Knize Ten (1924)
by Knize

Weird. So many reviews warn not to over-apply this, and I was expecting a powerhouse. Maybe I got a bad sample? I smell a little bit of astringent green and a little bit of soft leather, and something tart and powdery that makes me think of Sweet Tarts candy. Within minutes on my skin, it's all gone. My fleeting impression is of something well-mannered and melancholy, but really -- there's nothing there!

Puzzling.

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Unlike R.E.L. which I could envision wearing while sitting on a leather chair at that exclusive, old fashioned, gentlemen's club to which we often allude to here in BN, or Miller Harris Cuir d'Oranger, another masterpiece best suited for speeding on one's Harley; I envision people wearing Knize Ten back during prohibition at a jazz club while swilling Champagne.
James Dean in "Giant " when he strikes oil, however, must not be ignored. Yes, the petroleum note does take some time to get used to. A brilliant composition I admire but can't really wear except very sparingly and in very cold weather.

I got a sample of this because it's a famous classic, I usually love the famous classics, and Luca T writes so elegiacally about it. If anyone wants the rest of my sample, please ask, because this is the only frag I have ever felt I needed to get out of my house asap - the perfume equivalent of a 2-bagger (plastic, please, in case it spills; I would have to sell the house). It is supposed to have a whole spectrum of interesting ingredients (begamot, one of my favourites, for example), but the hit of superheated rubber gave me a such a headache that I had to scrub it off after 10 minutes, when I realised that the heart (if there is one) would not be revealing anything interesting, or even faintly detectable beneath the screech of tires. No... just more melting rubber, like what I imagine a nascar race smells like. So I have no idea if it ever escapes the industrial accident phase.The last time I smelled a ponk as bad as this was when driving through the chemical factories in east Jersey belching out their poison and my mother gave us tissues soaked in 4711 to hold to our noses. Is it the castoreum that produces this effect? Maybe it's my skin or my nose, but I cannot in my darkest dreams imagine that this could smell good on anyone. Sorry Knize Ten, you are the only perfume I positively cannot bear.

After all the hype about the rarity and excellence of Knize Ten, the heralded old Austrian gem of yore, I decided to try it. I was disappointed. It smells like tar, leather, and more tar. Also, the florals are astringent and overbearing for modern usage.

As a lover of leather scents i had been wanting to try Knize 10, but the revierws on Basenotes and the Net were so varied that I had no idea of what to expect until I got my hands on a 4 ml decant. On me, knize 10 smells a lot like Serge Luten's Cuir Mauresque with a little Tabac Blond layered over it. At some point I'm also reminded of Chanel's Cuir de Russie, but Knize is a little more powdery and smidgen sweeter.However, even with the powderiness it never loses it's smoky edge.This is considered to be as a men's scent, but any one who loves TB and CM sould try this.