Reviews of Hyde by Hiram Green

I can see why people say it smells like BBQ and leather, but what it really reminds me of is sitting in a sauna - a rich steamy earthy birch scent. It's grounding.

Dark, smoky leather with a faint combination of notes that slightly resembles charred meat. Perhaps not as scary as that sounds, this is a lovely fragrance for anyone in the mood for a reasonably strong, wall-of-scent dark leather. Performance is quite solid considering this is 100% natural. I've tried a few Hiram Green scents and generally find that most are either "unisex but weird" or "technically unisex but leaning feminine"; I'd put this in the former camp, and it actually seems to lean a bit masculine due to the barbecued leather aspect. I'm not sure how often I could wear this, but I really like it and would love a full bottle.

Hiram Green Hyde is my second try from this house (after Slowdive) and a celebrated leather scent, which, upon first spray, absolutely delivers this vision. Much like Slowdive is a dark and spicy (albeit also sweet) honey scent, Hyde is a spicy leather scent with resinous accents and just a touch of sweetness to prevent it from being too sharp. It maintains a bit of a burnt character with birch tar, specifically, and the smoky side of labdanum, I suspect, with just a slight tartness and levity provided via lemon and bergamot. Vanilla being listed as a note is not wholly surprising but Hyde is by no means a sweet fragrance. Instead, it sits spicy without being animalic, peppery, or sharp, always an impressive feat, being spicy but not too spicy.

Overall, this is very impressive, with the leather, birch tar, and labdanum telling most of the story, with interesting quirks provided by the other notes, but on the whole, a masterful, rich execution. I just might have to pick up this and Slowdive this year, but I probably will owe both a revisit at some point first.

In the US, Hiram Green is priced at $165 for 50ml in EDP concentration, very reasonable in light of its quality and performance (I said the same of Slowdive), and it is sold via several great boutiques: Indigo Perfumery, Tigerlily Perfumery, Luckyscent, and Ave Parfum.

8 out of 10

Hyde has a beautiful smoky opening with birch accentuated with lemon and tarry-leathery undercurrents; it's intriguing and also very wearable. Unfortunately the volume, depth and complexity reduces drastically after an hour or so, leading to a very soft base of labdanum and dry vanilla with minimal sweetness. I would have liked Hyde a whole lot more if it were able to sustain its beauty and gravitational pull. The base, while nice, is thin, and a far cry from what went on before, and thus Hyde is eventually disappointing.

Among this style of smoky fragrances are Tyrannosaurus Rex, Le Labo Patchouli and Bois d'Ascese. All of those have much more sustained developments and do not thin out after one or two hours.


2.5/5

HYDE is hauntingly beautiful ... and hauntingly is the right word because it haunts ones attention for many hours, the wearer as well as the people around. The opening is too aggressive: burnt rubber, camp fire and some incense. As it mellows with time it becomes more and more agreeable and addictive. It is still camp fire and incense but sweeter and less burnt plastic. Hours later it's bright and shinning but the dangerous projection of the opening really calms down. It is the dry down that I love and which goes on and on... luckily. HYDE lingers on clothes for days, on the skin ... next day during shower I get strong marvelous wafts of it as warm water hits the skin. I tend to spray in the back of my neck and some goes to my hair. Shampooing it off the next morning is not easy! The only downside of HYDE is that it is not a crowd pleaser and this makes wearing it a bit of a conundrum. My partner doesn't like that it is so strong and overpowering so I don't wear it around him. But I do love the journey HYDE takes me. I purchased a sample from HG, I only apply two little sprays and that's enough for this masterpiece to dazzle me for the day. HYDE is dry and at times acrid so I see how many people won't be able to stand it. This is as far as niche perfumery can take you from a designer juice. Sample it... it's worth it.

Thumbs up all the way. I like them smoky and sweet AND I LOVE HYDE. Patchouli 24 was my former favorite smoke bomb and Hyde takes the crown, easily. No contest. This Hiram Green masterpiece makes Le Labo's most interesting scent seem thin and timid.

There is so much honeyed beauty laying in wait behind the veils of smoke... a T Rex sized floral impression, some brûléed lemon and bitter orange... on a table between sweet sugared blackberries and big bodied wine.

This scent is a villain. It fills up the alleys and growls in the shadows. It revs like a motorcycle. Ride it.

Oh boy. I like them tall, dark, and handsome just as much as the next gay, but this is too much. From the vial (vile?), all I got was BBQ, meaty and sticky with sauce. I've finally been brave enough to apply it to my skin (just a little, back of the hand), and it thankfully does mellow–yellow florals, the softness of the labdanum, and a hint of vanilla. But like I've been tending the grill all afternoon, that tarry, acrid woodsmoke is there to stay.

Hiram Green does impressive things with naturals–I completely see Hyde in line with Slowdive, which I adore. Unfortunately, Hyde does not garner as much appreciation from me. For those looking to cultivate that elegant pitmaster vibe, you've found your fragrance. The rest of us–even the smoke lovers amongst us–should only proceed with an abundance of caution.

Holy Cow, this is a monster! If you like DARK scents, you need to try Hyde. As mentioned below, it is as beastly as T Rex. I like dark thick scents, but even I can't handle this. There's a chewing tobacco smell that rears it's head too.

I would never wear or buy this, BUT, I still think it's a fantastic scent. It's deeply smokey with capitals D and S, and reminds me of the most intriguing parts of Fumerie Turque (back before it was reformulated). The only reason I wouldn't indulge in this myself is the same reason I never bought the Lutens: it feels a bit overwhelming and monolithic. For those of you who desire to smell like last night's campfire into which a few marshmallows have fallen, this is your baby. I like this far more than the Goodsir smoke scent or frankly, any other smokey scent I've tried. There's something genuinely attractive here, especially in its opening salvo. Would love to smell this on a sophisticated someone of either gender.

If I'd tried something as smoky as HYDE 10 years ago I'd have scrubbed it off within minutes. The birch tar opening is pitch black, tarry and acrid, quickly overwhelming whatever hesperidic topnotes this fragrance may have in the beginning. Do not spray this at the office!

At this juncture I couldn't help but compare it to another smoky beast - Zoologist' T-Rex with its savage roar of an opening. Objectively speaking HYDE is the tamer creature. And where T-Rex rampaged on to an interesting ashy floral phase, HYDE mellows down more conventionally, bedding to a comfortably warm vanilla and leathery labdanum.

What_? That's it?? To be honest my expectations were a little higher to begin with. Blame it on the over-the-moon reviews it's gotten thus far. Mind you, HYDE isn't bad, it IS good. But it tramples on old grounds, plays like a B-grade movie with the edgy opening act, a conventional storyline and an ending you could spot from a mile away. Running time seems to be on the shorter side too. The whole experience made me miss Ambre Noir from Sonoma Scent Studio even more.

Perhaps it's better for me to switch channels and look for the real beast...

Very nice balance between the smoky birch tar and the sweeter balsamic notes. Brings to mind both Lapsang Souchong tea and Russisch Leder (Farina Gegenuber), a fragrance that I remember from the 1970's. However I prefer Hyde to the latter. This is a really good Russian Leather with great complexity of character and will no doubt get a following.