With Angels and Archangels

My bottle just arrived from Kerosene out of Detroit, and the immediate reaction is hard to ignore: has John Pegg been spending time with Filippo Sorcinelli? For those not familiar with Sorcinelli, unlike Pegg who is a perfumer, he's an olfactory artistic director. He also created robes, mitres, and other garments for the late Pope Francis. I have a majority of his perfumes in my collection. I also have a majority of Kerosene's line in my collection. I'm a Fragfagfan of both men. Right out of the gate, this doesn’t smell like the typical Kerosene profile. No syrupy gourmand density like Unknown Pleasures and Found in Light, or aggressively linear projection like Blackmail and Broken Theories. Instead, it leans abstractly liturgical and atmospheric, almost reverent in tone. There’s a distinct incense accord that feels closer to old world church resin than smoky abstraction, layered with a slightly waxy, mineralic quality that evokes cold stone, extinguished candles, and that faint metallic echo you get in cavernous neo-gothic sanctuaries. My Sorcinelli comparison isn’t superficial. It’s that same ecclesiastical aesthetic being somber, textured, and conceptual rather than crowd-pleasing. Where Kerosene typically pushes bold, immediate gratification, this composition feels more restrained and intentional. The development is slower, less about top-to-base theatrics and more about subtle shifts in density and warmth. I get flickers of balsamic sweetness, but they’re subdued and more like smoldering resin than anything edible. This is one of the more intriguing departures in the Kerosene lineup. Less “look at me,” more “experience this space.” Whether it fully lands for me will come down to wear over time, but as a first impression, it’s a compelling pivot and one that raises some interesting questions about where Pegg is heading next. Postscript: About eight hours later, I had to throw on a dress shirt for dinner. It hit me driving to the restaurant this evening. I must’ve hung the dress shirt back up after its last wear instead of tossing it in the laundry. As it warmed on my skin, my current signature scent, Histoires' 1740 Marquis de Sade, came alive again from the collar. The unintended layering with this new Kerosene release was nothing short of breathtaking and reminiscent of Liz Moore's Anubis. Postscript II 05/04/26: Honestly, it didn’t fully land with me -it descended. Loudly. With wings. And projection that could be detected by air traffic control.

I should tell you that I love to light a million sticks of incense in my room, especially just above my collection of hanging cotton shirts so that when I leave the house, the smell of incense fills the room when I arrive. This is the only scent I have found to encapsulate that experience. The opening can be harsh and almost offensive at first, but it dries down to this lovely sandalwood smell that feels like the first time you smelled the pheromones of your first love. It feels refreshing and encapsulates woody earth tones that I’ve been looking for. Most perfumes I have tried in this realm come across as simply smelling like old books. Just old. The smell lingers around you all day, with this one. And I’ve noticed that it sticks to my hair in particular that when the wind blows you’d smell it all over again as your hair flies about. Not everything should be in excess. If you want this perfume to work for you, then moderation is key. This is intimate. I like to mix this with Le Labo’s Rose 31 to really bring the sweetness out of this scent. I feel as though the rose notes are hiding. Too many sprays and I can definitely see how other users have reported “bug spray or barbecue”.

Opens with an overwhelming blast of smoke (and general barbecue-ish-ness) that chokes everything else out: there's no rose, no cedar, just an inferno. But around half an hour in, that slowly burns out, revealing a smoky, gorgeous rose that has this spicy creaminess from the sandalwood and cedar. This fragrance tells the unmistakable story of an angel, or maybe Icarus, plummeting to earth in a pillar of holy light and landing in the rose garden of a lonely wooden church. No, I don't like the opening, but it is SO evocative that it adds to the experience for me. Like most Kerosenes, this is a longevity MONSTER- I easily got 12+ hours off it. It's not a "one spray and everyone in a 20 foot radius will smell you" level of sillage (looking at you, Followed) but, hot take, not everything needs to fill a whole room!

This fragrance smells like you just stumbled upon an abandoned church in a clearing in the woods in the winter time, or a grandmother that chain smokes while gardening on Sundays. With Angels and Archangels opens with a very polarizing, ashy, smoky scent. The insence reads very church-like and the charcoal and smoke kind of smell like a cigarette to me. I actually really enjoy it, but not everyone would. As it blooms on paper you immediately start to get this sort of wilted, dying (not in a bad way!) rosy floral. It’s very beautiful, and becomes generally more wearable as it dries down into a floral-driven scent. I haven’t tried it on skin but definitely plan to.

