Kumkat Wood

Mancera Kumkat Wood opens with a moderate projection of sweet, citrus, and fresh woody accords. The opening is bright, sharp, natural, sour, and very pleasant. The bergamot and grapefruit create the opening citrus note and both are equally noticeable. The cedar is the prominent woody note, fresh wood, slightly bitter and green foliage-like, blending well with the citrus notes. The spices and floral notes are a soft aromatic touch but not prominent; similarly, the patchouli is a light green touch. The amber if there, does not seem to have any significant participation other than a touch of sweetness. As the fragrance commences to dry-down, the vetiver surfaces to join the patchouli, it is noticeable but not as strong as the cedar. The sandalwood is a soft sweet touch, finally, the white musk comes up as a projecting accord without making its tone noticeable. The most important opening to the dry-down change in this fragrance is the sharp, vibrant, and intense citrus and cedar opening, which smooths out under the more aromatic amber, white musk, and sandalwood. The opening is more about the citrus and cedar, whereas the dry-down is more about the cedar and the green notes, vetiver and some patchouli; finally, the initial moderate projection changes to moderate to low.. Once Mancera Mumkat Wood has reached its full dry-down, it can be summarized as a moderate to low projection, slightly sweet, cedar, and vetiver fragrance with some spicy soft citrus and floral accords. The fragrance feels casual, delicate, diurnal, earthy, elegant, energizing, fine, formal, fresh, grassy, green, high-quality, inviting, mild, modern, natural, nicely-blended, playful, refreshing, slightly sour, slightly sweet, unisex, versatile, woody, and very pleasant. BATCH REVIEWED: 2020 (#190079A). WOW RATING: 8/10. A very pleasant, high-quality, and impressive, mostly cedar and vetiver fragrance. DISLIKE RATING: 1/10. The cedar and vetiver are prominent but very pleasant. UNIQUENESS: 9/10. The combination of notes and the resulting scent is unique. MASS APPEAL: 8/10. Most people will enjoy this fragrance. PROJECTION: 2/10. Low, about 2 feet around the wearer, unusual for a Mancera fragrance. SILLAGE: 2/10. Low, about 2 feet behind the wearer. APPLICATION: 4 or more atomizations. LONGEVITY: 4/10. About 4 hours, it projects for about 2 hours. SEASONS: Spring, summer, fall, and climate-controlled environments. OCCASIONS: Formal events, outdoor gatherings, office, business, casual, holidays, romantic, dating. This is an office-friendly fragrance. VERSATILITY: 7/10. Very good, this fragrance can be worn most of the year. GENDER: Advertised as unisex, the cedar and vetiver tilt the fragrance to the masculine side. AGES: 30 and above. The vetiver is a note better suited for mature wearers. RECOMMENDATION: Mancera Kumkat Wood is a very pleasant woody and green fragrance that can be found discounted for about $70. Its performance is disappointing for a Mancera fragrance, but the quality of the notes and resulting scent are impressive. This is a great buy. BLIND-BUY: Yes but only if you are familiar with its main notes, cedar, and vetiver. SIMILAR: These are fragrances in the same genre with cedar noticeable accords. Acqua di Parma Blue Mediterraneo Men Cedro di Taormina is a low projection cedar and spicy fragrance; Armaf El Cielo Men EDP is a low projection, delicious, sweet, woody and fruity fragrance; Bentley Infinity Rush is a great sweet orange, vetiver, spicy, woody and soft musky fragrance; Cartier Declaration EDP is leather, very bitter orange, neroli, vetiver, cardamom, woody, and spicy fragrance; Chanel Egoiste Platinum EDT is a great cedar, vetiver, and oakmoss fragrance; Dior Homme Sport EDT is great sweet citrus, woody, vetiver, and ginger fragrance; Dior Sauvage EDT is great sharp citrus, spicy, amber, woody, and musky fragrance; Emor London Oud No 2 is a rare and good cedar and green fragrance; English Laundry Riviera features woody, fruity, and spicy accords but lacks performance; Ferrari Cedar Essence Men EDP is citrus, pine green, and woody, but lacks performance; Ferrari Essence Musk Men is a good clean musky, aquatic, woody, and citrusy fragrance; Ferrari Scuderia Forte Men EDP is a great and versatile fruity, cinnamon, and woody fragrance; Jacques Bogart Story Green is an affordable green and woody fragrance; Kilian Straight To Heaven White Cristal Men EDP is an impressive cedar fragrance; Mancera Kumkat Wood is a great and fine cedar and vetiver fragrance but lacks performance; Montale Red Vetiver is a great vetiver and cedar fragrance; Mr. Burberry EDP is a spicy and woody fragrance, pleasant but very weak; Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire is an elegant and versatile, slightly sweet, ambery, aquatic, and woody fragrance; Ralph Lauren Polo Sport Men EDT is a great aldehyde, mint, ginger, lavender, and woody. SUMMARY: A moderate to low projection, slightly sweet, cedar, and vetiver fragrance with some spicy soft citrus and floral accords. The fragrance feels casual, delicate, diurnal, earthy, elegant, energizing, fine, formal, fresh, grassy, green, high-quality, inviting, mild, modern, natural, nicely-blended, playful, refreshing, slightly sour, slightly sweet, unisex, versatile, woody, and very pleasant.

