Havana Tonka

The essentials

Havana Tonka is a Byredo extrait de parfum, launched in late September 2026 in the Night Veils collection and sold in a 70 ml bottle. A roasted tonka bean absolute sits at its core, warmed by rum and tobacco leaves. Byredo does not name the perfumer. As of 9 November 2026, no reliable source does either.

History

Now Smell This reported the launch on 30 September 2026. Fashionography followed on 1 October. Both describe a 70 ml extrait de parfum joining Night Veils, the high-concentration line from Byredo.

The brief is Havana after dark. That is also the title of the house’s campaign page, “Havana After Dark”. Byredo’s launch copy promises “a nocturnal, warm, and enveloping atmosphere”, built on roasted tonka bean.

The house pairs the tonka with “the warmth of rum and the smoky sensuality of tobacco leaves”. Rum and cigars both point to Havana, the Cuban capital. Fashionography notes that these two notes carry the Havana reference.

Night Veils at a glance

Night Veils launched in 2015 as an evening trio: Casablanca Lily, Midnight Candy and Reine de Nuit. Each came as a 30 ml extrait.

Byredo relaunched the line in September 2025, ten years on. Bois Obscur was the new scent. Vanille Antique and Rouge Chaotique returned in extrait form. A new elongated bottle arrived too, with a thick glass base and an antique gold cap.

2026 brought two more. Suede Osmanthus, a Harrods exclusive announced in August, is credited to Quentin Bisch and Fanny Bal. Havana Tonka, by Jérôme Epinette, followed in late September.

The organising idea has not changed: each extrait is built around one central material, here roasted tonka. As of 9 November 2026, Byredo’s product page also lists Cuir Sellier in the collection.

Byredo after Ben Gorham

Ben Gorham founded Byredo in Stockholm (Sweden) in 2006. Puig took a majority stake on 31 May 2022. The Spanish group has owned 100 percent of the house since 2024.

Gorham led creation until June 2025. Havana Tonka therefore belongs to the house’s post-Gorham era, with Puig fully in charge.

Fragrance notes

Byredo publishes a three-tier pyramid on its product page. Osmetheca reproduces it as published, in the house’s order. The short descriptors follow Byredo’s launch copy.

The launch copy describes a bright bergamot opening, quickly warmed by rum and pink pepper. Crème brûlée adds a caramelised sweetness without erasing the scent’s dark character.

Scent profile

The scent profile is a smoky gourmand amber. Roasted tonka sits at the centre. Rum and crème brûlée open it. Tobacco and suede darken it. Patchouli and musks keep it close to the skin.

In the heart, Byredo describes dry, smoky tobacco leaves softened by violet and suede. Cashmere wood bridges to a denser base. There, the tonka turns “roasted, sweet, and slightly resinous”.

Tonka bean in perfumery

Tonka is the fermented seed of Dipteryx odorata, a tall Amazonian tree. Its key molecule is coumarin, which smells of cut hay, almond and vanilla. Osmetheca’s tonka bean entry covers the material in depth.

Coumarin changed perfumery. William Henry Perkin synthesised it in 1868. Houbigant’s Fougère Royale used it in 1882 and gave its name to the fougère family. The coumarin entry tells that story.

Byredo uses a roasted tonka bean absolute here, which the house calls a bespoke interpretation of the material. The sweet, slightly resinous facet it describes echoes the crème brûlée in the opening.

Rum and tobacco

Tobacco absolute comes from the dried, fermented leaves of Nicotiana tabacum. Caron’s Tabac Blond, released in 1919, already built a perfume around it. See the tobacco entry.

Byredo lists rum in the top notes without saying whether it is an accord or a natural material. Paired with tobacco leaves, it sets up the Havana reference the house is after.

“Havana Tonka by Byredo explores a nocturnal, warm, and enveloping atmosphere through a composition centered on roasted tonka bean.”Byredo launch copy, published by Now Smell This, 30 September 2026

Key features

When and where to wear

Byredo gives no seasonal advice, and Osmetheca has not yet tested the scent on skin. No longevity figure is published here.

The house frames it as a night scent, warm and enveloping. Rum, tobacco, roasted tonka and benzoin put it in cold-weather and evening territory. The extrait concentration points the same way.

Byredo bills Night Veils as its most powerful line, promising an intense, long-lasting aura from a single drop. Osmetheca has not verified that claim on Havana Tonka.

Similar perfumes

Five fragrances published on Osmetheca share the tobacco, the tonka, a boozy note or the collection of Havana Tonka.

Frequently asked questions

See also