Eleventh Hour

This is a nice, smooth, and laid back delicious boozy scent with a little bit of freshness and spice. At its core this is a boozy fragrance with a gourmand fruity note that doesn't entirely smell lile either Fig or Plum, but smells kind of on the middle but yet also smells quite 'different' from fruity notes I'm used to, this very much smells gourmand, like a delicious sauce you're having with dinner, or an alcoholic drink being used as a glaze whilst cooking like Wine. There's also a Pepper nuance thay gives it a little Spicy kick and an effervescent background that further adds to its gourmand scent profile, but it's quite minor overall, I only get a lot of Pepper when I directly out my nose to my wrist where I applied it. As for the "Christmas time-winter time" kind of vibe people seem to get from this, I don't really get that entirely, considering I'm Australian and our summers are notoriously hot😂, but for all the Winter-Christmas media that I HAVE seen from the northern hemisphere, I can sort of see how the association could be pinned. This scent is perfectly unisex and I reckon its perfect for family dinners and or casual outtings/dining with friends in general, good for all weather except Hot I'd say. I get light-Medium projection on my skin and as with all Byredo's it lasts around 5-6 hours on my skin before becoming nigh indetectable or fading entirely. I gotta give Byredo props as this is very much a unique fragrance in its own right that's quite an interesting wearing experience, it's not the most complicated in the world, but most Byredo's I've tried are easy to understand and/or likeable by thr masses, but this is very much feels like an anomaly but in a good way. I'll still wear this since I love it, but I can see how some people (as seen below) may find it hard to pull off or arnt confident in using it in general due to its unique gourmand nature. Final Verdict for me is a 8.6/10, definitely in my top Byredo fragrances and definitely worth a try!

The English expression “eleventh hour” comes from the Bible, from the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the Gospel of Matthew (20:1-16). The owner of the vineyard hires workers at various times of the day: at 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and finally at the eleventh hour, around 5 p.m., an hour before sunset, when the working day was about to end. The workers of the eleventh hour are those hired last, practically at the last possible second, yet they receive the same pay as the others. This gave rise to the image of the “eleventh hour” = the very last possible moment. The opening of the fragrance is dominated by the spicy and warm sensation of timur: Timur (or Timut) pepper is a spice from Nepal, not a true pepper but a berry from the Sichuan pepper family. In addition to this declared exotic note, the olfactory impact of the fragrance reveals the probable presence of many other spices, such as cloves, which are distinctly noticeable. As soon as the skin warms it, fruity hints of ripe, pulpy fig emerge, mixed with plum and an unmistakable rum liqueur note that makes it intoxicating. Eleventh Hour is diffusive, penetrating the nostrils and warming to the point of enveloping you like a shawl, while making your nose tingle, especially in its early stages. Warm but not sweet, very spicy, liqueur-like, it finally reveals a woody and resinous base with excellent longevity. Its prismatic evolution makes it remarkably mutable. Its aroma reminds me of celebrations, the seasoned bread (ciaccia) prepared by my grandmother, winter fruits, dried figs, wool sweaters, and Christmas. Its uniqueness makes it unlike anything I have ever smelled, and its evocative power makes it seem like an old friend; discovered by chance, it has become one of my favorites.

Finally doing a long-overdue proper sampling of Byredo Eleventh Hour, and even though there have been at least a couple releases since it was released (Elevator Music, Sundazed), it’s been one that I’ve been a huge fan of when sniffing in stores. From the start, it’s a balanced, agreeable fruity, woody, and semi-sharp blend, that has a bit of an apple cider vibe to it while being brighter and less spicy. Its note breakdown is anything but that conventional, though, some spiciness coming from pepper, sure, but the sort of apple vibe that I’m getting coming from a curious combination of carrot, fig, rum, and tonka. It’s fresh at the onset with bergamot; sweet but not too sweet; fruity but not overwhelmingly so; just a twinge green; and comfortable over a woody base (cashmere woods, officially). Despite some odd notes, it’s very easy to wear and feels very versatile on my skin, but given its odd composition, I’d especially encourage anyone curious enough about it to sample it. At $260 / 100ml and $175 / 50ml retail, it’s a little pricey, given that despite its idiosyncrasies, it’s not too bold or daring. Twisted Lily currently has the 100ml size on sale for $182, which is nice. Performance-wise, it’s solid, a dense feeling lasting for at least a couple of hours. This isn’t the type of fragrance I’d expect or need to be beastly, just robust at its opening with a long enough tail to get me through a work day, which I believe it has. Overall, not daring, but a satisfying, balanced, useful, fun option that I could see myself or others wearing frequently. An easy winner that’s just different enough from anything else I’ve smelled to wholly have my attention. 8 out of 10

