Reviews of Monocle Scent One: Hinoki (2008)
by Comme des Garçons

A very austere and stripped down fragrance -- a totally turbo charged cedarwood that comes across as medicinal and a touch boring in its simplicity. I don't dislike the smell, but for what it is there are much cheaper alternatives, especially amongst the CDG incense range. I also noticed that the longevity wasn't great. Not worth the money.

March 2009:

The bottle says “Hinoki” but I smell a lemming.

Hinoki goes on smelling like very dry cedar shavings, and not all that much else. Tremendous sillage and projection make this a hard scent to ignore, and this astounding volume, in concert with the dominant cedar-like accord, suggests to me that Hinoki’s formula contains boatloads of Iso E Super. After an hour a relatively hard-edged frankincense note separates itself from the monolithic dry woody accord, but the structure remains exceptionally stark and simple. The course is linear from there on, and Hinoki doesn’t seem to develop so much as very slowly fade away.

If you’re a fan of spare, ascetic incense fragrances, you’ll probably like Hinoki. Note however that Comme des Garçons’ very own Avignon and (especially) Kyoto offer a similar olfactory experience at a fraction of the price. It’s not that Hinoki is a bad scent, but there just isn’t that much to it, and I can’t for the life of me understand why people are getting so excited by it.

Frankly, having witnessed the phenomenon in music and visual arts, I feel scents like Hinoki illustrate the dead end nature of minimalism as an artistic style. Strip enough “extraneous” matter from any artwork, and the penultimate result is boring. The ultimate result is – well - nothing, and when some clever niche company markets a bottle of distilled water for $250 we’ll know that’s where we’ve arrived.

August, 2009:

Inspired by Sommerville Metro Man’s experience, I decided to re-evaluate the much-lauded Monocle Scent One: Hinoki. For this wearing, I applied the scent quite generously, hoping that a good basting job would reveal depths I’d missed in my earlier trial.

Guess what? It’s still a thin, hollow pseudo-cedar (Iso E Super) with a touch of camphoraceous juniper, some frankincense, and not much else, and it still smells like high-end hamster bedding. What’s worse, for an expensive, super-premium niche release, it smells cheap. Very, very cheap. I remain firmly unconvinced. Demoted to a thumbs-down for Comme des Garçons' audacity in charging so much for so little.

A very clean accord of cypress and turpentine in the opening accords which is pretty transparent in it's sillage. nothing about it is stuffy or clogged. very clean accord of campfire with turpentine which settles down to a pretty dynamic accord of cedar.
I agree on the Gucci Ph comparison but, only towards the basenotes. from openin to mids notes one could relate it to a very refined, lesser intense and a transparent version of Olivier Durbano's Black Tourmaline. a thumbs up in my book. a woody incense done right. lovers of cedar based scents just cant miss this one.

Heavy on what smells like pine and cedar (I’m not sure what Hinoki wood smells like on its own), this fragrance has a meditative quality about it – feels kind of like a place out in the country here in Quebec, but with a touch of something comforting like the smell of a steam room minus the sweat. As others have said, this really does smell like a wood shop full of saw dust.

Hinoki smells like what I wished Creed’s Epicea would smell like – a modern piney, woody fragrance. It’s not sensual but it's manly and mysterious. I'm not blown away, but I like it.

8/10

To my nose, this scent starts out much like Gucci pour Homme. But where GPH soon leans toward amber, vetiver, and musk , Hinoki doesn't budge. Three hours on and it still smells exactly like it did when I first applied it. It's a pleasant, if monotonous, incense/cedar/pine accord. Good sillage and lasting power.

The opening cypress / incense accord throws a strong sillage off the skin. It is an unique and dramatic opening accord: It is highly woody and incense-y, but I also get a rather strong moss note in addition to the incense – a moss used in a very original combination with wood and incense. The wood is of the cypress / cedar variety with a strong pine element, and the woody accord has a related turpentine note that is kept at a minimum but still adds considerable depth and interest to an otherwise straightforward and linear, though intense accord. The moss and thyme keep it from becoming too cedary / piney. I like this use of moss and thyme very much better than the use of lavender that often serves the “toning-down” function in many of these coniferous fragrances. I don’t determine too much difference between the opening and the heart notes besides the lessening of the intensity of the wood / incense accords. What distinguishes the base’s response to my skin is the rise to domination of the camphor note. The camphor joins a lesser vetiver to form an extremely aromatic drydown. It throws an outstanding sillage that is almost completely void of solid olfactory timbre and consists of those sharp airy aromatic versions of vetiver and camphor. The first time I wore Hinoki, I wondered what was happening: It was like a powerful Vicks Vaporub but smelling of coniferous wood notes rather than menthol and eucalyptus. I found it totally impressive and still do. MONOCLE Scent One: Hinoki is outstanding in its uniqueness, its composition and its performance. So dramatic, it probably wouldn’t be the typical choice for everyday wear, but it is a perfect wear for anytime a powerful presence is desired.

