Asteroid

It bursts open with an intensely earthy, chocolate-leaning accord; an opening I’d rate a perfect ten. The balsamic dimension is pronounced, and the overall effect is unmistakably sophisticated. This is the style I call baroque: the kind of fragrance where you get lost in the details and end up admiring the sheer grandeur. I’m sure it will reveal a slightly different world with every wear. Given the name Asteroid, I expected metallic dust, mineral facets; but this feels like an asteroid that has travelled through interstellar space and grazed living planets on its way back: something oddly cosmopolitan, carrying traces of unknown routes and future trajectories. There’s an earthy, slightly damp (almost humid) atmosphere at the core. The woods feel complex and hard to pin down, and there’s a substantial amount of spice; never “spice market” more like heat applied to the structure. I also get something patchouli-adjacent, even though it isn’t listed. A salty musk, leathery feel and a faint animalic “dirty” edge sit underneath. I often encounter that particular texture in compositions built around tolu or copahu balsams, and this reads in that direction. I really like it. Tag(s): earthy-chocolatey opening, baroque, leathery, balsamic, sophisticated, woody, warming spices, animalic, dirty-beeswax, salty-musk

Going through my Nicheend sample set. Asteroid. I expected a very metallic, mineral scent and I've been very surprised again. This is very deep and spicy. Oud-y almost. I'd be surprised if there wasn't any kind of agarwood here. I've been trying to find similitudes for reference points and I finally found one: Stephane Humbert Lucas's Sand Dance. There's that creamy sandalwood, that spice and vanilla/cacao vibe going on here. Asteroid is not boozy however but this is one that most will either love or hate, I think. It's the kind of scent I'd wear to a night out for sure. It'd be a good date fragrance (actually, Sand Dance is often my date scent). Definitely dressed up, or at least well put, and in cold weather, in the heat this will choke everyone out. There's a lot of musk in the drydown, too. I'm tempted to say civet(?). I personally really like this DNA but I'd understand those who wouldn't. It's very long lasting (8-10 hrs+) and pushes out well for the first few hours. Considering the price Sand Dance goes around, this isn't too overpriced. Not cheap, though.

Nicheend Asteroid is metallic, mineral and incenses-- it is deep, spicy and mildly sweet.