On the Road

I ordered samples of On the Road and She Came to Stay with an order from Twisted Lily, knowing that She Came to Stay really put the Timothy Han Edition Perfumes on the map with a lot of critical acclaim, yet I was more intrigued by this second release, On the Road. On the Road is a wintry mix of galbanum, benzoin, labdanum, birch, patchouli, and cedar. The overall experience is of a resinous woody fragrance, strong but not cloying, that I envision mainly as useful for fall and winter nights. It's not woody or oily in a pine tar sort of way, but much smoother, reminiscent of the smoothness of Tom Ford Italian Cypress while not having any cypress, and instead seeming like a less harsh version of D.S. & Durga Bowmakers. On the Road doesn't have much evolution, which is fine, as the opening is not so overwhelming as to necessitate a diminution of intensity. Its longevity isn't spectacular but it's more than sufficient for an EDP, especially with a few healthy sprays as opposed to the dabs of a small sample. Sold only at Luckyscent and Twisted Lily for $160-180 for 60ml, it's expensive enough that you'd really need to like it a lot in order to want to purchase it, and I believe I do. 8 out of 10

I tested one or two Timothy Han scents at random in a boutique, not having heard of the brand previously, and I'm quite impressed with the quality. On The Road is a rich, balsamic amber scent with a nice aromatic opening. It reminds me a lot of Le Labo Patchouli 24 thanks to the vanilla-patchouli accord in the base. OTR opens with an aromatic lavender note and some citrus. So far, so barbershop. Galbanum, one of my favourite notes, adds a hazy greenness. As it develops, the amber accord emerges. Rich and balsamic, it is complemented by woody notes. It becomes increasingly leathery as it progresses, with earthy patchouli becoming very prominent. I get vanilla in the later stages, creating that balsamic Patchouli 24 accord. It fades to a mossy, balsamic skin scent, with a hint of leather remaining until final fade. Sillage and longevity are moderate. Unisex to my nose, this is a high-quality, satisfying balsamic leather scent with a lovely mossy undertone. Best worn in autumn/winter, OTR is comforting as well as slightly edgy. Excellent. 4.5/5.

Quite original without being alienating (as Han's "Against Nature" can be) - it's both unique and easy-to-wear. Beautiful work. Love it. As others have noted, it literally smells like a highway at first... hot tar, rubber tire friction on asphalt, a hint of exhaust... Then there's citrus going on - I get bergamot more than lemon, and there's a hint of vanilla rounding it out, taking the sharper acidic edge off. Really well-balanced stuff. The pointed lack of any floral notes gives it a stoic, masculine quality, but that citrus and wee hint of lavender keeps it from being too self-serious. It's like a big bruiser pulling up outside a bar on a motorcycle, and you think maybe he's there for a Budweiser and a fight but then he orders a hipster microbrew and chats you up and it turns out he's a professor of English Literature, and he and his wife run a Bed & Breakfast on the weekends.

This is right in the same exact vein as Tom Ford Italian cypress, but a little more dirty and smoky. Day or two after a camp fire on clothes, not too heavy and wearing Italian cypress to cover it up is exactly what this is. Surprisingly I like this stuff, it's very challenging to me. Very niche and the ingredients seem very upscale and of quality. Like a very wealthy man under cover wearing down to earth clothes and always out doors. Very nice juice, gots me wondering "how much?"

I don't understand everyone who says this smells like burnt tyres and exhaust fumes - on me the opening is all lavender, then the palo santo (guaiac wood) kicks in a makes it smoky. After a while the patchouli picks up and the vanilla gives a warmth, but overall on me the lavender and palo santo are the main players. It's gorgeous, lovely for brisk, sunny Autumn walks.

Amazing! Smoky leather, kind of wild like Bois d’Ascese, kind of smooth like Bois d’Ombrie. Also a hint of the earthy spice I liked in She Came to Stay. The sample haunted me and I had to get a full bottle. (You know a scent's good when you're thinking about it when you're NOT wearing it.)

