Isle Ryder

wow, and another one I feel like I have to come to rescue kind of. I smell this scent so very different to most of the reviewers here I am really wondering if we had the same scent to test at all Oo. What I get from this really special and for me fantastic scent is a fresh note of meadowsweet and some fresh fir tree to start with. After five minutes the broom brings yet another fresh note in the first drydown, and the first traces of light honey and fresh hay are detectable. The whole thing is underlined with a beautiful mixture of moss, lichen and fresh herby notes. In the heart of this scent the honey and hay notes get a little stronger, but never sticky, the honey notes are very natural, more like beeswax and honeywine. A soft note of jasmine steps in, but very subtle only to positively strengthen the lovely sweet notes I get. Every stronger in the back are the conifers, fir and now also Norway spruce, which bring yet another woody, darkgreen note into the picture. After two to three hours the honey turns into a darker shade, like woodhoney, and also the hay gets a nice darker touch, the Norway spruce is a little stronger and finally the bulrush comes in, woody-grassy to complete the scent picture for me. So, no idea what other people get with "only Jasmine", or saying this scent is "ordinary"? It's one of the more complex scents for sure that develops ever new notes over several hours. So, maybe the other reviewers have gotten wrong testers, or maybe old testers that have gone off? I don't know, but I think this scent is wonderful, for me the perfect picture of the Viking shield maiden, distanced and strong, yet soft and sweet in a beautifully natural and reasuring ancient way always with a hint of danger if needed. One of my favourite niche scents of 2016.

I was so very, very thankful at how different this is, and different in a good way, a novel way--but not merely a novelty. Immediately upon my applying, it had a pungent, earthy, chypre-ish quality, somewhat green, but also sweet. I really couldn't place any of the notes except for the fir. I didn't look anything up, just thought "fir"--but there were clearly other notes, more complex, somewhat floral (though I wouldn't have guessed jasmine) and even "leather" in there as well as what might be vetiver. The other thought I had was "cistus" but apparently it's not in there or not listed. There is a green yet indeed "aquatic" and bitter feel about this scent, and while I wear a lot of "masculine" scents as a woman--I felt this might be better on a man; that is, it conjured up vague amorphous scent-recalls of "mens'" colognes, or the smell of a man's sweat, or what I have identified as "male"--but--it's totally different and its own thing. Only in the dry down did I detect the honey, but there is a "sweetness" to the "evergreen notes" and I think what makes this so different and worth trying is the Poplar, Dyer's Greenwood, and Bulrush--I've smelled the other notes in so many iterations that I think that explains the dry chypre-ish quality as well as a "hay-like" facet along with the verdant quality that does not read as "pencil shavings" or cedar floors. It really is a very unique scent and thankfully did not smell synthetic. "Isle Rider" as a name is perfect--as it conjures up windy moors, a grey day, the smell of a horse's sweat, hooves pounding through the heather, going into a deep forest near a sea. I have a decant which I will use, but I don't think a FB is for me because it does skew masculine, but if a bottle drops in my lap...

Isle Ryder is a very 'visual' fragrance for me. I sometimes get annoyed by promotional copy from fragrance manufacturers that sound more like a J Peterman catalogue than they do a description of the frangrance, but in this case, the rather poetic picture painted by D.S. & Durga captures its essence beautifully. This fragrance is all about the ancient British Isles: gorse, hay, herbs, honey, treesap, and dampness. I get an unmistakable tea note as well, although it's not listed; perhaps it reminds me of an herbal tea, but there is a definite leafiness there. The gorse and the honey are the dominant notes for me, but the effect is more honeyed tea than it is Miel de Bois, so if the latter is a disaster on your skin, you should not be at all scared to try Isle Ryder. Although the word 'unique' is overused in the fragrance world, Isle Ryder is truly different from just about everything I've ever tried. For me, the one similar 'vibe' I connect to a previously tried scent is the dominant gorse note, which, because it is closely related to broom, reminds me a good bit of Santa Maria Novella's Ginestra; however, the addition of the honey note to Isle Ryder makes it a distinct fragrance from Ginestra. I love the hay and dried wildflower aspect to this scent; it is soft and gentle, like a beautifully designed natural wreath. The damp and slightly mossy aspect really ties together the whole fragrance, and gives it the unmistakable feel of its name. You can truly picture a rider on horseback, thundering across the wild meadows of the Isle of Manx, or the Hebrides, in pre-Roman Britain. Longevity is excellent (easily 8-10 hours) with moderate sillage. This smells amazing on men and women. A truly special and seasonless fragrance.

I'm an Outlander fan, and this totally makes me think of Claire's adventures in Scotland. I didn't even know this collection called "Hylnds" was referring to the Scottish Highlands, but it certainly accomplishes what it set out to do. Isle Ryder smells rustic and golden, which is odd because it has a ton of jasmine in it, a tropical flower that probably nobody associates with Scotland. But the base reminds me so much of bullrushes. Smells like hay and honey, making me think of the sun setting on the Highlands, casting its final golden glow on the darkening hills. It's a surprisingly elegant fragrance with a modern-vintage thing going on, like something slightly animalic in the base--maybe it contains some synthetic civet? Potent--lasts forever on me. I really think they should make this a permanent part of their offerings. It's a shame many people will never smell it. I will treasure my bottle.

Very herbal...very strong...when I first sniffed a sample I was sure I hated it...but I decided to give it the skin test and there it was an entirely different perfume...I love "pine" perfumes but this is not overly pine, I get way more grasses and herbs, with just a touch of jasmine - I wouldn't even classify this as a floral perfume...either way I've fallen in love with the entire Hylands line, this one just took a little longer for me to love...