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.

This is the most beautiful fragrance ever!! Masterpiece! I bought this after trying STH, which i fall in love with for the first sniff, but sadly lacks strength and performance. Well, this is exactly what the name says, STH extreme.. This smells just like STH but much stronger and performs much better! If you like STH then buy this, i guarantee you will love it. The rum note is definitely amped up here, which is beautiful, it’s there all the way till the end. This fragrance is boozy, sweet and masculine at the same time. it’s linear and intense. Classy and unique. Performance is good, not a beast but I get about 5-6 hours longevity with good projection and good sillage. This is my favourite fragrance ever, and imo the best offering from the house, and the best boozy fragrance on the market. Even roja enigma can’t touch this...

I hadn't anticipated a flanker to the original By Kilian Straight to Heaven, but Extreme is a pleasant surprise, and addresses some of criticisms of the original. The original is celebrated for its purity, a clean, somewhat masucline expression of cedar, which is nice, but was a bit monotonous for my taste. The boozy additions of rum and vanilla in the Extreme flanker balance out the woodiness and give the blend more depth, variance, and frankly, strength. Extreme performs better than the original. Extreme's cost is greater, at $315 for 50ml, contra the original's current pricing of $275. Definitely a nice take on the original, and leaning toward a boozy and sweet subgenre that I'm a fan of. One I'd lean toward buying if I could find it at a discount. 8 out of 10

This smells like a MAN! 😍 A classy, confident, secure, elevated, manicured, put together, rich, sexy, sharp, capable, male specimen. Love. This smells sophisticated and expensive. The rum smells like refined, top shelf quality. It’s also not as sweet or “boozy” as one typically finds rum to be in perfumery. The patchouli doesn’t pull chocolatey, earthy, or medicinal. It smells clean and smooth. Even the cedar smells smooth. Everything is smooth! No sharp edges to this fragrance whatsoever; it’s very harmonious and intoxicating. Every note seems like it was incorporated thoughtfully and in moderation. This is expertly blended and remains masculine without being overbearing or obnoxious. Very alluring and very pleasing.

The first 2 minutes of this fragrance is pure alcohol. I mean, it literally smells like you spilled your black rum on you. After 5 minutes you get the fruits and some of the woods. The dry down is pure magic. Vanilla and musk provide this powdery base for the fruits, rum, and woods to sit on. Make no mistake, this is not a saccharine experience; saying this is sweet would not be appropriate, in my opinion. No components really radiate a sweetness to my nose. At all stages you're experiencing either the harshness of the rum, the strong cedar, or the powdery base. A must-have for collectors, the regular version would probably suffice most people.

Ironically enough, I was searching for the original STH when this one came along -- no biggie, I grabbed it anyway (I got the original STH later on), and if I'm being honest, I prefer STH over STHE. The woods in this are a little more bleached and dry -- I can smell a 'less smooth' woods profile, and it seriously rubs off on all the other elements, the booze, the patch, the fruits, and unfortunately makes this less palatable than the original. I won't go into details about the make-up and profile of the scent, it's about 90% STH, which is amazing, BTW, I just feel this one veers off in a direction I personally do not care for.

My favorite fragrance - I feel like it could be polarizing (especially with the opening it kind of smells like drying paint??? I enjoy it though bc I have glue sniffing tendencies lol) but that's why I love it. The drydown is absolutely true to its namesake. I love cedar but I feel like it can be overwhelmingly masculine, and while I get a lot of cedar from this there is a perfect degree of softness imparted from the vanilla and the other powdery notes which gives it so much character. If you want to serve daddy in a more tasteful and nuanced way this is for you.

This is one of my favorite evening scents. Everytime i spray it i enjoy the scent so much. It's mysterious and a pefect composition of notes. Not to much vanilla. It's in balance with the dried fruits, the cedar wood and the rum. It is stronger than the original STH but very similar to each other. In particular the rum and vanilla is a little amped up. Maybe my next bottle will be the original again. Because it's in the base the same scent and much easier to get at a much lower price. But i treasure the extreme version as long as i can :)

This is my perfect perfume. It is original, deep, powerful, mysterious, and subtle at the same time. Since discovering STH, I can't use anything else. I was lucky to find and buy STH Extreme a few months ago, and it is definitely the better version of the "standard" STH. I am not sure why people think STH is similar to Ursa Tiziana - it isn't. @Givemethehotsauce - I know that STH Extreme will be back in 2021 or 2022.

@ScentTower It would be worse if it were not discontinued, but reformulated to be a mere shadow of itself, as so many other fragrances have done over the years. So I say try it while it is in its full glory. Something I tell my daughter... don't cry for what you may have lost but smile for the memories of what you had. My $0.02

This is a beautiful scent. Very masculine. It smells like spilled rum on cedar wood with patchouli aroma. Sweet, but not so much. You should definetely try this before buying. It's not for everyone. The longevity is long lasting, the sillage is also great. It's straight to heaven...

A masterpiece amongst masterpieces. 250 fragrances in my collection and this might be the best. Initially, I was confused by the opening, but after a minute or so the dried fruits with a cedar base starts coming through. I dont have the words for how amazing this is.

Delicious rummy and fruity bomb I cause huge scent trails with this one at work and the number of compliments I get is endless . Ladies love it so buy it regardless of the crazy price tag Oh and it lasts all day

its Straight to Heaven...dialed to 11. An extreme done the right way...by making it extreme. i can't even begin to describe some of the awkward situations this intoxicating good scent has put me in.

I believe this is now discontinued. I can't find it mentioned on Kilian's website anymore. I tried e-mailing them but no response either. It's not available anywhere. I loved it while it lasted.

i just got my hands on this and it smells exactly like the original nothing new. i assume where the extreme comes into play is in the projection and longevity ... will report back soon :)