Glühwein

I grew up in a small town in the mountains, a little hill-billy town if you will. Tiny, and everyone knows everybody. But you know what was the best part? OCTOBER FEST BABY! Downtown at the celebrations you can find authentic fruit leather! When I was little, my mother would take me down there to check all the venders out. German beer, Swedish music, all types of Germanic stuff and some Nordic things thrown in as well. But what stuck out to me was this little woman who sold fruit leather. I used to beg my mom for five dollars so I could buy some of it. And when she would let me I was walking on sunshine! The fruit leather was huge, (Or huge as it could be for a little kid) and I can perfectly picture the fragrant scent of that fruity goodness. The scent of fresh berries, layered with cherries. Every bite was like heaven. When I smelt this fragrance for the first time, I saw that fair, I saw that little woman. And she lives on in this bottle. And so does the wonderful fruit leather this cute old woman sold.

This one is similar to Christmas wine but opens up with a sweeter and more rounded blend. Christmas Wine is much boozier and rum forward, and this one is less of that and sweeter. This opens with a warm cherry compote, like one that’s been freshly stewed. The raspberries add a tart sweetness too. The chocolate is a supporting note like the berries have been lightly dusted with cocoa powder. You get a sweetly floral and spiced champaca as well. The dry down has some earthiness that cuts into the sweetness. This is a very berry forward, smooth and sweet, earthy mulled wine sort of scent.

I don’t have the words nor the ability to be as descriptive as my fellow Pineward aficionado does below. Gluhwine to me is in the top 5 of my favorite pineward. The opening of dark and juicy cranberry, cherry, and raspberry is quickly joined by chocolate- powdery and dark. The champaca comes in along with resins and conifers to elevate and add complex nuances each carry that blend perfectly with the top notes that remain throughout the life of the fragrance. It’s a lovely fragrance with great linger and projection.

This smells like wild strawberries I used to eat as a kid. A distinct berry like sweetness. Amazing 🍓

If you’re German, you’ll love this. Thats all I have to say. Get your nose on this!!!!

Glühwein is a 2021 release, and one of the (currently) only two rotational seasonal offerings, the other being Christmas Wine. When Glühwein was first released, Nick said to think of it as an almost "Christmas Wine 2021". It is built upon the same base as Christmas Wine, but with additions of a handmade cherry absolute, raspberry, dark chocolate, davana attar, olibanum, and an increase in cranberry absolute. Whether or not it's because of the heavier fruit backbone, or because the balsam fir is actually dialed back here, I'm not sure, but I find this to be substantially less coniferous than Christmas Wine. Cranberry is the star of the show here. It's such a gorgeous cranberry note, and the only natural cranberry I've ever smelled in perfumery. It really does smell like fresh homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. So incredibly jammy, sweet, and organic. It's so concentrated and boiled-down, it's almost boozy. Against this cranberry jam, we also have an enormous addition of cherry, which, much like the cranberry, is reduced to a jammy compote. The cherry provides a syrupy sweetness which tempers the tartness of the cranberry, which is more apparent in Christmas Wine. Raspberry completes the trio, contributing to the jammy red fruit sweetness, and it's all backed by the addition of some luscious dark chocolate, which again, smells incredibly natural, and was likely achieved with cocoa absolute. The chocolate is somewhat subtle, but it's not at all difficult to spot, and lends a bit of a chocolate cherry cordial vibe to the composition. I find the chocolate is at its boldest in the opening, but it remains detectable and balanced throughout the wear. Finally, we have champaca. I can't quite describe the smell of champaca. It's this deep, heady, waxy, floral sort of minty cherry-like flower, and it pairs so well with dark fruit - singing throughout the midlayer of the whole thing, lifting the cherry without ever reading as floral. I don't get a ton of oakmoss or olibanum, but I think the davana is adding a bit of darker, leathery-earthy raisin nuance, which is acting as a counterbalance to the dense, sweet brighter fruit base. It certainly does share that Christmas Wine base DNA, but it takes it in a different direction, taking out much of the fir and spice, and replacing it with an even bigger, even jammier red fruit reduction, and the chocolate and cherry just sing beautifully together, tying the fruity notes together so well. If Christmas Wine is a festive Christmas elixir, with a hefty conifer addition so you don't forget what holiday you're celebrating, Glühwein is a festive Thanksgiving elixir. Jovial, joyful, and celebratory, bountiful excess, with all things sweet, fruity, and liquored. A really outstanding "flanker", if you will, and really stands out among the Pineward lineup. Additionally, this one is wildly approachable - perhaps one of the most beginner-friendly offerings, due to its pleasing candied sweetness, and lack of anything too woody, balsamic, earthy, or otherwise challenging. If you enjoy holiday cranberry sauce, and all the festive aromas and treats associated with such celebrations, you're likely to appreciate it. If for no other reason than the fact it is one of, if not the very best red fruit/cranberry/cherry perfume I've ever smelled. As per all Pinewards, at 30+% concentration, this will glue to the skin for an entire solar day - cloth, until washed, and you, or anyone else will have no trouble knowing that you smell like this. All Pinewards are squarely unisex, but this one will be one of, if not the most accessible to women, as its sweet fruity "red" character can certainly be perceived as feminine when paired with female energy. A must sample from the house, and a uniquely festive crowd pleaser.

