Steading
Pineward Perfumes (2020)

I still remember the very first Pineward order I ever placed, way back when none of these had any reviews - perhaps one or two here and there. I opened my little burlap drawstring sack, and just had my mind blown over and over again as each one of them transported me to various scent memories - childhood associations, painting pictures of autumn in New England, Christmas, snowy forest walks, and October hay rides through pumpkin patches. Steading particularly stood out as special.

So let's finally review it, now that I've spent nearly two years with it.

That note breakdown looks... Suspiciously familiar, doesn't it? I'll admit, I sought this one out because I wanted Sova, but couldn't find Sova. I thought, surely, this a play on Sova - how could it not be? Well, does it smell like Sova?!

No. No it really doesn't. There may be some vague overlap, and certainly some shared ingredients, but Nick has done something entirely different, and entirely original. First off, is the obvious maple component. I'm guessing it's maple absolute - it's right at the forefront - still in the blend, but always making its presence known. Next, is the barley. This stuff is downright wheaty. Malty, even. I'm a craft beer nerd as much as a perfume nerd. This stuff is genuinely a perfumed barrel-aged maple barleywine. Sova is dry, raw, dirty and rustic autumn-in-a-bottle. Steading is sweet, rich, cozy, wheaty honeyed maple autumn-in-a-bottle. I don't want to mention Sova again here, because it's irrelevant.

There's a significant tobacco presence. Leafy, moist, and hefty. The hay lends some drier leafy facets, preventing it from going totally Tobacco Vanille. I don't know what poplar is lending, but the hops do lend a resinous, slightly green component, lifting all these dense ingredients - but not above the beeswax, which grounds it all in that distinctive waxy honeycomb sweetness. I don't get any smoky or medicinal peat, but the pine needles do peak through - although more of a dried, golden needle, rather than super terpenic fresh needles. Everything is all glued together by a stunning leathery, feral castoreum note, which is essential here.

Steading makes me envision a farmstead - tucked away somewhere in the fields of Northern New England. Vermont, maybe. Taps stick out of maple trees, with buckets of sap ready to boil down into syrup - the smell of which is present in the air. It's late october - the ground is lined with fallen pine needles from the deep forest that surrounds the farm. There are rows of wheat and barley ready for harvest, and a small hop yard next to them - the buds, fully mature. The beekeeping boxes are filled with honeycomb ready to collect, and the oaken shed - door ajar, is filled with bundles of various tobaccos - drying and curing. You take a seat on one of the hay bales and kick off your dirty leather boots, as you take in the fragrant smells of the farmstead, and the beautiful autumn foliage that drenches the surrounding land in colour. You're well prepared for winter.

Performance is typical of Pineward, with this stuff just gluing itself to the skin for quite some time. Sillage is impressive for the first couple hours, settling a bit for several more, and remaining a skin scent for the remainder of the night. Obviously not intended for summer wear. It not only captures autumn, but it's just so rich and heavy, you wouldn't want it in the heat.

As far as the Pineward lineup goes, this is ine of the quintessential core offerings, and despite the cheeky note breakdown, really bears little resemblance to anything. It's incredibly original, incredibly unique, and incredibly Pineward, to its very core. Stunning. A masterpiece.

Steading went on me as an initial warm, somewhat spicy thing that rapidly resolved into a rather good "artist's impression of hay/stables" plus fresh unflavoured tobacco. After a bit, these were joined by an admirably subtle smoky peat smell, for a highly enjoyable overall effect that wasn't really perfume-y at all. If one wanted to smell like an old-fashioned rural gentleman from an English novel from the turn of the last century, but without the rural, this would be very much the way to go.

Green-resinous-animalic border crossing blend. Rather not for the fainted hearts out there. Notes present on my skin are beeswax, hay, castoreum, tobacco, hops and of course the signature of the line - conifers (I detect mostly pine).

I’d say - if you like Slumberhouse Sova, but you’d like to have more extreme version of it - go for Steading from Pineward - you should be satisfied.

Longevity is through the roof - over 12 hours with less than 3 sprays. It’s easy to overspray that one. Sillage is above average.

I think it’s in my top 3 releases from the brand.

Sampling Pineward Perfumes Steading, a spicy, resinous, borderline animalic blend that might be among the most provocative of the house that I’ve tried so far, with listed notes of tobacco, hay, beeswax, barley, dried needles, poplar, hops, maple, and wisps of peat smoke. The hay in particular seems prominent, and reminds me of the hay note in Slumberhouse Sova (in which it is similarly central), complemented by woody notes, the resinous beeswax, and a touch of sweetness via maple. It has the effective of being an ensemble of fall/winter notes, creating a mostly outdoorsy vibe that nonetheless has roughly foody aspects added to it, not as purely outdoors as the more arboreal entries in the line but not particularly gourmand-like like Apple Tabac or Revelries.

Steading is certainly a bit less safe than some of the other woodier entries but I love it all the more for that. Again, I’ll need to retry it alongside some of the others but this is an easy love for me.

Steading has the same pricing as the rest of the line, at $135/80 for 37/17ml.

8 out of 10

Steading goes on with a barley infused slightly smoky maple syrup accord with hints of supporting dry tobacco leaf before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the dry tobacco leaf becomes the sole star for about an hour and a half before the maple syrup makes a return and swaps places with it now with the tobacco still detectable, but in a supporting role joined by a faint background of coniferous greens that meld particularly with the maple. During the late dry-down the composition morphs multiple times as it first adds a near sanitized patchouli-like aspect to the maple and tobacco before finally settling on the focal maple yet again through the finish. Projection is good and longevity outstanding at well over 15 hours on skin.

Steading is a tough composition to pin down as the perfume shifts gears several times throughout its development... and it is all good. The natural maple syrup accord seems to be the most prominent throughout, but the tobacco is also quite key and resembles that of dry tobacco leaf found in fine cigars. The most puzzling aspect to the composition's development is in the beginning of the late dry-down, as what can best be described as a patchouli-like facet emerges to meld perfectly with the maple and tobacco. I don't believe there is any patchouli in Steading, but rather the illusion of the ingredient or something similar, which smells absolutely incredible when combined with the other components and is probably my favorite part of the perfume's fascinating journey. The bottom line is the $128 per 37ml extrait bottle Steading provides the wearer an incredible journey from start to finish, earning it an "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating and a strong recommendation to all. Very impressive!

Steading is all about sweetness and warmth. It settles itself into a cloud of maple syrup, hay, tobacco, and honey in the base notes. The opening notes have a bit of freshness to them from hops and fir resin. This slight zing then takes on the sweeter, more enveloping qualities of a gourmand as Steading progresses. Pineward Perfumes for the most part have very powerful performance and Steading is no exception. You only need to apply a small amount to enjoy wearing it all day and into the evening. This is a fragrance to be worn at a cabin on a winter's adventure. It really comes alive in the cold winter air.