cypress and cedar-shavings, obligatory swish of a thurible, acres of pine. Starts as it means to go on and on and on. I mean, I’m the first to defend the one-dimensional smell against the so-called ‘symphonic’ perfume, but this is Beyond a Joke. Only when I’m in my grave do I want to smell so health-giving. Monocle, by the way, is a magazine for people too important to find things out for themselves and who need to be told that, for example, the most liveable cities are Copenhagen, Munich, Tokyo, Helsinki, Zurich, Vienna, in that order. But of course, you already knew that. The nose is not the ethereal Mark Buxton but the more cloddish Antoine Maisondieu.

No vanilla, no amber = happiness for me! Hinoki is chock-full of woody goodness, or goody wood-ness. At first is presents itself as a very simple scent, namely variations on a wood theme. The turpentine note is not as powerful or even harsh as it is in Eau Trois. Here, turpentine and camphor contribute bracing, slightly astringent notes. The incense softens and adds depth and richness. This is full of nature’s vitality. The drydown is smooth and satisfying; it is a lovely balance of pine wood, incense, and aromatic elements. Believe me folks, I know from pine and wood and this is a great one! It is a memorable scent: assertive and yet restrained; bold and yet with an elusively haunting quality. The scent draws me in. This might be a niche and austere sort of scent, not appealing to many. So be it.

The sillage is very very subtle, lasting power is decent, but this fragrance is just sooo sensual.
I wouldn't like to smell a woman wearing this, but I love it on men, especially on me. :)
The price is just a shame... but I couldn't resist.

For reasons irrelevant to this review I spent six months in 1989 working for a Japanese lumber company here in Vancouver, a profession I had entirely no ambition for and which was mercifully short-lived. During this time I had occasion to visit a few lumber mills that were in the process of cutting up yellow cedar logs. The Japanese like to use yellow cedar as a replacement for the much more expensive indigenous (to Japan) hinoki. Now, yellow cedar smells totally different from whatever type of pungent cedar they use for making cedar chests, and different again from western red cedar used to make cedar shingles, etc. In fact, the unique smell of yellow cedar logs being cut was my favorite part of that job and I always thought that it would make a great essence for use in perfumery. Having never smelled hinoki (the wood) itself, I can't say how closely Hinoki (the fragrance) comes to replicating it, but I can say that it does sort of remind me of the smell of those yellow cedar logs.

It should be fairly obvious that I do like this stuff. The fact that I'm down to the last third of my second bottle tells you I probably like it a LOT. In fact, there was a long period where it was my hands down favorite of the several dozen bottles that I own. Nowadays I wear it occasionally as a trusted old standby, and really have to be in the mood because it's a scent that I find to be a little overwhelming at times. I totally get why there are people who are put off by it... It's sort of like how the smell of coffee can be intoxicating for some, while others can't stand it. Rich smells can sometimes be too rich.

It just occurred to me that it is too vague to say that something smells like wood. As I have touched on above, wood smells can really run the gamut, and whereas CdG+Monocle Hinoki smell sort of like yellow cedar (and, presumably, hinoki), something like Gucci pour Homme kind of reminds me of Douglas fir (that typical pencil shavings aroma). That's about the extent of my obviously limited ability to connect wood varietals to commercial perfumes, but I'm sure there must be others. Perhaps somebody with more initiative than I needs to do a comprehensive olfactory survey of wood essences.

A meditation on transparent wood and incense. Cerebral and brilliant in that inimitable CDG style. This is slightly more wearable than the other Mark Buxton masterpiece MoslBuddJewChristHinDao, which is about incense and snuffed-candles. If you like one, try the other, and enjoy comparing and contrasting. Hinoki has that damp, steamed wood smell, so to me I don't smell dry wood-shop cedar curls. But I understand the reference. The peculiar musty opening "evaporates" in the dry down, which literally smells dryer than the opening. Cheeky and clever! And beautiful.

More atmospheric than perfume, I would prefer this as a room spray. It's very dry and sharp with no sweetness. Aromatic woods such as camphor, turpentine, cedar, and pine combine with unsweet herbs like thyme and rooty vetiver to make a realistic "branch of evergreen" aroma. It's fun. It doesn't last long. I like it as an experience, but I probably wouldn't wear it.