Starts off bright, with that dusky rose you get a hint of everything and the dry down is the most delicious cedar/charcoal/sandalwood scent that had me sniffing my arm all day because I would catch whiffs while driving and walking. Longevity is insane on this it lasts overnight for me and nothing ever lasts on me. Definitely projects but not in a migraine inducing way. This scent is truly unique and beautiful it’s witchy it’s beautiful and I think it’s really great for any season. If you like the likes of black saffron and things up that alley you would love this. It’s dirty, it’s feminine it’s sexy. 10/10

This is an incense lover's dream. Heavy, sooty incense layered over rose, with a massive dose of sandalwood in the drydown. Captures the sanctuary of an Eastern Orthodox church perfectly while at the same time being superbly wearable.

If you’re a fan of a “dirty rose” like me I.e the bases of black saffron Byredo this is for you. You get the nice rose in the initial spray the dry down is very incense/charcoal but not heavy this is VERY wearable. I really enjoy this

Received a sample of this with my order of Vanillified. Very rosy with intense incense. Smells like a Catholic church/chapel. I went to a catholic school and went to the school chapel a lot so this smells very nostalgic minus the old stuffy “dustiness”. I don’t know if I want to smell like a church, though. I might get it anyway and spray it on books and other stuff for a trip down memory lane. Update: dabbed this on my cotton paper sketchbook and my whole office smells like incense for 2 whole days! It’s great! It really does project but at the same time elusive. The name of this fragrance is very appropriate. Out of the two new releases, I think I like this one better.

Sexy bug spray and campfire. I don't know how I'm coming out the other end with citronella notes, but I am. The cedar is there, with just a touch of rose and sandalwood, so much so you have to keep sniffing your wrists to make sure you weren't wrong about them coming to the party. The scent is very understated... Intimate silage, and not afraid of gaps in the bouquet where the imparted dusty smoke thins before blooming back into the sap of freshly sawed cedar. I really like this one, just wish it had something sharp. This is a softer, cozier scent than I tend to prefer.

This starts off very nice, with a burst of smokey rose infused incense. It definitely resembles a church incense. Unfortunately, the smoke quickly fades and all I'm left with is a pungent rose scent. The incense accord dies quickly, as does the sillage. I really wanted to like this one, but it just doesn't work for me.

100% smells like a house way out in the sticks, the kind where it's tucked away in the forest enough you can't quite see it from the main road and it's old as all get out but the new owners are trying to throw on an addition, so mixed in with the must and cedar and rose incense the old bat before would burn all hours of the day you have fresh wood and the heat of an electric saw. Or putting it less verbose, it has an old inherited steamer trunk smell. My very picky roommate who has been chasing a photoreal wood smell for coming on a decade is obsessed which I'm glad for, not just because satisfying him is so difficult but also while it was pretty on me it really only suits someone with a little more... rustic vibes.

This perfume actually evokes spiritual memory in me, it "is" spiritual to me. As many have noted it smells like a Catholic Church, perhaps with wilted roses laid at the foot of the Madonna. But it also smells like many other ceremonies I've been to, ones where we're sat in front of a fire all night, building an altar together, cleansing with floral water. 100% earnestly, I would wear this for an encounter with the divine.

Smells very smoky/charcoal-esque, and there's a beautiful wood smell like the inside of an antique trunk. I don't pick up any rose. The wood smell is natural and high-quality and this smells really good, although it's a bit like a base or a drydown rather than a full composition. People who like the idea of this based on the notes would probably love it

Initial impressions on paper - Very incense and church vibes. If you like that or Aesops Hwyl this is that turned up to 11. I get a sweet rose and some black currant at the top of the profile that peak out.

The people saying this has poor performance are lying lol. I bought a backup follow and this came as a sample and it lasted all day on my clothes and skin

This is straight up Seirogan pellets with a touch of soil and green notes to round out the charcoal. It’s a huge no for me, unfortunately.

This is how Kerosene re-captures my attention!! Can't wait to sniff this.

Oh baby. A new Kerosene!!! This one looks like it’s gonna be amazing.