Dried cherry and spiced bubble gum with nuances of pine. Other reviewers have said it smells candle-like and now I can’t get that association out of my head. Like an expensive candle shop at the peak of winter holiday season. Similar to other Pineward Perfume fragrances I’ve tried, where it gives the imagery of wooden cabins furnished with maple wood furniture and wool blankets, by a cozy fireplace. This one gives you a familiar heavy mug filled with syrupy cherry compote mulled with a substantial amount of winter spices like cloves and allspice. Or you might just imagine that you stuck your nose into a candle you bought from a booth at a Midwest antique store just before Christmas. Or maybe you’re walking around a Christkindle market at 6pm. The point is that this is a very familiar scent that you may have already smelled before, and because that scent was recreated through a perfume, I gently applaud Nicolas for the ability to recreate that olfactory vision.

Shockingly dense, fruity and fresh spicy! This is an almost over-reduced compote of cherries & cranberries with warming spices. There’s beautiful back accords of wood and fir that deepen a rustic Yuletide interpretation. It’s beautiful. It’s winter-y. I definitively do NOT want to smell like this, but I would welcome my kitchen smelling like this from a candle or from my preserving berries & cherries by canning them into jam. I’m realizing that while gourmand-adjacent scents from Pineward are not to my taste but are clearly done well. The stars of the show, to my nose, are the aromatic, mountain air scents

This fragrance reminds me of winter potpurri and I mean that in the most deeply respectful way possible. It is of course deeper in terms of nuances but from a nostalgia perspective it reminds me of that dish of potpurri from my grandmother's house. Your met with with cranberry, chocolate, and raspberry wrapped in the balsam fir the rest of the floral and herbal notes that as it warms on you skin balances out the candy like opening into a juicy complex wine like character. It is an intoxicating mix and perfect for the holiday season.

Clove, Cinnamon, and fruit leather or cooked fruits. This is what others described it as when I went to a convention with friends, and while two of those ingredients aren't even present in it's description, the description is clear, this is a Christmas scent through and through, and it does a great job at that. It also lasted for 12+ hours at a convention where I was walking around and sweating constantly, so be warned this is a very long lasting scent.

I love this on the test strip, but man does it go astringent on my skin. Super lush and spicy fruity, if it didn't turn into something else on my skin, it's would have been my favorite of the bunch, as it really does have a spicy mulled wine vibe that is delicious.

Very realistic encapsulation of gluhwein, sweet red wine with cinnamon, orange peel, anise, cloves it has it all. Sweet, juicy and gourmand. Of a few samples from Pineward I tried, this one was least offensive.

This is very similar to Christmas Wine, but w/ a lot of cherry added. My husband thought it had a candle vibe and I can see that. It does smell like something you would scent your house with, not a perfume. I do like this house though and think some of their offerings are pretty stellar. If you want a fragrance that smells like cherry/cranberry wine and I mean literally, not in perfume way this is something you would like. It is a gourmand/food scent.

So disappointed with this perfume. For me it smells like smoke, wood, incense, moth balls. Not getting the red berries. Defo doesn't give mulled wine christmas vibes for me. Very strong and headache inducing.

I wore Christmas wine and gluhwein together on different wrists today so I could compare, since they seemed like there would be so much overlap. First impression is that gluhwein is the more powerful of the two and projects further. I would say that they are indeed very similar to each other, and I'm not sure why both need to exist. Gluhwein is the sweeter of the two, whereas I would describe Christmas wine as more tart. More cranberries perhaps in CW, and more sugar and tannins in GW. Aside from that, they both have the clove and nutmeg smell that you'd expect. In the drydown, the differences disappear and both smell identical. I was literally smelling one wrist then smelling the other and I couldn't tell I was wearing two different scents. They lasted well though, around 6-8 hours on me

The only play you'll get from the cherry is from the opening that lasts about 15 seconds. If the opening was the entire fragrance, then I would be sold on that aspect. It's a koolaid cherry powder or cherry candy powder for the opening until it changes to what some describe as a scented candle which is accurate. I do get this pumpkin spice candle vibe with some pine/cedar action coming through. The candle aspect doesn't stick around too long as it deviates from it and going towards a pine forest with the addition of cranberry touches. I might get this as I do appreciate it's developement. It's a solid scent that I wish had much more cherry action.

Oh, wow! It’s a fruited woody scent that is also somehow dark. It smells like mulled wine, cherry cobbler and chocolate. There’s the hint of fir needles, the warmth of the incense...lovely. And is most likelyl what a medieval Saint Nicholas smelled like. Or Krampus after a good grooming. Dark, heavy but tartly fruity and rich, with a good dark wood base soaked in wine. The absence of amber here is brilliant; nothing buttery or vanillic to drag it down.

Unfortunately the 4ml drams that Pineward sell are abysmal quality and so my dram of this leaked out. Positive is everything it touched smells fantastic. It smells so Christmas-y. Sadly when I tried his on skin it became far too sickly and got a bit too much pulling this scent around with me all day. It would work fantastic as like a soap or a shower gel or something.

20th sample from pineward!! this is so good!!! i love it, not at all similar to christmas wine as other people say! this is a boozy cherry with a chocolatey wood dry down, very similar to wet cherry liquor by bohoboco longevity is 2nd strongest so far, its been 16 hours and its still strong on my skin. 8/10

Christmas Wine, with more cranberry and a dark chocolate note. Nice, but as with CW, I'm not sure Glühwein is for me.