By far the most realistic, rich and all-enveloping wood fragrance. It is incredibly complicated - more so than I can describe - and certainly worthy of description beyond just smelling like wood. Hinoki does not hint at wood, or imply wood, and nor is it merely 'woody'. It IS wood. When I first smelled this I was instantly transported back to my friend's basement wood shop, with its variety of different woods, shavings, stains, glues, etc. I instantly remembered all the times we spent in that shop and how much fun we had. If you have some connection to these smells, as I do, perhaps this fragrance means more to you then for those that do not. Perhaps those who hike, camp, or otherwise spend time in the woods will find more to love about Hinoki.

Of course with CdG we again run into the issue of wearability.... sure, it's amazing that the smell of a wood shop can be recreated, but does a person really want to go around smelling like one? Well, in this case that wearability issue isn't as severe as you'd think. The intensity of the wood is only a problem when smelled from a few inches away. When applied (and yes, the sillage is strong) the scent that comes off from farther away is that of a masculine, pleasant woody smell. Within an hour or so the intensity, and realism, of the fragrance dies down and a very warm, fuzzy, enjoyable fragrance is what's left. This may be from the completion of the 'camphor' and 'turpentine' notes, but I'm not sure.

When compared to other 'wood' fragrances like Gucci Rush or Tumulte, Hinoki makes them look hopelessly synthetic and unpleasant.

I'm not usually a fan of wood-only fragrances, but Hinoki was bottle worthy and a prize on my shelf.

Instead of writing a novel, I'll just say this smells like a cedar wood chest.

Not a bad scent at all, and actually it is one of the best CdG releases in years.
It`s very woody of course, saw dusty, piney, and little bit medicinal.
Insence plays along as well.

That hinoki note with pine and insence brings to my mind Zagorsk, although this is eventually quite different. (perhaps a bit Gucci Rush for Men there, too?)

Lasting power and sillage were quite average on my skin.

Hinoki reminded me of some old shed, filled up with old and dry pine logs, a bit of gentle fumes of gasoline and petrol. Floor covered with dry sawdust.
This is one linear woody scent with the great lack of depth.

Nice, but not full bottle worthy at all.

I've recently begun exploring Comme des Garcons' incense line and have been impressed with their mastery of this genre. So, I was pretty jazzed about trying a sample "Monocle One Hinoki" (whatever that name is supposed to mean) which I bought when one of the on-line perfume decanters had a recent sale. A full bottle of this stuff is pretty expensive - it retails for $145 for 50 ml.

Anyways, I am sorry to say that Hinoki was a complete and utter let down. It smells EXACTLY like the smell you get when you enter a musty old wooden attic filled with decades old debris (broken wooden rocking chairs, dusty cribs, yellowing books- you get the picture!). It is really a shame that CdG is marketing Hinoki as a precious fragrance worthy of such an astronomical price tag. I did detect a bit of leather in the middle/base note when the musty note faded away but in general, Hinoki didn't stick around long. Which was just as well. For a leathery incense with a bit of verve, I would highly recommend instead CdG's Ouarzazate which is about a quarter of Hinoki's price and is much, much better.

Per The Perfumed Court, here are Hinoki's notes: hinoki wood, greenery, frankincense, moss created after soaking in a hinoki wood bath in Kyoto (?!?), turpentine, camphor, cedar, thyme, pine, Georgian wood and vetiver.

It seems that Comme des Garçons's reputation of "enfant terrible" has reflected positively on itself in the perfume industry.
This is the second time that the Japanese designer signs its own perfume in collaboration with "Etat Libre D'orange" persumist groupie, the first time that the company designs a scent for another, two other up to come for an UK based brand and formal gossip about collaborate with H&M with a clothing collection and a unisex cologne for the filial.


Hinoki takes its name from the Hinoki cypress, a tree that only grows in Japan and is the preferred wood for building palaces, temples, shrines and the finest wooden soaking baths. It was inspired by a visit to Tawaraya, a famous three-centuries-old traditional Japanese inn located in Kyoto.

Basicly this is a deep rich, woody scent with hints of smoky incenses.
It has a fab recreation; a deja-vú of steamed, heated, woody environments of saunas and baths actually: there's an asian legendary wooden bath called "hinoki ofuro", in outside open spaces with hot water in chilly locations. To put you in the scene, the closest panorama here in Europe are the famous scandinavian baths in the forest. So, basicly ,this is what's all about; a well constructed representation that captures magnificently the scent of an outdoor wodden bath.

It starts intoxicating: warm woods sorrounded by the resinous tupertine( the gum pine tree) and the odd note of camphor( white waxy resinous with strong medicinal aroma).
Then just a lovely smoky mix of heady frankincense that blends with sharp notes of thyme, cedar and balanced cold notes of moss.
There's a shy reminiscence of charcoal going on through it that, for me, could be the key of why this perfume is a well done olfative image of a hot woody sauna.
It is a great scent for wood lovers.