The introduction is like passing near a street where the constructors are working on putting a new layer of asphalt and there is the smell of the burned materials they use. It smells like concrete, rubber, plastic and gasoline; pungent and bitter. Thankfully, it changes after 30-40 minutes when most of the roughness tames and I get a softer burning wood backed up by some sweet notes. At this phase, the scent is airy and less in your face, retaining the burning birch and guaiac in the background; we have left behind the construction site, but the wind still brings whiffs of that freshly laid asphalt. The part that I enjoy comes in the dry down, where the direction shifts again. There are resins and balsamic elements that make the scent fuller, rounder and sweeter, smoldering woods for that smoky aroma and a touch of patchouli. After the loud opening, the projection drops dramatically before entering the second hour and by the third hour it's a skin scent for me. The longevity is good, though, over 10 hours. I find it to be an artistic creation and I personally wouldn't find many occasions to wear it, especially that the perfume becomes more wearable when it's already a skin scent.

Is this what roadkill's last dying breaths smell like? Green, dirt, tar, pollution, and wet garbage can. Sour smoked leather as the poor thing bakes on the hot sunny road, or a leather teepee being used as a smoker. Obnoxious use of perfume materials. Please tell me this is a joke! It's so f-ing wannabe pretentious "art" that people loudly admire even though it sucks. It's a bit funny to see people seeming to treat this so seriously. Maybe its a BDSM and BBQ fetish...at the same time.

Although the scent wasn’t really my style, the first release from this aesthetically-discriminating brand (She Came to Stay) was an excellent spicy floral. This release, sadly, is a huge let-down. It goes on as a dirty, thin patchouli punctured by a bitter bergamot. There’s a hint of something coniferous, but it’s buried under a murky cloud of smoke that, frankly, smells far more like an error than an intended effect. After 15 minutes, the scent becomes a vaguely musky, garden-refuse kind of smell — the kind of scent that might emit from someone lost in a forest for a week. Fans of Juniper Ridge might find some appeal here as the scent is extremely rough-hewn and rugged, although (to my nose), not in a good (or a particularly Kerouacian) way. You get 10 minutes of a ho-hum greenery/bergamot, another 10 minutes of a birch tar bomb, and the next 20 minutes are reserved for the accidental BO-type funk that ensues. There’s nothing endearing or even remotely pleasant about it. On top of this, I couldn’t get the scent to last more than an hour. I wore it three times on both skin and fabric, and each time, it died at around the 45-minute point. I’m no stickler for longevity and I enjoy the engineered ephemerality of certain scents, but that’s not what’s going on here. The scent goes on very loud but starts losing volume immediately. All-natural perfumery is prone to poor performance, but the materials used in this are generally substantive, so something went wrong along the way with this one. Very disappointing from a line that has so much promise.

Reminds me somewhat of (1805) Tonnerre by Beaufort. Same phenolic vibe, even a hint of the same (notorious) 'blood accord' though not so prominent. But whereas Tonnerre at least achieves a coherent piece of bombastic fragrance melodrama, On the Road feels oddly balanced between these dark, verging-on-gruesome notes and more obviously pretty and lyrical touches. I can't decide if I like it or not. It's actually wearable, unlike Tonnerre, though it has a fairly short half-life. Update: after working my way through the sample I have got to like it quite a lot. Am contemplating getting a bottle.

People say this smells like Burning Barbershop and I think that is quite appropriate. When first applied I got that smoke note I get sometimes that reminds me of when I BBQ meat and I don't want to smell like that AT ALL. But, within minutes, I got a smokey barbershop scent that I actually liked- and I don't even like barbershop scents. It smells like a classy older man to me and I am 50 so......

I agree with psebi101 review. On the Road starts off smelling literally like a highway, it could have been a Demeter fragrance named Motorcycle. Then after half an hour I got the leather (jacket?) phase and I like it much better. The dry down is my favorite part, a bit more sweet (and less masculine) but unfortunately very faint.

Not so much a review, as a commentary on the bottle design - I love the aesthetic of the pseudo post-war utilitarian design of the bottle and its use of minimalist type face and labelling - very cool, in a considered, Scandinavian-type way. This almost looks like it belongs on the bathroom counter of an architect or something!

Dirty, smoky, medicinal underarm - amd not in a good way. Patchouli is something I just can't get on board with and this scent doesn't change my mind about it. Gorgeous bottle though.

really good for those who want to smell like a wet brick wall ( not me )