turn meat on a barbecue being rubbed into the sweaty armpit of a man who’s just done a loooong gym session … not delicious mesquite bbq sauce, but something nasty enough to leave you hospitalised.
Probably a skin chemistry collision here – it has the same effect on my skin as Serge Noire or Black Afgano, there’s something that goes so *drastically* horrible that I was really, really struggling to keep it on for as long as 3 hours to give it a fair hearing (sniffing?). And while I know scent is hugely subjective it seemed impossible to imagine anyone loving this, at least as it develops on me. It never mellowed or unfolded some new lovely facet, it just kept kicking me in the nose with that same bully-boy stink. Not to play the fainting belle here but it literally made me feel a bit ill. And of course it projects for miles and lasts for what seems like years.
So: don’t even dream of blind buying. If you like other Beauforts you may well have better luck than me, and love it. It’s certainly not boring or cynically riding the market, so the house deserves a lot of credit for that. But I honestly feel a bit traumatised by this one. Vi et Armis? More like Vile and Heinous in my book.
Vano95 – :
Oh my! This is a heavy one. Originally known as East India, the opening reminds me of Amouage Interlude with all the spice and smoke. It also kind of reminds me of TF’s Tobacco Oud. Gradually, the birch starts to take over and if you’ve ever smelled birch tar oil it has a leather quality to it. Not suede, but like thick leather. In the end it it becomes a blend of all this heavy stuff. Mucho macho!
evgeniy5159 – :
Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God. This is one the best perfume I have ever smelled/owned. Does anyone see any similarities with Roja Dove – Enigma Homme ? To me they smell kinda similar…Verdict 10/10
PsiX0015 – :
This just might be my.favorite.perfume.ever! I ordered some samples from Bloom Perfumery anticipating a trip to London and luckily this was one of them! Interestingly, my husband LOVED it on me, and it is pretty much the polar opposite if my personal girly style (not in perfume though!) so there is kind of a balancing aspect for me in this VERY unusual perfume.
Everything all of the reviewers has said about the notes and the vibe of this scent are right on target ……. I love the darkness, the smoke, the narcotic (opium is in the notes), the true BLAST (gunpowder too I think) of the scent that never quits. My skin eats perfume, but this stays with me all day long.
My friend Angela, a perfume writer who appreciated it but doesn’t love it said “ It’s the perfume a Pirate would wear.” Argggggh Matey!
RuslanSacha – :
smell of cigarettes turned off. it’s not for me. 0/10 the opening was superb.
litwin – :
This is the second in this house I have tried. A very interesting house. Not your typically mass produced clean and fresh scent. Not at all. In a nutshell, this is a very heavy sweet smoke filtered though a hot wet tea bag. While there are some changes in the scent over the course of the wearing, the smoke is pretty liner. I can see the references to hash.
This is a beast mode performer. 12 hours in and it is still there with me. Two days later and it is still hanging on to the shirt I wore that day.
Bottom line: You are either going to love this or hate it. If you like heavy scents and the notes look intriguing, try a sample, of not, run away.
krazniy – :
Starts with an extreme tea note, very loud and unambiguously black tea-like, that morphs into spicy smoked woods, vaguely mesquite barbecue-like. Love the opening. Super dramatic and it put a big smile on my face first few times I sprayed. The middle lasts a few hours and it’s mostly about a sweet, black tar made of various things marked by a skull and crossbones on the bottle. It’s second cousin is Black Afghano. I really don’t know what I am smelling in the heart phase but it’s familiar, I just can’t put my finger on it. Sweet, fruity facets of plum must come from the tobacco and the rest is tarry, slightly burnt-smelling resins. It gets better later in the drydown when it softens and some of the “sweet and burnt” fades to reveal a fuzzy “oud” base. If this were a movie it would be The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia.
rsfsr70 – :
My nose, my opinion.
