Neutral Reviews of Kiste 
Slumberhouse (2015)

Previous version of Kiste had very generous amount of honey and that appeared quite clearly on my skin. Peach, tobacco, herbs and spices were all just a background and gave it a story played behind. The main player and star of the show was honey and its animalic nature came out on me. It instantly reminded me of good old chypre classic YSL Kouros, in which honey was one of the key ingredients. In Kiste there is some creamy, fruity background added to it and spices. I didn't find it as spicy as Mond is, therefore I liked it way less. The drydown and the late base is soft, mellow tobacco on woodsy shed. In general Kiste is a wee plush and maybe even cozy.

Longevity seems to be above average, so is sillage. As in all Slumberhouse I know.

Overall? Okay. Just okay.

Kiste is like a cozy winter-afternoon spent inside an american "country" (antique furnishing-type) tea-room impregnated by the aromas of pipe tobacco, honeyed cakes, fruity tea and rum. Peach and yummy tonka are quite dominant. The booziness is light and balanced (never liquorous or too spicy), a ghostly herbal accord lingers around for a while. Patch takes finally the stage in a soft yummy way (never earthy, aggressive or hippie). Yes, this semi-oriental is one of the most affordable and versatile from the Slumberhouse-line, I see it. Not exactly a structured fragrance but more properly the reconstruction of very ancestral atmospheres. A finally smooth "ambiance" aroma rich of deep american odours of rare "cloudy" ages from our arcane childhood.

Begins with a beautiful, rich and deep sparkling golden combination of honey and tobacco, flanked by a very clear, vibrant ripe peach accord. It's incredible for the first 30 minutes--realistic and lively, tranquil yet bold, idyllically evocative of a Southern plantation during the spring. But somewhere around the one hour mark these wonderful notes of peach, tobacco, and honey unfortunately collapse into a non-distinct melange of holiday potpourri. It's the the smell of the Yankee Candle aisle in the Christmas Tree Store; that sort of warm,waxy spicy smell of cloves and cinnamon and berries all blended together. I find a similar smell appears in Viktor & Rolf's Antidote (whose bottle top actually resembles a melted candle), though in Kiste, it's a little darker and heavier, lacking the florals that compose Antidote's upper register.

I was sort of torn up about reviewing this and making any negative comments in regard to Kiste. The opening is fantastic, and the overall quality and performance of the fragrance is excellent. It lasts for many hours with great projection, and it's a deep, rich scent. You can tell the ingredients are top notch. It's also very creative. I haven't encountered anything like Kiste, and it's a truly transportive fragrance. It's also possible that the "collapse" I experience doesn't occur for everybody who wears it, as some people have stated that it doesn't. In fact, this never happened with the original sample I received, which is why I promptly bought a bottle. But this happens every time I wear it now. And while I love the beginning, I can't lie and say the rest of the fragrance's development appeals to me. The candle-shop potpourri isn't a bad smell necessarily, but it's not something I want to smell like. Therefore, Kiste, while certainly not a bad fragrance, i just a neutral for me.