Reviews of Knize Sec
by Knize

Knize Sec is a bright citrus and frankincense composition that's marked by its transparency and by the sheer simplicity of its structure. Besides the central citrus and incense accord, Knize Sec's most notable feature is a conspicuous sage note, which in conjunction with the labdanum-rich amber in the scent's foundation lends a faintly urinous tang, the likes of which can also be found in certain rich fougeres. (Jules and Lauder for Men come to mind.) Some may object to it, but in my opinion it's just this somewhat off-kilter animalic tang that rescues Knize Sec from banality. Without it there would be little to distinguish it from any number of other transparent frankincense fragrances, Avignon and Heeley's Cardinal not least among them. Even so, Knize Sec is far from a groundbreaking scent, and it's playing in a very crowded field, which makes it hard for me to get too excited about it.

To me, Sec smells kind of like a soap scented with Yatagan: the dry, aromatic herbs of über-macho colognes like Yatagan matched with an equal amount of aldehydic soapiness. There's something a little "muted", "dull", "flat" or even "plasticky" about that soapy accord in the beginning, but it mellows and mingles more with the herbs as it develops. I can't quite decide what I think of Sec, it's kind of pleasant, kind of unpleasant, not very earth-shattering...