We Rank The Best Smells of Fall

Being in the men’s grooming business means you inherently have a penchant for things that smell good — yes, even things outside of beard oil and bar soap. What we’ve recently determined, however - and there’s no room for debate - is that fall is the season with the best smells. We’ve kept our rankings to the four top odors of autumn, but these four scents form a quartet that will have you pulling in through the nostrils with some extra gravitas this season.

Top Smell #4: Literally Anything Baking

The last time Duke Cannon attempted to bake anything was during that blizzard in ‘91 and, well, fire extinguishers are a hell of an invention. Frankly, we're not sure what it is about fall that compels people to mush stuff up and put it in the oven, but there’s something about banana bread, cinnamon-laced anything, or apple whatever wafting through the air that rivals the scent of most hunks of meat in the smoker. Perhaps it's the memory of playing Atari in the basement for hours on end while mom bakes dessert upstairs that has something to do with it.

Top Smell #3: Crisp, Fall Air

There's nothing better than sleeping with the windows open in fall. The air is just…fresh. Not the fresh of your boxer briefs finishing their cycle in the dryer but fresh as in it smells like absolutely and entirely nothing. But like a good and pure nothing, if that makes sense. Either way, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Unless you live in Arizona, in which case we’re sorry you don’t know what cold air smells like. Good job not observing Daylight Saving Time though.      

Top Smell #2: Big Ass Brick of Campfire Soap

At Duke Cannon, we tend to be connoisseurs of humble pie, but we will be the first to admit that our stuff smells pretty good. That’s more or less why you’re reading this email, after all. This particular Brick of Soap smells like fresh-cut hickory but also invokes the memories of sitting around a bonfire in a busted fold up chair drinking the cheapest beer that no one would dare admit is actually the best-tasting beer and laughing at Gary telling the same story you’ve heard at least a dozen times. And that smells good.

Top Smell #1: Burning Leaves 

If you’re thinking, “This is basically the same as Campfire,” no, it’s absolutely not, and frankly, our Campfire soap doesn't hold a lit match to the #1 autumn aroma on our list: burning leaves. It's the smell that reminds you of bygone October weekends tossing around a pigskin with dad while he knowingly violated some city ordinance in order to save $7 on leaf bags. Ah, good times...hold on, some smoke just blew in our eyes. No seriously, never add to the leaf pile when you're downwind.

Happy Octoberfresh To Those Who Celebrate

If you’ve been wanting to dip your (needs to be washed) toe into our beer soap pond, this would be the weekend to do it. Through Monday when you spend $50, add on a free bar of any one of our beer-spiked Big Ass Beer Soaps. Just as a reminder, they don’t smell like you’ve been wiped on the floor of a dive bar after a wild Saturday night — Busch has a bright Sandalwood scent, Budweiser has a warm cedarwood smell, and the Deschutes bar has notes of fresh citrus and neroli.

No, we will never forgive Neighbor Karen for ratting out our dad's leaf-burning escapades.