Grev
Slumberhouse (2009)

Suddenly, I've realised, that I'm starting to appreciate Grev more with every wearing.

At first it smelled to me like a typical fougere from the 80's or even from 70's but man.. Grev has got so much more to it. Mint, (oak)moss, lavender (maybe?) and there's hell more lot to it. Keeps you entertained for sure, while you're wearing it.

First things first - it's got absolutely outstanding and lovely note of clove. At times it's being dominant, at times it's blended perfectly into the other notes. Personally - I prefer moments when it takes control, because I absolutely love clove as a note. It's also got a lot of oakmoss and some woods to make the scent round and complete.

It's not totally bold and challenging as, let's say Jeke or Sadanne, but it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea.

It can be worn almost year round - probably best season is spring, but I absolutely love its smell in the high heat and humidity. That cooling factor and clove note are absolutely to die for.

Now I'm regretting a bit I didn't pull the trigger right when it was re-released in 2022.

I get mostly a mix of fir and cloves set on top of a vinegary background that has an odd sticky sweet effect at the same time....i can vaguely see the references made to a wintry barbershop...to me , interesting , but not wearable...

Mint, eucalyptus, cloves and fir balsams...Grev combines these elements to create an original and bracing modern reinterpretation of the classic barbershop fougere. Its crisp, cooling familiarity is juxtaposed against Slumberhouse's quirky, signature style to create something altogether unique and genuinely fun to wear. There's no reason to further explain WHAT this actually smells like. As is the case with any Slumberhouse release, it needs to be sniffed to be understood. Recommended for sampling, and a blind buy for any die-hard 'Slumberhead.' Thumbs up. Final rating: 8/10

Grev has more of an unsweetened chai smell compared to the sweeter Sova. The clove note is nice, a soft clove.

Of the three Slumberhouse fragrances I've tried, this is my third favorite after Baque and Sova. I might have liked Baque a little more than Sova. Baque did become a little generic and/or one-dimensional in the base, whereas Sova kept up a more linear foodie smell into the base, but Baque smelled a little more ambitious in the opening and early development.

Grev doesn't have the warmth of those two, and it's less inviting in its coolness, but not altogether unapproachable.

The development isn't great. The opening holds some hopeful promise, but before a couple hours are up, it has lost its way and smells overly sharp and a little harsh.

Reading some of the previous reviews here, thought I knew what to expect from Grev: basically a modern forest scent with clove, a Norne lite. There are forest references in Grev (an obvious fir note in the opening), but my overall impression is decidedly angular, abstract, futuristic almost, full of bright, cold, refracted light.

There's a good helping of bitter green booziness with a lightly sweet undertone. I think of an alpine bitter, like an icy Fernet-Branca: chewy, bitter, leafy, minty spice combined with something like wet clay.

Clove is an important note in Grev...but its a deconstructed, weightless, cryogenically frozen clove that has somehow been filtered and inverted to feel "blue" and airy. It ends up lending more of a fizzy, sparkly zest than the traditional warmth you think of with clove. This is some fascinating stuff.

I can't say I get much of a barbershop fougere tone here...maybe a barber in a wintery holodeck scene on the Starship Enterprise (nerd alert). I do smell a good dose of the cold dustiness of a slightly metallic orris note with a hint of smooth sandalwood, which becomes more dominant as the base arrives, and lends a certain degree of soft, chilly, airy powderiness. It may also be responsible for the earlier "clay".

This would be fantastic on a frigid, snowy day, but it's fairly versatile for any season or occasion.

Genre: Defying

Grev is of interest to me mostly insofar as it is completely different from the accustomed dense, syrupy Slumberhouse style. Grev is as bright, metallic, and hard-edged as scents like Baque, Vikt, and Ore are dark and viscous. There are facets to Grev that appear saline, camphoraceous, and sharply vegetal, yet I would not describe the overall effect as aquatic, green, or woody. What does stand out to me, and frankly makes the scent unwearable in my estimation, is a powerful, almost caustic, vinegar note, which some have described evocatively (and accurately) as “pickle juice.” An curious fragrance, all-in-all, but not something I want to smell on my own person.

I was happy to nab Grev in a recent re-release, as, while it's not one of the longed-for short-lived Slumberhouse fragrances that comes up a lot in conversation (Zahd, Rume, etc.), it's a name I'd heard and it sounded pleasant and interesting and unsurprisingly different from Josh's other offerings.

From the note breakdown and prior reviews, I'd imagined a sort-of "lighter Norne with mint" and the reality is not so far-off.

Grev's mix of copaiba and birch contributes to the acerbic, semi-bitter side that I and others seem to analogize to a minty aspect, whereas the clove lends its usual heavy-handed spiciness, complete with powdery orris and the more subdued fir balsam and cedar combination.

Its opening blast is definitely sharper and spicier, with the dry down smoother and a bit more of a creamy/spicy mix along the lines of Montblanc Presence.

