ScentXone

Today’s review marks my official introduction to the house of Kierin, a modern, independent American brand that deliberately shakes up traditional niche perfumery with a vibrant, urban ethos centered around wearable art and conscious luxury. Known for their bold, colorful presentations inspired by street culture and creative freedom, this house rejects standard, predictable design choices to focus on highly artistic scent collages. The structural blueprint for this specific release, ScentxOne, hints at an incredibly indulgent, complex, and sophisticated autumn journey, audaciously pairing the rich warmth of aged cognac and wild honey against a deeply texturized heart of dried apple crisp and buttery orris root. This creation showcases a fascinating design philosophy from master perfumer Jérôme Epinette, aiming to deliver an unapologetically bold chypre gourmand experience that masterfully balances thick, sticky sweetness with elegant powder facets and robust, commanding woods. Approaching my very first experience with this house, the question remains whether ScentxOne can deliver the exceptional blending and transportive, golden hour realism required to establish Kierin as an essential standout on my radar, or if its dense arrangement of spirits, fruits, and heavy resins will become cloying on skin. Let’s see if this fragrance stands as a brilliant, seductive masterpiece of contemporary liquid art or if it is merely an overhyped concept. Opening: The opening is sweet, fruity, and boozy. The primary notes I get are dried apple crisp, cognac, honey, and oak, with the dried apple crisp and cognac leading the introduction. The dried apple crisp greets my nose first as a prominent fruity accord. It carries a highly distinct, baked orchard fruit profile, completely lacking the watery crispness of a fresh green apple and opting instead for a warm, concentrated, and slightly caramelized fruit texture. The cognac shares the spotlight proudly, introducing a smooth, deep pour of aged alcohol. It provides an instant velvety warmth that feels rich and boozy, lifting the initial composition with a sophisticated, realistic spirit nuance rather than a sharp chemical sting. The honey works beautifully underneath the apple crisp and cognac, providing a supporting yet completely enveloping sweetness. It presents with a thick, natural, and golden nectar quality that melts into the dried apple, adding incredible indulgence without turning into a simple, cloying sugar syrup. Lastly, the oak rounds out the opening, acting as the physical plate holding the sweet elements together and delivering a deep, cask like woodiness that keeps the fragrance feeling grounded and mature. I also pick up on clear hints of a smooth, buttery, and earthy accord from the orris root, as well as some deep, balsamic resins from the myrrh and subtle herbal nuances from the davana in the background. The result is an incredibly rich, gourmand, and boozy opening experience that is extremely similar to Kilian's Angels' Share, though constructed with very subtle differences. Dry Down: The dry down transitions into a sweet, boozy, and balsamic character. The primary notes I get are honey, cognac, myrrh, and dried apple crisp, with the honey and cognac leading the composition. Structurally, the honey has taken the absolute lead, pushing that same thick, sticky sweetness from the opening but arriving a bit bolder now that it is no longer competing directly with the loud apple note. Meanwhile, the cognac completely maintains its grand intensity, continuing to provide that signature warm, rich, and boozy accord on skin. The myrrh has noticeably increased in overall strength, bringing with it a much larger dose of the deep, resinous accord that I only caught faint whispers of during the opening hours. Lastly, the dried apple has moved gently into the background, still providing subtle, pleasant whiffs of the fruity sweetness that dominated the initial spray. I also catch subtle, lingering remnants of a barrel like woodiness emerging from the oak. The result is a dry down that delivers a much deeper, more balsamic experience, successfully moving away from being entirely Angels' Share adjacent into something more similar to Parfums de Marly's Oajan. Performance: The initial projection within the first hour of wear is remarkably strong, proving completely capable of filling a small room. The sillage perfectly matches that grand scale, casting a dense, heavy scent trail in the wearer's wake. After about four hours on skin, the performance remains impressively sustained, with the projection still reaching out at least six feet and the trailing scent trail remaining easily noticeable to anyone nearby. Even around the ten hour milestone, the composition continues to push out a solid three feet, with a lighter but still completely noticeable trail. The fragrance lasts for at least twelve hours before finally becoming a true skin scent, demonstrating phenomenal, powerhouse longevity. When to Wear: ScentxOne is a definitive fall and winter fragrance that is best reserved for evening wear. Its warm, rich, and intoxicating nature makes it a perfect pick for special occasions or cold weather date nights, yet it possesses a comforting quality that allows it to function just as beautifully as a supremely cozy, casual fragrance for relaxing nights at home. However, it is much too heavy, sweet, and unapologetically gourmand for formal wear, and its immense power makes it far too disruptive for a standard office environment. Blind Buy: I would not necessarily consider ScentxOne to be a universally safe blind buy. It belongs to a specific category of artistic creations that will strictly appeal to dedicated gourmand or boozy fragrance lovers. True fans of heavy compositions like Angels' Share, Oajan, or Ambre Tabac will feel right at home with this profile, and for that demographic alone, it would actually stand as a relatively safe purchase. Outside of that specific group, however, sampling is highly recommended before committing to a full presentation. Final Verdict: Discovering ScentxOne proved to be an incredibly rewarding experience, as it instantly resonated with my personal olfactory tastes. Being a massive fan of both Angels' Share and Oajan, I found this scent profile to be absolutely stellar, successfully capturing that exact style of rich, sweet, and boozy luxury while matching them step for step in terms of raw, powerful performance. Evaluated strictly in its own right, this formulation would be a total no brainer for me to add to my rotation immediately. However, with the development being so incredibly similar to those two specific giants, and considering that I already own full bottles of both Angels' Share and Oajan, I have to be brutally honest with myself regarding my buying habits. Adding this to the shelf would represent an incredibly redundant purchase. For that reason, and that reason alone, I will be passing on a full bottle. *Update* Picked up a bottle through a trade, and I'm very happy I did. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 10/10 Sillage: 9/10 Versatility: Average Compliment Factor: High Gender: Unisex Value: Overpriced