The longlasting is monster. Up to 10 hours in my skin.

I don't particulary love woody colognes but I have to admmit that this launch is well balanced, creative, nostalgic in a nice way and addictive.
Give a try.

Wow, an extremely interesting and highly satisfying scent. I get the woods (cypress and pine) and the turpentine in abundance, especially at the beginning. Robin at NowSmellThis offers a very accurate description of this smell, saying "this is the smell of your father's woodshop, assuming you had a father with a woodshop." Well, my father had a woodshop (or at least the garage of our house where he would do work) and I can vouch for this description. At the same time, I find this to be very natural smelling. There's a trail where I enjoy riding my bike through a grove of trees. Every so often, I catch a whiff of something that smells exactly like Hinoki in the air. Either way, it evokes good memories for me. It's not the kind of thing I would wear all the time, but the second my bottle runs dry, I will be sure to get a new one. I find comfort and a unique harmony in its seeming cacophonous notes.

PS. This does not smell unisex to me at all. At all. In fact, the combination of woods and turpentine makes it, I think, one of the most masculine scents I own. Ladies, please don't wear this one. If my girlfriend wore this, I would most likely steal her bottle so she could never wear it again (and so I'd have more).

I'm going to be the odd man out here and say that, to me, Hinoki is not soothing, satisfying, transcendent or ethereal, but instead smells like some juvenile delinquent kicked over a gallon of paint-thinner in the Zen garden. Turpentine? Camphor? No thanks. Comme des Garcons often has a terrific sense of humor in the creation of fragrances (the Synthetic Series is fantastic), but this just smells like a cruel joke, and I could not scrub it off fast enough. Do not inflict this toxic concoction upon the ones you love.

This was amazing on me. From the moment this hit my skin it just took off. The sap notes of camphor and turpentine combine with a moss-hung fantasy forest of cypress, pine, and cedar. This is the most like being in a live forest scent of anything I have experienced thus far. I waited to write this review until I wore Kyoto again as I felt there was some similarity between the scents and there is. To call this Kyoto Extreme wouldn't be far off the mark but it would be underselling the construction of Hinoki. There is a transparency of top to base from the first moment this hits that is unique. The base is present right from the start but over the hours this lasted on my skin the base intensified and became more pronounced in a lovely way until I was just left with the woods scent.
One caveat I think this is a scent that needs to be tested on the skin. I tested it on a strip six weeks before actually testing it on my wrist. On the strip the camphor note was too forward and almost medicine cabinet-like, it put me off. Once I put this on my skin that camphor note blended seamlessly with the rest to make a transcendent whole. I wasted six weeks before giving this one a chance, don't repeat my mistake.

Monocle Scent One: Hinoki

How does one review the pinnacle of my fragrant journey? Perhaps my review is premature because I simply can’t define how stunning this fragrance is. Here are the official notes:

Cypress, turpentine, camphor, cedar, thyme, pine, Georgian wood, frankincense, moss and vetiver.

This fragrance doesn’t reveal itself through stages of morphologic transitions. It is as if the fragrance is transparent and you can smell all stages at once. I am in no way suggesting Hinoki is linear - - it is far from it. The turpentine and camphor mingles with the woods of cypress and cedar. This creates a mesmerizing tunnel through which the thyme and pine drags the top notes into a vortex where everything is still transparent and clearly represented. The Georgian wood, frankincense, moss, and vetiver is there at the end of the black hole to immediately connect with the stellar masterpiece thus far. If you could imagine a warm hole to be clear and represent this fragrance, it will transport your senses from point A to point B instantaneously without missing a note. Incredible! How does it do this? I don’t know it just does and it works.

I can understand where people are coming from in their review of Hinoki. I do get a slight incense but the type on incense found here is closer to Avignon for its dry and smoky character rather than Kyoto where it is a bit more wet. I also detect a cooling, snow frost note found in Zagorsk which in Hinoki, comes off like a clean musk that is fantastic. I truly thought that nothing would ever be able to surpass my beloved Kyoto but friends, history has just been made. I give this a 100 out of 5 stars. Yes, it really is that good!

The turpentine in the top notes sounds harsh, but it doesn't come across that way. I would call this scent subtle and restrained, yet it does have some sillage, and on my skin at least, considerable longevity. I think the most satisfying thing at first is the camphor, which is not the mothball smell of chemical camphor, but the ethereal and penetrating, slightly medicinal incense note of camphor wood crystals. From there, the woods, incense, and moss take over, and the herbal touch of thyme tends to mellow the forest accents. Definitely clean, masculine, even a bit lumberjack. Refreshing.
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