Let me say this!!! Thank You Cat from my favorite fragrance store for letting me get my nose on this juixe. Check out my first impressions on YouTube RaJuR real deep kool. Now, Goes on like bubblegum and dries down to some exotic Fun!! I cant get enough of this suaxe. I cant wait yo get my bottle!! The Quick Sweet Blast of bubblegum to the start of the crazy drydown to a boozy, nutty, grainy adult sniff. This is NOT the Byredo, you may be used to. For me, 1996 was groundbreaking for Byredo. I have 7 redo's and had 9. There are a few on my radar, well, Was on my radar til the juixe hit my nose. I cant get enough, and my sample is running short, so Ill be returning to get some more, til the bottle releases. Thats it. Like LeLabo's Another 13, via "A2daDeuce", that I hyped to the states from A closing Colette store in France? Time for MORE hype. Ive been grooving with my NewesT CD project "20Twenty" towards completion, so I've been outta the game.....except for Sarah McCarthy's 4160 Tuesdays offerings, I haven't purchase any juixe for a moment nor presented many YouTube reviews.....Til NOW!! Thank You Byredo for putting my music project on a brief pause!! LOL Its worth it.

this perfume is completely out of my comfort zone, i’m genuinely shocked at how much i love it. smelling it from the bottle, my initial reaction was “eh” but convinced by a friend, i gave it a try on my skin and i’ve been walking around with my nose stuck to my wrist since. it’s a gorgeous, deep, spicy scent, perfect for winter and the holiday season, while still maintaining that clean, modern byredo essence (i can’t explain it i guess, it’s a if you know you know kind of thing). my biggest beef with byredo is that i find their scents to be quite weak performers (you could fill a bottle of gypsy water with literal water and i wouldn’t be able to tell), but this one stays on for the entire day and projects quite well too. as a person who deals with chronic migraines i wasn’t overwhelmed by it, but i kept getting asked about what i’m wearing by sales assistants while i was christmas shopping. that being said i understand why it might not be anyone’s cup of tea, DO NOT buy it before trying it first. i think that if you like scents such as margiela’s jazz club, kilian’s angels share and le labo’s the noir 29 you’ll enjoy this as well though.

As I grow older, I started to love/enjoy woody/spicy/earthy fragrances. Byredo perfumes are tbh very expensive here but I got eleventh hour and gypsy water in hand creams at first. So I tried it. I love gypsy water but eleventh hour is strangely addictive to me like I can’t stop sniffing my hand when I use this cream. Rather than scent, it’s a nice moisturizing hand cream too. So I saved enough to buy 50ml and I believed the perfume is stronger in pepper and fig than hand cream which gave me worried because it’s a straight pepper that you can grind and put it in your food. However the it’s dried down to tonka bean which hand cream won’t give. I love it. I wear this to the office and someone followed me to ask which perfume I wear because it’s very crisp, fresh and pleasant. And even my boss complimented me at the meeting that I might look dumb but I smelled like an expensive restaurant or the boutique hotel hahahaha. I take it as a blessing. Great performance too. And you only need one or two spritz for all day long lasting. Perform better on clothes.

During COVID, I baked a lot of carrot cake, and I always thought, I wish there were a carrot cake-scented perfume. Something pleasant, soft, warm, and slightly sweet — but not cloying, thanks to the tangy freshness of carrot, grated lemon, and orange peel. This perfume, while not photorealistic, evokes that very feeling for me. The opening is super fresh thanks to Sichuan pepper and bergamot, then fig, rum, and of course plum add sweetness — but the carrot seed keeps it from tipping into sticky, suffocating, boozy territory. The woody, tonka base gives it real elegance. It’s a unique, creative scent — my favorite among the Byredos. I think it’s terribly underrated. On me, it lasts a long time without ever being overpowering. Just like I love carrot cake all year round, this fragrance feels great even in warm weather, although its notes clearly mark it as a fall-winter festive scent.

I had to sample this perfume after seeing the notes, and I didn’t expect much, but I fell in love instantly. It opens fresh with bergamot and fig, a hint of clove appears adding a warm, spiced touch before melting into strong cashmere and incense. The incense note is especially beautiful, it reminds me of my childhood. It’s mature, mysterious, almost witchy, the kind of scent only the brave could pull off. Wearing it transforms you into a cathedral, cold stone walls, candle smoke rising into the dark, incense thick in the air. It’s gothic and sacred, like a midnight mass in a forgotten city where something ancient lingers in the shadows. The only downside is the performance. Longevity and sillage are weak (about 3–5 hours), especially for the price. Still it’s so unique, I might buy it anyway.

This is a festive warm spiced woody perfume. It has a hint of bergamot freshness that keeps it from being too heavy and also keeps it firmly in the world of The Noir 29 by Le Labo. I think Eleventh Hour is the rum infused version of what TN29 is to black tea. This is sweeter and more Christmassy, but I adore both. Dark Rum by Malin & Goetz also has a similar feel in that spicy yet fresh boozy way. Writing this review has made me realised these are collectively some of my favourite scents. Similarly, if you know the brown candle by Hotel Costes, (my favourite home fragrance of all time) - there is also a similar vibe there. If you love warm spicy fragrances and are a fan of the note of rum, I would say this is a must try. Like carrot cake in a perfume but not sickly!