I am surprised by the "reminds me" section of this fragrance. To my nose, this smells much less like Ormonde Jayne's Ormonde Man, but rather very much like Ormonde Elixir! Elixir basically takes the DNA of Ormonde Woman (which is olfactively very similar to Ormonde Man) and adds a very promininent Cambodian oud note to increase is potency. Unlike Ormonde Man which has a nice synthetic assimilation of oud in the drydown, Ormonde Elixir has real oud that is pungent, medicinal, and lasts the entire life of the perfume. That is what I am getting here with Kumkat Wood. I almost can't believe there isn't real oud in this. There almost certainly isn't, the price is just too low to suggest that, but the way Pierre Montale had constructed this oud accord is so well done it has me pinching myself. I know oud is not listed in the notes, but I really get a very nice Laotian or Cambodian oud feel in this fragrance (the kind that is very clean, pungent, medicinal) just like the one in Ormonde Elixir. The only difference between them is that in Ormonde Elixir, the oud stands out very prominently from the rest of the formulation. In Kumkat Wood, the oud is in much closer concentration to the other accords, dare I say slightly more well blended. The rest of this smells extremely close to Ormonde Woman/Elixir and by proxy Ormonde Man as well. So, if you like Ormonde Elixir, or if you like Ormonde Man OR Ormonde Woman and would like to experience the DNA with the addition of oud, you should try this. It performs well (not as great as other Manceras, but still very good) and the price is amazing in my opinion. If anyone has any info on this perfume's formulation I would be interested to learn about it. Edit: After a full day of testing both side by side, here's some observations. They are most dissimilar in the opening, Ormonde Elixir seems oddly more linear, but the oud stands out throughout the whole drydown. Kumkat wood opens very sharply with grapefruit and bergamot, extremely bright citrus with a medicinal edge. As it dries down the citrusy notes flatten to create the very nice medicinal accord that gives the feel of oud (definitely no real oud, but still smells great). Generally, Kumkat Wood is brighter, drier, and less resinous/ambery. It is not an outright clone, however the further into the drydown, the more similar they get, and they do get very similar. Elixir is longer lasting and has slightly more projection, but Kumkat Wood has longer lasting projection and slightly better sillage. Overall my initial impression and recommendation still stands. Fantastic fragrance!

I tried Kumkat Wood when it was first released back in 2013 and recall being a bit disappointing since it marked the first time I was less-than-thrilled with the quality of a Mancera fragrance. It was early into my fragrance journey and, even though I owned several Mancera fragrances and sampled several others at the time, I was heavy into Oud and Vetiver fragrances and dismissed many fragrances way too soon. Although this fragrance had some of my favorite notes (cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, amber and spices) along with a cheesy porn-flick label (i.e., Kumkat Wood) so I was fully expecting to be sporting good wood while wearing this one. Unfortunately, this fragrance was basically a linear light-cedar scent that stayed pretty close to my skin and then went limp. Okay, it was a pleasant scent but nothing to write home about. Overall, I though this was a mediocre effort by Mancera. Fast-forward a few yaers and I have recently added Kumkat to my infamous Scent Armory (14th Mancera bottle) after having found two Kumkat Wood samples in my one of my many shoeboxes filled with scented sample delights. Imagine my shock and awe when I smelled it and immediately sported a Kumkat Woody! Moreover, imagine my surprise with how much this fragrance reminded me of Ormande Jayne Man. No, it's not identical but it is, in fact, a very fine gentleman's scent on its own. Kumkat Wood is the much better value coming in a half-price at full retail, but it can be found on the discount market for significantly less. But Ormande Jayne Man has the step-up in quality; Ormonde Jayne Man is just a smoother, more polished gentleman's scent whereas Kumkat Woods is a less formal and down to earth. I recently layered Mandera Lemon Line with Kumkat Wood and the bright citrus and pleasant woods made for one very fine scent indeed. Performance is okay in that it lasts 6-8 hours and projects moderately on my skin, which is actually very good for this kind of professional office fragrance. Overall, there are better fragrances in this genre, but this is worth evaluating if you can find it priced right.

