Straight to Heaven Extreme

Yesterday I reviewed Straight to Heaven and it was an enjoyable experience. I mentioned in the review that it would be something I would consider buying, provided Straight to Heaven Extreme is not a much better fragrance. Well today I'm gonna review STHE, the last By Kilian fragrance I have to review, and find out. Did I save the best for last? Let's get into it and find out; Scent: The opening is sweet, woody, and boozy. The primary notes I get are rum, Virginian cedar, patchouli, and dried fruits. The strongest of the notes are the rum and Virginian cedar. The rum is what hits my nose first off the opening; sweet and boozy with a barrel-aged nuance in the background. It has just a touch of the same "burn" as the rum in STH, but more mellow. Right alongside the rum is the Virginian cedar. It is identical to the Virginian cedar note from STH with the same dry, lumber-y, "pencil shaving" accord, but the increased sweetness in this opening helps to dial it back a bit so it's not as loud. This is followed by the patchouli and dried fruit. The patchouli in this is very different from the patchouli in STH. Whereas the patchouli in STH was very earthy, this patchouli leans heavily into the sweet aspects of the note. In fact, I initially thought they had added a chocolate note; but it was in fact the patchouli. Lastly, the dried fruit adds some fruity sweetness in the background just like in STH. Again, it's identical and gives me the same coconut vibes as STH. I also get a solid dose of the vanilla in the background as well, but it's situated behind the dried fruit. The dry down is still sweet, woody, and boozy. The primary notes I get are rum, Virginian cedar, patchouli, and vanilla. The strongest of the notes are still the rum and Virginian cedar. The rum is still the star of the show in the dry down with the same sweet and boozy accord from the opening, just mellowed out. The Virginian cedar still has the same dry, woody accord as well, also just more rounded and smooth. This is followed by the patchouli and vanilla. The patchouli still the same chocolatey sweet tone in the dry down, but there's a bit of earthiness behind it as well. Lastly, the vanilla has ramped up to overtake the dried fruit note, and gives the dry down a soft, creamy sweetness in the background. Performance: Initial projection in the first hour is very strong and can easily fill a room. Sillage matches that intensity with a heavy scent trail. After 3-4 hours the performance was unchanged. At the 7-8 hour mark the projection was still about 4-6 feet and the scent trail was still easily noticeable. When I checked again around the 10 hour mark the projection and sillage were unchanged from what they were at the 7-8 hour mark. The fragrance lasted at least 12 hours before becoming a skin scent. When to wear: Straight to Heaven Extreme, just like Straight to Heaven, is a fall/winter fragrance that's best suited for evening wear. It works best as a special occasion fragrance to wear for date nights, anniversaries, weddings, and the sort. For the same reasons as STH (strong, boozy rum note), this is not an office-friendly fragrance. Blind buy: Like with STH, STHE is a great smelling fragrance but not what I would consider a safe blind buy. It doesn't have a mass-appealing quality, and some people will have trouble with the booziness of the rum or the "pencil shavings" cedar note. Still, if you like these types of note this is worth a sample. Final verdict: Straight to Heaven Extreme was very obviously a direct flanker of Straight to Heaven. The intensities of some notes were changed here and there, and the patchouli was different, but other than that it was very similar. The best way I can describe the difference is that STHE is smoother and sweeter, whereas STH has a heavy focus on earthiness in the opening that STHE does not have. When it comes to performance, they are very comparable but STHE edges out STH by a thin margin. Not enough to make a choice between the two solely on performance, in my opinion. Versatility is exactly the same as STH; it's a special occasion fragrance for cold nights. Same with mass-appeal, that's not what it's made for but it will appeal to a certain type of person. To wrap this up, I think they're both excellent fragrances and will largely fill the same role making it redundant to own both. The wild card here is that STHE is discontinued, meaning it is hard to find and insanely expensive when you do find it. With that in mind, I would probably go with STH. The differences in scent profile and performance are just not enough to justify the radical increase in price. Scent: 9/10 Longevity: 9/10 Sillage: 10/10

After testing Gold Knight a few times, I had decided to go ahead and buy an unneeded bottle over the weekend. The nice SA at Saks asked if I had smelled this one yet, which I had not. She sprayed a card and I really liked it, so I decided to walk around for a bit to give it some time. About an hour later, I caught up with my wife and let her take a whiff. She lit up and said, “mmmm, what’s that?”, in the same way that I do when I smell somethin good cookin. Needless to say, I’m now the proud owner of STHE along with a few sample bottles of Gold Knight to satisfy me for awhile. It is very similar to the original, but has a deeper hue to it due to the intensified rum and vanilla, which I prefer. Don’t get me wrong, the vanilla isn’t the main attraction here as much as the rum and dried fruit, and nobody’s yelling “timber” from the cedar either. This is well balanced and quickly becoming my favorite, even after just a few days. I even get a hint of something that reminds me of a leather jacket I had in high school. STHE has great performance and sillage is moderate. I find this very pleasant and I highly recommend it. I also think this is a true unisex fragrance. Very well done.

Nice! A very good scent to me! Similar to Masque Montecristo without the harsh opening. This is the image I get from this scent... I am taking a night stroll in the middle of a hot and dry desert. I stumble across an old wooden shack constructed with charred wood. Maybe a place that bootleggers used to stash rum? Opening the charred wooden door I am stuck by the scent of rum soaked ceder casks. As my eyes adjust, I slowly scan the interior of the shack. Exploring the dirt floor and the bowls of vanilla, nutmeg and dried fruits sitting on the cedar rum casks. A hint of animals are on the fringe of the scent from the shack. As if animals took up residence here months back, but abandoned the shack after a few nights. Maybe after the bootleggers returned? This is a VERY well made fragrance with a complex mixture of scents. I get good projection and longevity on my skin. I can see this scent in either casual or business attire. Bottom line, if you like scents that are different than the mass market / designer fragrances you find in every store that sells fragrances, you should try a sample of this stuff.

STHE extreme is a smidge different to STH, but they smell the same, for the most part. The woods in this are not anywhere near as smooth -- instead of a royal, regal oak (likely softened by something synth or some fillers/boosters), it's hardly dry, harsh and a little abrasive. The patch and nutmeg are the same, I feel, and the booze elements are exactly where they need to be, but it's the woods that are different. If you've even tried Hiba (a Japanese native tree), that's the same kind of scent profile I'm talking about here -- woody, booming and massive, just a little abrasive and in need to sweetening. Other than that, it projects a lot more, and almost certainly lasts longer (just my own anecdotal 'feel'), but by and large, both STH and STHE are similar enough for someone to like BOTH, but prefer one over the other. The quality is in STH, whereas the performance is with STHE...

Straight to Heaven Extreme, why oh why did they discontinue such a beauty. The original Straight to Heaven is a firm favourite from Kilian for me, I adore it. The Extreme is, as you can probably guess, a step further into intensity and depth. It’s richer, darker and boozier which explains its popularity. The dry, slightly piney cedarwood and earthy patchouli are still the stars of the show, creating that dark, slightly green woody feel we know and love. However, here the rum and the dried fruits seem to be elevated - the patchouli seems drunken, soaked in sweet rum and it smells absolutely delicious. Overall the scent profile is rather similar to the original, so it would be redundant to own both. But if I had to choose from the two it would be this one, it’s noticeably sweeter, cosier and just a tad more edible than the original which makes it all the more sexy in my opinion.