Kiste 2022

I'm a newcomer to Kiste. I don't have the fortune of knowing what "old Kiste" smelled like, thus, I cannot compare this newest iteration to it. "New Kiste", "Black Cap Kiste", "Winter Kiste", "Kiste '22", or whichever moniker will catch on and last through the ages. That's what I'm reviewing. So I simply offer my independent take on...Kiste. The juice is red. Perhaps this is affecting my opinion, or perhaps, my lack of familiarity with Kiste Through The Ages affords me a fresh, objective take. I expected tobacco absolute and ripe peaches, though that isn't what I get. In the opening, I get a melange of fruit. Red fruit. Stewed, dried, and jammy red fruit, much like a compote or a reduction. I can spot peach, but it's a dense, saturated, jammy peach preserves peach. That 100 year old jar of peaches that Zero finds in Holes, and calls "Splooge". Yikes... While nothing relating to "splooge" comes to mind whilst smelling Kiste, it does remind me of that scene, and *that* type of peach. In addition to this, I get a prominent cranberry-cherry note, which evokes rather festive, wintertime associations. Jammy, reduced cranberry, cherry, and peach compote, along with just a kiss of dried apple rings - lightly spiced with some festive flair, lending some cozy warmth, which is accentuated by the darker, deeper character of the tobacco. Tobacco, which, to my nose, trends much more dry and leafy - like a fine unlit cigar, rather than the sweet, sticky burley absolute that Jeke may call to mind. I do not pick up on anything that makes me think of vanilla, though I do get what I believe to be a thread of tonka bean - that sweet, soft, almost powdery spice nuance, which I think helps dilute the tartness of the fruit, and draw further attention to the tobacco element, which remains rather subtle. There's a honeyed sweeteness at the heart of this, but as much as I know and love honey in perfume, I simply do not pick a ton of honey up here. What I do find is a dense, golden, almost liquid sultana facet that reminds me more of sweet mead, than honey itself. As if the foody, syrupy, familiar aspects of honey have been fermented out, leaving behind the stencil outline. So what DOES it smell like to me? Boozy! If everything I have just described could be boiled down to the essentials, much like Kiste seems to be boiled down to this delicious jammy reduction, it would read: A rich, sweet, concentrated melange of jammy red fruit and peach compote - steeped in a boozy, honeyed elixir, and lightly spiced with some festive flair, settling into to a warm, gently woody base, with some soft, subtle dried potpourri facets, and a dim halo of dry leafy tobacco sitting atop. Christmassy, cozy, sweet, and comforting, with an alluring pull, and a subtle reminder of late summer's golden rays, shimmering above the top end. A far cry from my expectations, but a beautiful perfume nonetheless, and one I'm most pleased to have, and become familiar with over time.

Kiste is tobacco first and foremost, featuring dense and delicious pipe tobacco that recalls the tobacco accord in Naxos and Chergui but on steroids. I don't find the tobacco to be dry or ashy, I find there is a lot of warmth to it with a bit of a smokey incense touch in the background. There is a slight funk to the tobacco that doesn't quite veer towards the animalic, but it does flirt with it in a similar way to how immortelle can go a bit food spice with it's cumin/carraway tinge. I was concerned the peach and honey would be too literal but they serve only to envelop the tobacco accord with a bit of softness and polish a bit of the harshness. The peach accord has some of the peach aldehyde-like smell from classic women's fragrances, but underneath is something that smells like the davana-patchouli accord in HDP 1740 and Francesca Bianchi's Sticky Fingers. The end result is a chocolatey peach-apricot accord that this might be worth a try if you dislike peach. It's quite a nice tobacco, and for all that people make of the Slumberhouse brand, this is not a screamer or difficult to wear if you enjoy tobacco. Again, all this hinges on if you love tobacco otherwise Kiste will be a tough wear. If you're like me, you'll adore it.

Overpowered medicinal peach flavored pancake syrup with a strong cinnemon tobacco nuance which seems to waft in and out. Definitely an attention grabber. Overall good but not very wearable. Lacks refinement. Really just a rigmarole of peach, cinnamon, maple/honey and tobacco.

Perhaps even better than the first Kiste. I find the top notes clearer and more compelling. Still has great development. Shows some growth as a perfumer. The tea note is really the secret weapon here.

As soon as I saw the dark red juice color I knew I was about to experience something really special. The quality and beauty smacks you in the face just by smelling the atomizer. I get a ton of honeysuckle blossoms in this scent and sweet tea. Mixed with the deep tobacco it's just wow. Thick, complex and definitely surprising. However despite the heavy nature of the notes there's a lightness and a rich glow that surrounds the entire fragrance. Also very spicy if you take a deep whiff. Doesn't wear like your typical extrait. Very unique wearing experience and sillage, probably a good dose of ISO E Super in here and various synthetics that makes you go noseblind in 5 seconds to really help push this heavy scent out. Not for everyone, it’s a rich sticky beast of a scent and boy is it a masterpiece...a work of conceptual genius. As a lover of vintage musk (my favorite note, above even ambergris) this scent won’t hit the olfactory senses quite like those Indonesian/middle Eastern concoctions with musks and rare florals. Instead, Kiste takes the quality of those fragrances and uses “normal” ingredients to create something beautiful.