I don't know if this fragrance has wildly different batches or just hits noses very differently, but the reviews seem to totally disagree. I'd classify this as a musky wood fragrance, despite the name. You get vague citrus in the opening, which fades within 30min. The next 6-8hrs it's a quite masculine cedar woodiness with a hint of earthiness (vetiver?), warmth (amber/spices?), and slight softness/fuzziness (florals?). As you can tell by the description of characteristics instead of notes, it's so well blended that no notes beyond the cedar and white musk stick out to me. Despite the claims, the opening isn't grapefruit dominant, nor is it floral dominant, nor is it pepper spray. All those notes are very very subdued and smoothed out. So, is it like TdH? It's in the same genre, in that it's an earthy wood scent. I find this to be better than TdH, because it's less dirty and less peppery. The earthiness here is balanced with sweet amber. This makes it more universal useful and likeable. Do I love it? No, it's not interesting enough for that. But I could confidently wear it to work every day and offend no one. (Which is actually an issue with Mancera, as their fragrances are frequently too strong. I know people who've been given headaches by colleagues wearing Red Tobacco or Cedrat Boise). Is it like Chanel Allure Homme? Eh, not really. But there is some relation: the musk and sandalwood in this achieve a similar smoothness that's creamy and lotion like. The difference is that CAHEB is a citrusy lotion, while this is a woody lotion. What this does do is last 2 or 3 hours more than CAHEB, which I won't buy as I won't spend Chanel prices for 4hr fragrance. If you're looking for an safe, different office fragrance that'll last the workday at good price, grab a sample of this one. But don't blind buy it, as it seems to hit people way too differently.

I first got a decant of this, totally loved it, and ordered a bottle about a year ago. When I received it, I discovered it was a 2013 bottle. It smelled different to the decant, which I assume is from a more recent batch. It's woodier with sharper vetiver and cedar, probably due to longer maceration and/or a different formulation. I was disappointed at first because it is different to the decant, which is sweeter. But as time went by, I love the older bottle more and more as I appreciate less sweetness in my fragrances now. Regardless of batches, Kumkat Wood has this "classic cologne" feel about it, something nostalgic that's comforting. It borrows elements from the Ormonde Jayne DNA, L'Artisan Parfumeur's Timbuktu, and Allure Homme Edition Blanche to my nose, while still having its own character. It's versatile and year round, with great performance. Criminally underrated and definitely a top 5 from the house for me!

This is a really nice release. Very close to TDH but a little sweeter, less rough around the edges and longer lasting. Perfect clean, sophisticated, and woody scent that is suitable for office use and official events. Update: I wore this for the third time today and I was surprised to get two unsolicited compliments from total strangers. Today I was dressed up a little more than average, so maybe that was also a contributing factor. One of the compliments was you smell so clean. This is definitely better than TDH or Ormand Man. If you're unexperienced with fragrances, please stick to your bubble gum Invictus, this is for men.

A Citrusy peppery spicy woody masculine scent, definitely feels refined and slightly rugged at the same time. Reminds me of Rasasi Fattan, which smells similar to this in the dry down and costs much cheaper, however, this feels a tad bit more elegant, very well blended, the florals and slightly smoky amber feel very subtle, the patchouli musky woods come through more prominently as it dries down, the spices are not in your face sharp, but their presence is felt throughout, the citrusy freshness in the opening to me, makes this really alluring. Overall, this is definitely one of the better Manceras in the entire line.

It might be be reformulated or something, my sample was more spicy and had this wooden house like woodiness and when ive finally got the bottle it seemed to be more citrus oriented (esspecially grapefruit) and the vetiver was much more predominant. I also feel like performance is down especially the projection + the juice in the sample seems to be more transparent and less yellow then the bottle but that might be because there is no much juice left in the sample bottle so dont take it for granted.I still like it though so if my senses are not playing with me be careful and try to get older bottle if possible.

