KNIZE TEN

When sampling Ten Knize's shop Am Graben in Vienna for the first time many years ago, I immediately was impressed by the leather note that jumped at me from the beginning.   A few minutes after the first impression a very aggressive rubbery gasoline note hit me, as if I was standing at the garage refueling the car; this harsh phase lasted about twenty minutes.  

The base note was sheer leather, pure and unadulterated, and very pleasant.  

Ten is a bit wilder than the Tom Ford Tuscan leather, and less fresh and less nuanced than Creed's Cuir de Russie; this is a great scent,  with the initial car-machismo given way to the pure classic elegance old fine old leather furniture.  The purity of the leather note was matched by depth and subtle changes over the hours.   One of the iconic leather fragrances.  

On my skin the sillage was strong, the projection excellent, and the longevity was truly phenomenal, lasting overnight being strong for around nine hours and still faintly present the morning after only a couple of sprays.  There might have been a slight reformulation after about 2017, as newer samples seemed a bit less intense and vivid than previously. 4.5/5