Hewn

Hendley Perfumes Hewn is a wider re-release of the 2020 Laboratory Series creation, a highly resinous fragrance that feels sweet, sharp, spicy, creamy, and earthy, a mix of beeswax, orris, woods, and musk, primarily. The orris is noticeable and seems to be the source of sharpness, but it doesn’t make the overall perfume particularly powdery. And it’s spicy only a vague sense, not like pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. The resinous part feels like more than just beeswax, perhaps some incense, as it’s a little dark and smoky without being entirely so, vaguely reminiscent of the burnt campfire accord in Fume. In the existing catalogue, though, Hewn is most similar to Felt in that it’s sharp and resinous, but not quite as sweet as Cola. Overall, Felt is sweeter, and Hewn is sharper/spicier, but they’re both in the “middle,” very balanced albeit strong, resinous fragrances. As with Hans’ other creations, Hewn feels carefully put together and quite rich, yet another great original resinous creation that feels like it’ll be especially beloved on the cooler weather when its performance and character feel most appropriate. I’d probably not venture to wear this on a hot day, myself. Hewn is available in extrait concentration, performing very well, as it’s palpably dense and projects quite a bit to start, and is priced at $250/160/85 for 50/30/15ml, so on the higher end of the line, but similar to other entries. Overall, I love it—it’s in a class with other great fragrances like Fume, Felt, Cola, and Bloodline. 8 out of 10

Returning to this one after a few years -- it's still as amazing and nuanced as EVER. We can't avoid the obvious Bloodline connection here, and that's fair enough, I feel, but the note here is minimal -- it's a trace element -- detectable, but not the WHOLE soul of the scent. The woods are front and centre here -- nothing too out-of-the-ordinary, but also not meek, pedestrian or forgettable. This is some top-calibre woods at work, here -- it's not a standard cedar, Atlas or Texas or anything like that -- it's not as dry and pencil shavings -- it's something else -- or possibly a combo of the two (or three) -- it stands out. And the last (major) note that enters the fray is the iris / orris element -- not plasticky, not fatty -- just, PURPLE -- that's the only word I have to describe this -- purple. It fits in perfectly here. All the elements combine to create a wonderful, pleasing scent that I really REALLY enjoy using. It's a pleasure to smell and I feel so good wearing it. LOVE.

Timberrrrr! Another magnificent tree-centric masterpiece from my beloved house of Hendley, with perfect balance between robust resiny heart notes and a zinging, outdoorsy, springing sappiness that brings the forest outside right into the woodworking shop. Not half as sweet - the sugar element here is filled in by the fresher and more herbal tangs of oakmoss - but reminds me of Olympic Orchids' Woodcut; and its truly honest, straightforward feel of freshly-splintered conifer is close to another great love, Parfum d'Empire's Wazamba. That means it is totally, absolutely, classed in the all-time top bracket. No surprise for the master craftsman capable of issuing the dreamily mellow oaky Bourbon, the rural idyll of Mown and so many other wonderful things. For those who love genuine woodiness, not just ISO E Super, this is simply superlative. Love is too weak a word.

The name/word itself really attracts me. As a grammar/lexis nerd, I am drawn to all the various aspects of the word 'hewn'; the 'points', as some might call it. Firstly, it's an irregular verb, especially in the past participle form / V3, as well as it being the passive voice form and also the fact that it is an adjective as well a verb. As a word, lexically that is, it is dense, multi-faceted and semantically rich. The same can be said about the scent. Many have said this already, and I'll add to the chorus by stating the comparisons to Bloodline are fair and I totally see the DNA here. The addition of the iris and the even-more-bleached-woods is a great combo, and I'm afraid to say that I am adding another bottle to my 'must buy' list. I'm gonna try it out a few more times, but I think I really REALLY like this...

Soft burnt woods 🪵. Has the bones of bloodline but not as brut. Softer but not in performance or strength. Easily top 5 in my fragrance collection

Updated: 01/24/2025 I originally got Hewn directly from the Hendley Perfumes website as part of the Discovery Set. At first I was disappointed because I was in search of a prominent wood note, but I later came to appreciate this fragrance for what it is and bought a bottle. I decided to rewrite this review because Hendley was one of the first perfumers I tried after I decided to peek into the world of fragrance. I realize now that I underestimated how good Hendley's perfumes are, which didn't sink in until I had tried a number of designer fragrances to gain some perspective. Hewn, as with all of Hendley's fragrances actually, is bold and rich, opening with a heady and intoxicatingly thick dark Iris note, and underlaid by a oak note (of a style I usually refer to as 'unfinished lumber'). This is the type of scent that you can feel filling your sinuses on a deep breath. Fragrantica's chart has the Wood and Iris notes completely flipped in my opinion. Throughout the wear the iris slowly recedes until the iris and wood notes are equally weighted, and from there gradually fades. Throughout the wear I can sometimes pick out hints of cedarmoss and vetiver, but to my nose these are so well blended that it just ends up like an extension of the iris/orris note. Hewn's strength is not the uniqueness of the notes, but in the richness of the body and it's presence on the olfactory stage. Great longevity 8+ hours on skin, particularly long lasting on clothes. I'd call this a unisex fragrance but definitely oriented more towards those who prefer somewhat darker, denser styles. If this were music it would have strong mids and good supporting low tones, with only the smallest amount in the upper registers to round it out. As colors, the scent brings to mind aged natural wood tones and deep dark purples, on a background of rich shadowy browns.