The Eleventh Hour symbolizes the last hour of the day. Perhaps it's Christmas and the guests are getting ready to go home and you can't do much but realize that the fun exciting moments of the day are now in the past. This perfume evokes that sense of reminiscing about good memories. I cherish this fragrance because it reminds me of my Russian great-grandmother cooking plum jam in her little kitchen. This fragrance radiates sweet plum churned in sugar for hours along with spices like cloves and bay leaf which aren't listed. Just wow how this fragrance evoked an almost long gone memory from my childhood. I wear this for myself but Eleventh Hour would suit any holiday, especially Christmas.

Finally got this one. First smell is cinnamon and clove. Not cheap and easy air freshener, but more complex. The carrot is definitely there, but also a warm pepper. It smells pleasantly like a spice shop, but not a cheap Lush perfume. Im still waiting for the plum smell. A lot of reviews say this screams Christmas. If you associate cinnamon with Christmas, then sure, but to me it’s more of a spice shop. Straight up unisex scent. The longevity and projection seems average/above average. This would probably go really well with either of the oud scents from Byredo or black saffron. Edit: after a couple hours of wear, the spice tones down into a more wood scent. Definitely better.

This fragrance begins with a bright burst of bergamot fruit and a spicy hint of pepper, with a slightly sweet and cinnamon-plum undertone. As it dries down, the fruity notes fade and the fragrance becomes more woody, with earthy hints of carrot seeds. Dark, boozy notes of rum mingle with tonka beans and cashmere wood, leading to a beautiful, smooth, and rich creamy finish dominated by tonka bean. Throughout the scent, the sweetness and spiciness remain present, creating a pleasant and warm spicy-citrus zest. The projection and longevity of this fragrance is pretty good, making it a cozy, delicious, and wonderful scent.

A lot of people don’t seem into this but it smells incredible to me. Kind of like a spring wood. It’s a little powdery, a little creamy on me which adds a dreamlike quality. The ISO e super stands out. Reminds me so much of the Johnson’s nighttime bubble bath that came in the purple bottle, if that bath were in a cabin in the woods. Reminds me a little of Lush’s Supermilk as well. I don’t get the ketchup or tomato thing people were mentioning, nor is this super spicy on me. First Byredo perfume that actually lasts on my skin and clothes. I may actually purchase the full bottle.

This was a blind purchase for me. I am absolutely in love with it! Has anyone compared it to Noir 29 from Le Labo? It’s almost identical. It just so happens to be one of my top favorites as well. It's very sexy but not as dense and heavy as you may guess. The tea note is what really distinguishes it from the other fragrances in this genre. It is the common denominator that connects the top notes to the base notes in a very elegant manner. It gives it a subtle earthiness and sweetness that rounds out the Sharp pepper note. This fragrance is underrated. I really love it.

This does not smell like a lot of perfumes out there, I can assure you of that. Once the opening dries down (about a half an hour) it resembles Eau d’Italie’s Bois d’Ombrie. I have a lot of perfumes and it’s the only one that comes close. Could be the carrot and boozy rum theme that are in both. Eleventh Hour is almost chaotic in the beginning, it really keeps your attention. I definitely like it, but it probably wouldn’t be an every day scent for me but I would wear it more than a few times a year. Great for fall and winter.

Immediately Eleventh Hour became my favourite Byredo to the date. Moreover, this is one of the most unique Jerome Epinette creations ever. Carnation! At start I smelled only carnation, a full bodied and so intoxicated. Carnation itself is a very complex and difficult accord to use due to its brightness. Here carnation links to a milky fig and juicy fruitiness of a cinnamon in the dry down that smoothen the composition. This will become the big thing for Byredo, believe me.

Someone decanted their bottle for me and wow, I love this scent. For me straight off the bat it predominantly smells of figs, but behind that I feel the deep woody fragrance. This was love at first spritz, similarly to what happened with me and De Los Santos, but I think I like this one even more. I don't find it Christmassy but I can see how someone would. It lasts about 3-4 hours on my skin which I find a pity, because I would have really liked for it to last longer.

You might read this smells of spicy ketchup or potpourri but don’t listen to that nonsense. Sichuan pepper hits your nose at first spray zinging the senses. Fig may be one of my favorite notes, mixed with plum + rum adds a fruity juiciness. Labdanum sets the anchor which Byredo does incredibly well, might be why I love this house. This fragrance made me fall in love with spice in perfumery. I do have to overspray but I don’t mind because joy should be overdone.

I love this!! Smells like cherry trees(comes from tonka bean :D), rum, fig, a bit of spices (sichuan pepper and cinnamon) and cashmere wood. It feels bright and worm, I enjoyed wearing it both in the daytime and the night time. I often spray it on my belly before sleep, it leaves lovely subtle smells of tonka and cashmere wood when i wake up! This combination of spiciness, woodiness and fruitiness is great for Christmas season too :D

Can’t believe some of the reviews. Ketchup? Preposterous, but if you dwell under a rock and never have smelled cloves, then yes, maybe you will get ketchup out of this. Anyway, this is a georgeous scent, suitable for fall and around Christmas time. You want something spicy but not too overwhelming? Go for it. The rest of you can continue loving Bal d’Afrique, which has no performance and smells like your old auntie.