A Masterpiece One of the best unisex or genderless fragrances I have ever smelled. I get quince in the opening , which smells like a hybrid fruit between a orange and lemon and is interesting. I get resin,sandwood, and blond wood. It is one of those fragrances that is full and complex, but so harmonious it is hard to pick out notes. Overall you get a interesting citrus fragrance that is not too bright with some beautiful wood smell. I was blown away by this one and highly recommend it. A summer night and early fall champion here. I get 5 to 6 hours and fair projection, but good sillage

The blending of the vetiver, sandalwood and musk is so refined that it makes Kumkat Wood the best Mancera I have ever worn. The musky drydown makes you travel back in time to some pleasant memories. The sillage is very good and the performance is outstanding here. The citrusy opening dissipates quickly, leaving the heart and base notes to work their magic. IMO, I don't find many similarities with OJ Man here. OJ Man is a much more floral perfume than this and doesn't have the same kind of muskiness in its drydown. Neither is the vetiver as bright in OJ Man as it is here.

The top notes are nice, but does not last for too long. It has a nice comforting dry down. Very safe and not offensive, unless you don't care for cedar. It's a clean woodsy smell with a citrus opener. The projection is not as strong as other Mancera products, but someone who was a few feet away knew I was wearing Mancera, so maybe I'm wrong? But eaaily can be nose blind on this. A signature scent for really any occasion. I could be tripping but I feel as if I can smell it more in cooler environments. You can get pretty good deals on this one. 9/10

One of the best Mancera fragrances there are, I often catch myself spraying this while at home because the smell is really that good! Very distinct, sharp fruity notes in form of bergamot and grapefruit is what makes it special to me. Definitely a hot weather fragrance. I'd rate scent alone a 9.5/10. The only downside is the longevity and sillage, the citruses last 45 minutes on my skin and another 2 hours as a skin scent, but other people can smell it on me for quite some time! Overall I'd give this fragrance a 7/10 for lacker performance.

Probably one of the most under rated Mancera fragrances I've come across. This is really, really good. Why? It is different. Citrus and woodiness but that dab of florals throughout the mid really give this some lift and really help it bloom. Not an explosive performer, but I think the performance is quite good, and fits the scent profile. I can see the bridge to Ormonde Man. Not getting anything TDH at all, though. Thankfully. Big like from me. Grabbing a bottle before it gets discontinued.

On me, bergamot then cedar. vetiver and musk. Sublime! I'm a woman and find this perfect on my skin but I could equally smell it on a man. Truly unisex. Amazing addictive scent. Aromatic pencil shaving . Smooth, well blended. Suits me and I love it! Spring and summer scent for me. I don't believe this would face the cold very well. As most of the Mancera I own and wear; when you think it's gone and can't smell it, someone comments on it or you catch a whiff of yourself when moving. Love!

Nice spicy Vetiver but clean and elegant smelling scent The blend with the citrus and the spices makes this in my opinion it’s superior to terre d’hermes Most of the time I lay this with a aventus smelling fragrance and it’s amazing it makes us on profile super unique Performance is really good 8-10 hours off my skin and projects basically the whole way and it projects even more if you get some heat on it If you love terre d’hermes I can say this is blind by safe

This fragrance is incredibly under-rated. Off the top you get a very realistic citrus it smells very rich and tangy with a bit of sourness and its so pleasant. Into the drydown the wood starts to punch through the citrus from the opening and it jusy becomes the a very well blended versatile fragrance. The preformence is awesome as with most mancera fragrances. I would highly recommend this one as it has a high complement factor and grate preformence

Mancera Kumkat Wood develops after 15 mins into a perfect citrus-cedar-vetiver combo that lasts all day, never shouts but is still present. The combo is surrounded and made complex by the added patchouli, spices, soft flowery notes and amber. It lasts all day, is inoffensive, perfect for the office and smells imo expensive. It is a safe but interesting and sophisticated fragrance nonetheless. Thumbs way up! Rating: 9/10

this is just wonderful If you are a fan of Lalique Encre Noire you will love this one the best way to describe this one would be: Encre Noire Aqua it's slight more light compared to Encre Noire sport more citrus and floral but in a masculine way for me its a big LOVE longevity awesome projection awesome scent awesome try before you buy if you love vetiver and especially the Encre Noire line you can blind buy

Wow this is amazing! Probably my new favourite from the Mancera line up. Sparkling vetiver and luminous bergamot are the stars in this show. For ladies concerned that it might lean into male Encre Noire territory, I don’t think it does. There’s a subtle elegance to Kumkat Wood which caps the ferocity associated with Encre Noire and other powerful vetivers. Highly recommended, thanks for reading,

Really crisp and spicy. Smells more expensive than it is. Can't say much about the performance as I go a bit anosmic to it after a while. Definitely not a blind buy. Editing months later: I love it. Wearing it on a humid summer day completely changed the scent for me. During colder months it was quite woody and spicy. Now I get a citrus floral supported by prominent vetiver.