How strong? For the first hour it smells like standing next to a bonfire. It gets better as it warms up and wears out. Smoke, tar and good Isle Scotch. Don’t spray it on clothes as it never warms up and you just smell of smoke. I like it but no one else seems to.
andrey-cc – :
It smells like Hashish, fabulous!
alekc53 – :
Luca Turin on Vi et Armis “Vi Et Armis smells like an alchemist’s Christmas party: a dark, rich, swirling combination of peat fire and flambé spice pudding, with some cough syrup and fence paint thrown in for hygiene. I have long wished for a fragrance like this one, and am impressed that such a sweet spot could be found in what is otherwise forbiddingly medicinal territory. Vi Et Armis arises from a combination of single-minded art direction and great technical skill.”
radoslavo – :
یک عطر بی نظیر با بویی بسیار گرم و تلخ با ماندگاری بسیار عالی و پخش بوی عالی… بوی مخدر مانند و سوخته ای میده و من که ارشیو بسیار بزرگی از عطر دارم با اولین بار بو کردن عاشقش شدم و باعث شد دو تا رو باهم بخرم… بدون شک یکی از با کیفیت ترین عطرهایی که تا الان داشتم… چند هفته پیش در یک گالری بزرگ عطر که برای خرید رفته بودم تمام گالری و فضای اون رو بوی این عطر من گرفته و باعث شده بود که تمامعوامل اونگالری در مورد عطرم بپرسند… ضمنا ۳ رایحه ی این برند رو دارم که اوندوتا هم مثل این وی اِت آرمیس فوقالعاده با کیفیت و عولی هستند.
KaJIaI_I_InikOFF – :
What the heck is this!!! it’s not a scent and it’s not even bad, it’s absolute garbage honestly speaking! how on earth why would someone would like to smell like this?? it smells like rotten tons of dead bodies or something!
Howlflimirtierce – :
Vi et Armis is love at first sniff. There’s nothing like it in the market.
The smokey birch/tobacco mixed with a slightly sour tea note is divine. I love that it’s bold and unapologetic, definitely not for the faint-hearted. Its strength, at the same time, is also its weakness. There are really not that many occasions that I find appropriate to pull it off.
Spray at your own risk.
evgen-sklif – :
Love love love this.
It’s not as pure smoke and guns (with a sharp whiff of lime now and then) as 1805, although it still is predominantly smoke, but with added bitter tea (it is not, however, smoked tea, strangely enough, but good) note and something else, something between new paper and fresh tree bark. And booze – maybe rum, maybe sweet-barrel matured whisky.
It’s OTT, it’s weird, it reeks of adventure and stories and romance.
Sofawed – :
why would someone make a fragrance like that?
why would anyone wear a thing like that?
CATASTROPHE
zx3zx – :
It’s just the best f*****g thing imaginable. It’s so rich, cloying, overpowering. It reeks of tar, rum and tea. Big tea, big spice. You’re gonna marmite it. I love it more than words can say. The GF thinks it smells like BO. And it does. Blackbeard’ s BO.
Burmistr – :
La linea di profumi Beaufort si presenta aggressiva, narrativa e diversa.
Non è tutto oro ciò che luccica.
E’ aggressiva perché tenta di presentare un tipo di profumo forte, espanso che però è completamente sintetico e si sente dal momento che non lascia tracce sui vestiti né sulla pelle appena dopo due ore.
E’ narrativo perché si presenta con delle forti storie dietro. Storie di guerre, di marinai, di barche che affondano e di sangue tra gli accordi ma si tratta di fuffa venduta a caro prezzo perché una bottiglietta nera e note metalliche e saline mischiate qua e là non fanno di un profumo mediocre un profumo importante.
Diversa perché come quasi tutti i marchi recenti ci si inventano delle storie inesistenti per attrarre l’attenzione di un consumatore sempre più trattato come un portafoglio da spremere. Di diverso da queste parti c’è solo un batterista annoiato che decide di diventare profumiere senza conoscere minimamente l’arte profumiera.
makSim_24 – :
hmm… this smells like when you add too much black tea leaves, leave them too long and them leaves kinda cook and start dissolve…not a good one for me.
ak47 – :
I would say this is very similar to Cour de Noir, extremely smoky blast at first spray and turns into a leathery sweet drydown in comparison to the shocking initial smell. Somewhat like City on fire from Imaginary authors, smells a bit of burnt bacon, not particularly nice. Interesting, though, it was part of my Luca Turin Loves sample pack well…that Luca Turin had some eccentric tastes!
I have 100+ niche samples for swap within Europe – get in touch! Updated spreadsheet of samples on my profile.