Grev is slightly masculine-leaning, given that it's varying degrees of spicy throughout its evolution, but it's unisex enough that I imagine anyonecould enjoy it.

And, as Grev's pale-colored juice might imply, the performance is noticeably a few notches below that of the darker-juiced compositions (pretty much all of the others that I own), though fans of Sadanne, Pear + Olive, and to some extent, Kiste, already know this to be the case.

Like Baque, I quite like Grev and am intrigued by it, but I'm not enthralled by it and wouldn't say that I love it. I wouldn't recommend it as a prime representation of the best that the brand can offer. Still, like Baque, I'm happy to keep my bottle and wear it from time to time, and also, like Baque, it's not as overpowering as most of the house's scents are (generally an asset, don't get me wrong), so it has a time and a place where it can be useful contra Sova, Zahd, Norne, Ore, Jeke, etc.

7 out of 10

This scent screams "WINTER" to me. Starting off with a wintergreen mint ice crystals blast, then drying off to vodka-laced snowflakes .. it's a gorgeous scent. One that I imagine would be Elsa in Frozen's signature scent. But it's not for me. I need the sleepy warmth of summer / smoky / fir sap of Norne and Jeke, to be truly happy. Those two I can't live without .. :)

But I impressed with Grev. It's Norne's bad sister. :)

This review is for the 2015 Limited cask edition

Grev presents mint, clove, sandalwood, green leaf, suede, and a soapy touch in a rather low key package. Quite minty to start, this quickly gives way to the clove and a leaf and stem combo (birch leaf), mingling with sandalwood. The sandalwood was unexpected from reviews of the prior iterations, and it works beautifully to smooth things and to provide a woody framework. While the clove here is prominent, as every review notes, it does not dominate this 2015 scent.

A couple of hours in, the mint and anise are mostly gone, and the clove and leaf are settling down. At this point, the scent has subtly morphed into a wood-suede-herbs combo, set in damp plaster. There is also a clear, but subtle resin. Is that the copaiba balsam? No experience with that material. There is not a trace of either flowers or fruit, and nothing discernibly citric–although the clear suede note could well be the bergamot listed in the ‘house notes for the Ltd Cask edition.

Projection is rather modest, in stark contrast to the reviews of the prior versions. The scent stays close, even with 3 sprays, but it ran all day.

I see Grev as the summer and early autumn sibling to the house's green spring scent, Mare; and an interesting counterpoint to the other SH fragrance occupying the summer/autumn slot in the line-up: Kiste.

Sidenote: the presentation is terrific–pale lime green juice in the new eliptical bottle with gun metal grey hardware. And the price is right--25% less than the rest of the line.

I've been looking for Grev for 2 years. Its worth the wait. Grev 2015 Ltd. is recommended to fans of minty and green-leafy fragrances, and should be sampled by folks open to unusual treatments of sandalwood and of woody aromatics generally. 4.5 stars

Minty. Wintergreen. Cool spices. Grass. Clover. Sweet salve, like something in a tin to rub on your sore muscles. Refreshing and clean but ultimately more of an environmental scent and not a personal one to wear all day. This is lighter and more airy than the other Slumberhouse scents. It reminds me of aftershave. Pleasant but rather fleeting.

Pungent, powerful, bitter-green opening comprising a massive load of cloves together with herbal-grassy notes, like basil or other herbs, with a slight minty aftertaste. I also detect aldehydes and a subtle star anise flavour. As minutes pass it tends even more on menthol-balmy notes, always with an absinthe-esque, bitter, dark, pungent and sour poisonous green accord, on a slightly ambery base comprising patchouli. The green accord is on the balmy-pine side, smelling of resins (not sticky or syrupy, rather dry) and icy woods. I also detect Iso E providing a thin but warm breeze of incense. The main note is however - and after a while, you'll probably add "sadly" - cloves, which remain there with their cloying majesty for basically the entire evolution of the scent. They tone down a bit after a while, when the pine notes emerge, but they don't disappear – just become slightly less prominent. And this is the only "con" for me, I appreciate the power and the persistence of Lobb's scent, but in this case, being a cloves-circus for the whole time, it may soon become annoying.

6/10

Frankly the yet tested Slumberhouse's potion i appreciate less. Grev starts with a boozy/mentholated blast followed by a strong aroma of cloves, roots, grass, lemon and by a more than vaguely medicinal spark. The booziness starts soon to recede while a sort of off-putting fat-grassy and vaguely bitter/burnt undertone takes the stage with its pharmaceutical temperament. Cloves and birch are the spicy/aromatic heart of this grassy fragrance but unfortunately the acid/chemical olfactory interaction of copaiba balsam (with its penetrating aromatic odor), citrus and aromatic resins turns out overly crude, green and fat. The rooty influence from the orris root keeps on steady till the end with a lemony (i would talk about citrusy peels) undertone. Nothing interesting to me.