#1 rated blind buy of my year. ScentXone caught me off guard in the best way possible. It opens like a golden-hour cocktail with warm woods, smooth wild honey, a hint of vanilla, and a subtle boozy whisper that feels chic but never syrupy. Really impressed with Jerome Epinette's work for Kierin, in general, and would mark this among his best creations of all time (even if it is not the most commercialized, which is to be expected for an indie brand). The balance here just seems flawless as it is dry and creamy at once, sweet but never cloying. sensual but grounded. While it is unisex, it does lean more masculine than the Killian Apple Brandy or Angels' Share. I do catch some of the "salvia" sharpness, as other's mentioned, but experience it as a textured warmth that shifts elegantly as it wears. On fabric or skin, ScentXone radiates for hours, leaving behind a trail that is equal parts cozy and magnetic. For the price, the complexity and quality here are staggering. Before giving a scent a 10/10, I ask myself if there is anything that could improve the experience or formula and the answer here is no. This is perfection. The only disconnect that I can vaguely see is the brand's juxtaposition of this signature scent, icon-worthy fragrance with graffiti art, as opposed to classical art. I think the scent story really doesn't match the scent experience, in my point of view.

Can’t say much other than this is such a hidden gem and masterpiece. Think of AS but lighter and ‘crispier’ because of the apple crisp. It’s not as dense as AS but that sweetness still lingers to the people around you. That honey apple boozy smell with some a little bit greens and woods in the dry down makes is just chefs kiss. I legit rate this as my favorite winter fragrance of all time hands down.

Very close up to my skin, I keep getting a tinge of the saliva note that labdanum gives me so bleh (starting to suspect it may be the orris, had similar experiences with labdanum-free perfumes before). However when I'm NOT getting saliva, this is sooo yummy. Agreed with the review below me that the sillage is muuuuch nicer than the scent on skin! It really does smell like apple crisp with honey drizzled over it served on a wooden plate, with a little apple brandy cocktail on the side :0 I am pretty much obsessed with any scent with a fruit + davana + patchouli combo, something about it just gives sexy mysterious earthy chic baddie every time. Highly recommend checking out Fruto Oscuro by Eauso Vert for something similar, it's got a similar makeup as this in the base notes, but with dark cherries instead of apple and WAYYYY stronger sillage/longevity. Not complaining about this one at all though, 8/10 :)

02/12/25 First impressions: not impressed. This smells exactly like Commodity Milk Expressive (which I don't like), but perhaps a bit less woody, and a bit of the apple-esque note from Angel's Share instead of the Milk note. I will be back in two weeks to give an update if the scent has changed at all. Edit: 20/11/25 I am so happy I came back to this over six months later, it's gotten SO much better! The masculine woodiness has gone, and I'm left with a delicious, honeyed apple pie that isn't juvenile. The apple in this is more present than it is in Angel's Share, a fresh and crisp apple note as well. Lovely after given a chance to mature in a dark drawer for months.