Fountertore – :
Only a blind mother could love a smile like this. My nose has sniffed many many scents, but this one right here. Man this is the most horrid opening that I have ever inhaled. I’m talking about watching The Exorcist by yourself when you were a teenager scary. Only the perfumer could love a smell like this and I would seriously question if she/he does. I’m all for smoky scents but this is over the top and relentless. The whiskey not should add a touch of sweetness but I don’t detect any. This is smoke/spices with a strange green note. It smells somewhat herbal so I would assume it’s the tea note. Longevity is great and it does die down after about 5 or 6 hours but even after that it’s flat out bad.
fitter0071 – :
East India (Vi et Armis) BeauFort London for women and men
If you’re a lover of tea you should try this fragrance its amazing fresh spicy note (tea main player here ) with very smoky & leathery note (dry tobacco,birch) if u like mona di orio (cuir ) and u liked that tocuh of Smoker’s leather with cardamom maybe you will like this one
my rate for fragrance (4/5) my english (+5/5) 🙂
try before buy!
رحلة البحث عن الجديد والمثير رحلة مستمرة ولا تتوقف مهما وجدت العطر الذي يشبع رغباتك ستجد نفسك لاحقاً تطلب المزيد والمزيد، أعتقد أن كل عاشق للعطور او عاشف لفن صناعة العطور لن يكف عن البحث عن الفن هنا وهناك فيما يتعلق بعالم العطور بداية عند دور العطور العالمية الى دور العطور الصغيرة والمغموره والى تلك الدور التي تعمل بلا قيود فالابداع في مجال العطور ليس حكراً على علامة معينة ولا دار معينة ولا انف ولهذا وجب البحث الدائم والتنقبب احياناً 🙂
عطر شرق الهند من ماركة العطور البريطانية بوفورت
لا اعلم حقيقة القصة وراء الاسم وإن كنت أعتقد أن له علاقة بتلك الفتره التي كانت فيها بريطانية دولةً عظمى وحينها كانت لها نفوذ وسلطة على الهند فريما أراد مصمم العطر ربط تك الحقبة وتحديداً الثقافتين الهندية والبريطانية لتلتقيان معا في عبوة عطر بعبير جريئ جدا يخاطب عشاق الشاي والنوتات التبغية السموكية ذات الطابع الجاف المصحوب برائحة الاخشاب والليذر المدخنه او المحترقة عطر ليس للشراء العمياني وانما للاستمتاع الشخصي في المقام الأول
فإلى شرق الهند نشد الرحال:
يبدأ العطر بمزيجٍ تابلي منعش من الشاي والهيل والفلفل الاسود مع غلبة واضحة للشاي (الاسود)على بقية المكونات التابيلة، المقدمة ليست تابلية منعشة فقط وإنما تشاركها تلك اللمسة المميزة ونقطة الفصل التي ستجلك إما تحب العطر او تكرهه وهي الرائحة السموكية أو الدخانية التي هي عبارة عن مزيج من البخور (لا وجود لرائحة للبان) وخشب البتولا والتبغ لتشكل هالة سموكية باعثه للدفء فالرائحة الدخانية قد تشبها تارة برائحة الخشب المحترق وتارة برائحة الجلد السموكي التابلي الدافئ كما هو عليه في عطر مونا دي اوريو وتارة تشبهها برائحة صلصة الشواء (بسبب خشب البتولا)ولكن لاتقلق ربما تلمحها بشكل بسيط في البداية وتارة قد تشبه تلك الرائحة السموكية برائحة القش، فالقش والتبغ بينهما تشابه وبينهما نقاط التقاء ولهذا نجد بعض العطور التبيغه تجمتع هذا الثنائي اواحدهما عند تكون هنا رغبه لاضفاء طابغ تبغي دافئ للعطر البدايةاذا تابلية منعشة يحفها بوضوح نوتات سموكية دخانية جريئة في بدايتها وربما بعد ربع ساعه ستجد العطر اصبح اكثر هدوء واكثر دفاً مع بقاء شخصيته المميزه مع بروز اكثر للشاي والهيل ولكن ليست بشكله المنفرد ولكن سشتعر بدورة الرائع الدافئ جدا وهنا تبدأ رحلة الغستمتاع بالعطر بالنسبة لاني محب للشاي الاسود ورائحته وهل هناك اجمل من أن تضاف تلك اللمحة الدخانية إليه التي يشاركها لمحات سويتيه لطيفة جدا وليست بذلك الشكل البارز بفضل نوتة الويسكي عافانا الله واياكم من كل شر لتضفي عمقاً رائعاً بلا نشار ولابروز يفسد البداية، ربما سائل سائل ماذا عن العود سأقول لك حتى كتابة هذه التقرير لم اشم العود بشكله المعهود ربما يكون اكثر وضوحا لاحقا ولكن بالنسبة لي لم اجدها بارزا ففي ظل تلك العجعجه الدخانية لا اعتقد ان سيجروأ للافصاح عنه نفسه الا لاحقا ان لم يمت اصلا
هذا هو جوهر العطر تابلي بقيادة وزعامة ابطال العطر
الشاي الرائع و التبغ وخشب البتولا (النوتات السموكية الليذرية) والهيل لمزيد من الدفء والعمق
هذا مالدي وانصجك إن كنت محباً للشاي ومحب للنوتات السموكية ان تجرب هذا العطر من هذه الدار فهو اجمل عطورها
أعجب كثيراً بالعطر لاني وجدته يلامس مشاعري ويمثلني وهو افضل عطر شاي بالشكل الذي الذي اريد ويلية عطر الشاي الروسي.
