Cherry Punk is Room 1015's signature and its most-reviewed fragrance by a very wide margin, composed by Jérôme Epinette, and despite the name it is a leather scent first and a cherry scent second.
What it smells like
Cherry, saffron and Sichuan pepper open it — dark and dry, with the saffron pulling the fruit immediately towards leather instead of towards sweetness. Anyone expecting cherry cola will be corrected within thirty seconds.
The heart brings violet, mimosa and jasmine: powdery florals that lend the middle a dusty, cosmetic quality, almost like old lipstick in the best possible sense.
Then the base takes over, and it is the reason people remember this fragrance at all. Leather, tonka bean and patchouli, with a pronounced animalic edge. The community accord ranking is unambiguous — leather at full weight, cherry just behind, then sweet, animalic and warm spicy, with smoke underneath. This is not a fruity perfume with a leather base. It is a leather perfume that happens to open on cherry.
One thing worth knowing before choosing: the Extrait de Parfum is a different composition, not a concentrated version of this. The extrait is cherry-led with metallic and fresh-spicy facets and no animalic character at all. This eau de parfum is the darker and more feral of the two.
Who it's for
For people who want a leather fragrance with something unexpected on top. If you already wear dark leathers and find the category monotonous, the cherry and saffron give it somewhere new to go.
With over three thousand votes behind it, this is also the obvious starting point for the house. Be aware of the animalic facet — it is what divides opinion, and it is far more noticeable on skin than on a paper strip.
Performance: the strongest of the eaux de parfum in the line. Projection is considerable in the first hours and longevity is long. Apply sparingly.
Cold weather and after dark. In summer the animalic side pushes forward in a way most people find excessive. Evening out, dinner, dates, occasions where being noticed is the intention.
How it sits in the line
Room 1015 was founded in Paris in 2015 by Michael Partouche — Dr. Mike — a trained pharmacist who spent five years touring with his band before deciding fragrance could hold both disciplines. The house is named after room 1015 of the Continental Hyatt House, the "Riot House" on Sunset Strip.
Cherry Punk is the fragrance that made the brand's reputation, and its brief is 430 King's Road — Vivienne Westwood's SEX shop and the London punk scene around it. With over three thousand votes on Fragrantica it is by some distance the house's most-discussed release, and it is the one most people mean when they say they know Room 1015.
If this is your introduction to the house, note how little it resembles the rest of the line. Love-O-Matic is a clean fruity musk, Wavechild a salty beach citrus, Purple Mantra a quiet incense. There is no house accord here — only a house attitude.
The full note breakdown is on the Room 1015 Cherry Punk Eau de Parfum product page, the rest of the house is in the Room 1015 collection, and you can find comparable scents under Amber Spicy. It is also on the scent bar at our Somerville boutique — worth trying on skin before you commit, because this is a house whose fragrances change a good deal between the first spray and the drydown.