When opening the parcel that contained the perfume “Bonne Nuit” by BISHOP, I frowned at first. There was a black box in the form of a coffin in it, very clearly the brand’s way of packaging the perfume. Indeed, inside the little coffin the perfume laid like a corpse, with the perfume bottle’s cap at the bottom, as if a corpse’s head had been severed. To me that felt pretty bewildering and macabre. When checking it, I saw that the little coffin was pictured in the online shop where I had bought “Bonne Nuit”, so I could have been warned.
The beautiful smell of the fragrance made up for the first impression very fast. “Bonne Nuit” is a full gourmand perfume, with a lot of cinnamon. The cinnamon dominates for me, but underlying are apple cake, apricots, sweet liquor, and saffron for depth. It is a perfect perfume for the colder seasons, but a gourmand fan can wear it all year. To me it is more fitting for a lady, but of course opinions might differ.
According to the website of BISHOP, the scent notes are apple, apricot, saffron, oakmoss, cinnamon, honey, whisky, sandalwood, amber, vanilla, and musk. The perfume is described as dark, warm and sensual.
Of the supporting scent notes like honey, sandalwood, musk, and oakmoss I do not smell much, but the overall impression of the perfume is to me one full of life, and in no way subdued. It captures the smell of a celebration during the darker times of the year in the months of November and December, maybe around Christmas. As the brand and the perfumer are from Germany, “Bonne Nuit” has a wonderfully homely feel to it.
The colour of “Bonne Nuit” by BISHOP is a dark orange brown.
The perfume unfolds with great presence and lasts a long time. The sillage and longevity of the extrait de parfum are impressive.
“Bonne Nuit” was the first perfume by the brand BISHOP owned by Thjorben Bischof. He founded his brand and small shop in 2025 in Berlin, when he was just 22 years old. According to BISHOP’s website, the business is still a small one, but when you look at the companies that sell his perfumes (there was a second one, “Bonjour”, released in 2026), you see well known names of niche perfumeries in Germany and a few abroad among them. He seems to have done an intelligent marketing and was successful with it. That only works for such a small brand if the fragrances are of a high quality, which they are (also the second perfume).
The slightly strange packaging of the perfumes in little coffins is part of the story. Thjorben Bischof states on his website that he worked for years as an undertaker whilst cultivating his love for perfumes. We will see how long he works in both careers and if his perfumes will always come in their current packaging. By now, his shop also sells some accessories and is probably expanding.
To create “Bonne Nuit” BISHOP teamed up with ‘nose’ Joschka Klee; another young man from Germany from a small town in Franconia. He owns the brand vapormundum and is a self-taught perfumer with a lot of success. You can check his creations for various brands on his website. Joschka Klee created also the second perfume of BISHOP with the name “Bonjour”. Probably Thjorben Bischof led the way in the creation of the perfume. I cannot state something on Joschka Klee’s own perfumes as I do not know them yet.
Thjorben Bischof and ’nose’ Joschka Klee are currently a winning team for the brand BISHOP. Maybe they continue to work together, or maybe they go their separate ways after a while. What can be said is that the foundation has been laid to create beautiful fragrances. Probably both men have a successful career as perfumers and brand owners before them.
The brand BISHOP, after only 2 years, seems well established in Germany and some other countries. The concentration on gourmand scents might change when more perfumes come to the collection. It will be truly interesting to watch the small brand grow.
It is a good sign that the German niche perfume market is expanding, with more small brands doing their own thing, staying independent, and only following their own quality standards. From what I understood it is more difficult in Europe than in the USA to experiment with ingredients according to rules and regulations, but for sure young and creative perfumers will find their way of expressing themselves.
The start has been made and personally I wish the brand BISHOP a lot of success. The perfume “Bonne Nuit” will be a wonderful perfume for the cold season for many people who need some cosiness. Its warmth is engulfing and the smell takes us back to the winter bakeries of our childhood.