في الختام وطالما وصلت هنا
رطب لسانك بذكر الله والصلاة على النبي.
تحياتي سعد
renya484848 – :
The new name of the fragrance is actually “Vi Et Armis”.
swx3 – :
OH, that’s a weird one so far! i sense something burning, something with tea & spices! so could it be the whisky note! i do smell woods at max as well and so as the pepper but the burning essence is conquering the most as i feel someone is barbecuing something to be honest!
honestly, i love whisky essence although i never tasted alcohol in general and not intending too but i guess i should give it more time just for the sake of that whisky note.
rustam0779 – :
Maybe this one has been reformulated when they changed name into “vi et armis” because I do not smell tea leaf in the opening but a very cold and aromatic cardamom note which gives this scent a strong metallic quality. The smoke at the beggining is so much acrid and pungent that if you smell it too close it’s almost disturbing, whiskey note is peaty like a Lagavulin 16. I find the concept of this new line really interesting and not unwearable as many state, a bold and daring person could well put on and enjoy this one. A small spray goes a long way, this juice is really potent and longlasting: I sprayed it twice in the morning and at around midnight it was still there ( without the acrid, metallic note). At least tryworthy for all smoke lovers, subgenre “musty wreckage”.
Feakemoro – :
Ahhh..what a great time to genuflect. A fragrance that forces you to choose sides. I mean it REALLY forces you to choose sides. One sniff and all you can say is, “Mama, there goes that man!” A pleasant surprise this was and a blind buy that will go down in history. The opening is a cantankerous mix of a pine sol accord and barbecue. As crazy as the description may sound, the composition gets better and better as it wears. More backwoods West Virginia than it is India. Imagine the closing hours of a wooden roadhouse being fumigated by the smell of cigarette butts doused in various whiskey shot glasses. That’s East India…..kinda. They say controversy sells but in this case, controversy smells. This one exceeds the smell limit and then some(I double dare you to spray on clothing). I got a feeling this will be the next big thing. A litigious little animal this is, therefore i can’t recommend it as something you should blind buy but for those willing to sample something on the oppugnant side of things, look no further.
sazan55 – :
It smells like wood lacquer mixed in with peat from a compost heap, really horrid fragrance. One of the worst smelling scents I have ever smelled. They have also had to change the name of this one to “Vi et Armis”.
DarkLight – :
My review vanished with the old page, but my opinion has not changed, so here it is, with the complete honesty that I value in this site:
This is the most wearable of the three Beaufort scents, but that’s not saying much. Thankfully, the overwhelming smokiness of 1805 and Coeur de Noir is toned down, replaced by an alluring spiciness backed by tobacco and rum. It relies heavily on booze and leather, like the others, but the spice is very well done while avoiding being too literal. Unfortunately, it shares with the other Beaufort perfumes that very “old” smoky woodiness that makes it difficult to wear without knocking over everything in its path. A good concept, and an interesting one for sure, but it’s more something to be smelled on a strip (or in a museum) than worn on your skin. It’s just too much.
boardrusforall – :
*East India mysteriously vanished from the database recently (along with all the negative reviews), but has been re-uploaded, so I’m posting my review again*
There is a line between adventurous and weird. “East India” is most certainly the latter.
A nose-searing assault of black pepper and bitter, acrid birch tar. Offensively pungent, it clogs the air like a stew of smoked ham and cough medicine, more of an amateur kitchen experiment than a perfume. It doesn’t let up and after an hour I had to scrub, feeling quite nauseated.
I was intrigued by the concepts behind the Beaufort line, but I have to conclude the craftsmanship is severely lacking. This is just not wearable.