The Unleashed Apothecary is an independent French perfume house founded by the self-taught perfumer Jimmy Bodin, co-founder of Jousset Parfums. It grew out of a Jousset label devoted to rare materials before taking its own name. Its fragrances are extraits produced in small batches, often animalic and woody, macerated and matured by hand in an apothecary spirit.
Jimmy Bodin, a perfumer with no formal training
Jimmy Bodin is French and never went through perfumer training. He says he comes from a modest background, with a mother who loved fine fragrances. When she died, he kept that passion as an inheritance. The name Jousset, the house he runs with his wife Melis, is a way of keeping her memory alive. From his father, who worked with his hands, he says he learned patience and the habit of making what he could not find.
He got into the trade because of one fragrance. He loved a perfume he could no longer afford. Rather than give it up, he set out to decode it: to understand how materials behave and how an accord is built. He spent years on it, alone, through trial and error. Today he claims an intuitive approach, away from the usual rules of the industry, and often repeats that he is not an insider.
Jousset Parfums, founded in 2020, built its reputation on very intense gourmand fragrances, which the house calls Ultra-Gourmand. Jimmy Bodin is also co-owner of Marble Oud and composes for other houses, including the Romanian brand Adi ale Van, for which he created Decembrie 89. One detail explains The Unleashed Apothecary well: for himself, he does not wear gourmands. He wears powerful ouds, for what he calls their raw, animalic depth. He adds that his gourmands are built like ouds, layer after layer, resin against molecule.
From a Jousset label to a house of its own
The Unleashed Apothecary started at Jousset. From the beginning, the house gave Jimmy Bodin a space of freedom, the Exclusive Blend label, designed for collectors and lovers of unusual fragrances. That is where the R.A.W. collection was born, devoted to the rarest materials and presented in hand-worked bottles.
The success of R.A.W. led Jimmy Bodin to take the concept out of Jousset and give it an identity of its own. The new house is presented as an answer to many requests for one-of-a-kind fragrances, and as the most personal expression of its creator. The name states the intent: a perfumery set free, going further than what Jousset offers under its own brand.
This lineage shows in the names. Tonkin Tonka first came out at Jousset in 2021, and Trat Treat under the Exclusive Blend label, before both got new versions at The Unleashed Apothecary. The number 3 that now follows their names refers to that lineage. The notes change from one version to the next: the first Tonkin Tonka opened on raspberry and ylang-ylang, the third opens on snow and frozen pine.
An apothecary's method
The word apothecary was chosen with care. Jimmy Bodin combines a modern approach, which he links to sensory design, with an old method: maceration. A material is left in alcohol, where it slowly releases its color and scent. Depending on the material, the process lasts anywhere from a day to several years. The product pages of the three fragrances offered at Passion Parfum each mention a special tincture: fur for Tonkin Tonka 3, oak for Trat Treat 3, earth for Oud Post-Mortem. These tinctures are the most artisanal part of the work, the part that cannot be reproduced identically from one batch to the next.
The juices then mature in hand-worked glass bottles. These art bottles have become the signature of the house. Because the processes are artisanal and material quantities vary, a fragrance can stop being available overnight. Alongside its public collection, the house also offers bespoke creations, and its fragrances can themselves be customized on request.
The olfactory style: animalic notes, oud and contrast
You recognize an Unleashed Apothecary by its base notes. Animalic materials are central: hyraceum, leather, notes of fur or warm skin. Hyraceum is a material made from the petrified droppings of the rock hyrax, a small African mammal, used in perfumery for its animalic, leathery smell. Oud also plays a large part, with precise origins: the Oud Trat Macao in Trat Treat 3, named after the Thai province of Trat, and an Indian oud, Oud Hindi Kalakassi, in Oud Post-Mortem.
The house likes to start from a comfortable image and take it somewhere else. A dark fruit dessert ends in animalic oud. A snowy mountain warms up on musk and fur. The openings are often figurative, the bases dense and long. These fragrances do not try to please on first contact, and some, like Oud Post-Mortem, claim a dark, almost funereal register. The result is very tenacious, with a sillage that lasts for hours, which calls for a careful hand.
The Unleashed Apothecary fragrances at Passion Parfum
Passion Parfum offers three extraits from the house. Each is a limited edition of 333 bottles of 30 ml, with a hand-sculpted cap, priced at €333, and also comes as a 2 ml sample. The notes listed are those on the product pages.
Tonkin Tonka 3 stages the meeting of cold and animal warmth. The top notes are mineral and icy: fresh snow, frozen pine, frosty breath, cold steel. The heart warms up with tonka bean, bitter almond and a warm skin accord. The base brings together Tonkin musk, deer leather, fur, body heat and benzoin, extended by a fur tincture. A musky woody scent that sits close to the skin, like a wool garment.
Trat Treat 3 is a gourmand with bite. Blueberry flesh, crushed raspberry and a drop of red wine give a juicy, dark opening. Dark chocolate, cocoa absolute and vanilla orchid thicken the heart. Then the oud takes over: Oud Trat Macao, animalic oud, tonka, benzoin and hyraceum, on an oak tincture. For those who like gourmands but often find them too tame.
Oud Post-Mortem is the most extreme of the three. It opens on black pepper, wild mushroom and damp earth, a forest floor after rain. Black truffle and smoke form a savory, fungal heart. The base belongs to Oud Hindi Kalakassi, animalic and deep, under a note of ash and an earth tincture. A dark oud, for those who already know Indian ouds.
Where to start
The choice depends on what you already like. For a gourmand lover, Trat Treat 3 bridges to the world of Jousset, with an animalic oud base on top. For musks and skin scents, Tonkin Tonka 3 is the most wearable of the three. Oud Post-Mortem is for connoisseurs of powerful ouds, and is best approached last.
A word on price, since it is high. It comes from the small batches, the maceration time, the ouds of chosen origin and the handmade work on the bottle. It says nothing about how a fragrance will get along with your skin. These three extraits are distinctive enough that a seasoned niche perfumery fan might love one and reject the other two, which is one more reason not to buy blind.
At €333 for 30 ml, the 2 ml sample is the right starting point. It lets you wear the fragrance for one or several full days, which matters for compositions that change so much between the opening and the base. Everything is explained on our samples page.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded The Unleashed Apothecary?
Jimmy Bodin, a self-taught French perfumer and co-founder of Jousset Parfums with his wife Melis. He composes the house's fragrances, which carry on the Exclusive Blend label and its R.A.W. collection, both launched at Jousset.
What is the link between The Unleashed Apothecary and Jousset Parfums?
Both houses share the same perfumer. Jousset is known for its intense gourmands. The Unleashed Apothecary gathers Jimmy Bodin's freest and rarest creations, often animalic and woody, once offered under Jousset's Exclusive Blend label.
Is The Unleashed Apothecary a niche brand?
Yes. It is an independent house that produces extraits in small batches, often in limited editions, with hand-worked bottles. Its fragrances are aimed at enthusiasts already familiar with ouds and animalic materials.
Where can I buy The Unleashed Apothecary?
Passion Parfum offers three extraits from the house online, Tonkin Tonka 3, Trat Treat 3 and Oud Post-Mortem, in 30 ml and as a 2 ml sample.
Do The Unleashed Apothecary fragrances last?
They are extraits with dense bases of oud, musk and animalic materials. Their longevity runs to many hours on skin and even more on clothing. One or two sprays are enough.
The fragrances from the house are gathered on the The Unleashed Apothecary page. To discover the other independent houses in the shop, visit the houses and creators page.