Schmendrick 2021

[zankoku_zen]

Unexplored potential: sweet, raw tobacco leaves, chamomile, clary sage, meadow sage, Mysore sandalwood, sultana raisins, and caramel.

[Kefliss]

This one is so odd to me. My brain 100% translates it as some type of powdered soup mix. I think the sage may be where I'm getting all the herbal greenery then sandalwood always comes across as dry and sawdusty to me. I get none of the sweet raisins or caramel, just dried greens. The chamomile doesn't really come through as a scent note but the overall mix does have some of it's calming/soporific effect, so you can still tell it's there.

[zankoku_zen]

This was definitely a male cologne - I got sage, tobacco, and sandalwood with a mix of greens. Great throw and wear length.

[Casablanca]

For both my friend and I, this one jumps from tobacco to the compacted, blackened layer coating an old ashtray.

 

So, yeah no. Schmendrick isn't for either of us.

[hhelix]

Schmendrick reads classic chypre to me. I could swear there is oakmoss. It's grassy, soapy, and herbaceous. The greens are not quite dead leaves, but dry and dying. The chamomile and clary sage are the most forward notes to my nose, backed by a subtle sweetness in the background that burnishes the whole thing to a brassy coppery gold. Lovely.

[Teamama]

I got a frimp of what must have been original Schmendrick from the Lab a couple of years back & liked it, but didn't take notes. This review is for a decant of 2021 Schmendrick.

Wet: Soap. My son describes cologne-ish blends as smelling like "fancy soap." That's what I have here--high-end masculine soap. If I huff, I can smell tobacco & dried fruit.

Dry: Still soap, darn it. Most of these individual notes are winners on me, but not in this blend. I suspect my skin's unpredictable response to green notes like sage + clary sage may be what's wrecking it. Glad I got to try it, & I'll hang on to the decant for a while to see if age (either mine or the decant's,) changes things for the better.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Teamama
proofreading

[roseus]

In the imp I get a very savoury foodie situation, with a fresh greeness underneath. I get what @Kefliss said about powdered soup mix. But on my skin it is much more of a dusty grassy scent than foody. Chamomile tends to have a soft, dusty quality on me (not in a bad way!). Very herbal. Sagey. I get a little sandalwood as it wears, a rather dry sandalwood.. My skin has pretty much turned this to a dry meadow, which isn't bad. It smells like a boutique cologne. After a half hour or so the sage fades a bit and the warm tobacco comes out. I still can't pick out caramel or sultanas however. It's quite a comforting scent.. I'll have to test it out on Mr. roseus.

Edited August 16, 2021 by roseus

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A very sweet and chewy tobacco (with maybe caramel making it extra-sweet and extra-chewy?), with soft, fuzzy herbs underneath.

 

Wet: The tobacco is much more restrained, and is playing very nicely with a swirl of herbs (I would believe sage, but I couldn't pick it out immediately) over a rather dry, woodsy base. I get very occasional hints of bubblegum, which is what chamomile usually does on my skin, but thankfully not many - I was a little worried about this when I ordered, so I'm glad that the other notes are having a chance to shine through! After a few minutes, from afar, it's a a rather lovely balance between gray-green sage and dried brown tobacco leaves, with no raisins or caramel that I could pick up. The sandalwood started out almost nonexistent, but has become more prominent.

 

Dry: This is the scent of dried herbs and tobacco leaves hanging among old wooden rafters - surprisingly dry and homey! At first the herbs (again, mainly sage but not distinctively so) are more prominent, accented by the tobacco leaves, and then they slowly shift places over several hours. When the tobacco becomes prominent, it becomes sweeter and chewier, like ITI. And maybe there's just a hint of fruity sweetness? Not enough for me to be able to say so with confidence, though, which I'm extra-glad of - I occasionally amp sweet notes, and I was a little afraid that the foody sweetness would stomp all over the tobacco and herbs, both of which I adore.

 

Huh, this ended up being a lot quieter and more grounded than I'd anticipated. It's a sort of homey, quietly confident scent - not quite how I think of Schmendrick, although I suppose I did take a "magic, do as you will" chance on the camomile and foody notes not overwhelming the tobacco, sage, and sandalwood.

[Llanval]

Okay so I totally get the powdered soup mix, but that ultra savoury first blast of sage and herbs calms and the chamomile turns this dusty soft and yet still freshly, sharply mouthwateringly green. Love this one, caught me totally off guard. I do actually get a hint of sweet caramel and raisins after an hour but it's hard to hold onto. The tobacco is just snuggling right up to the sage it's hard to pull the two apart. It is masculine, but no where near the dreaded "men's cologne" note that usually kills a scent for me.

 

Schmendrick is a bright, well kept apothecary room filled with bundles of both dried and freshly picked and snapped stems of sage and herbs, the sharp green alive potential of the newly bundled herbs blending in with the drier, softer comfort of older bundles. This is a clean, herbaceous yet warmly masculine scent, filled with sweet potential. Super wearable and enjoyable for me.

[skyturtles]

Disclaimer: I don't like chamomile.

This comes off as quite foodie, probably due to the sage, caramel, and raisins. It is more herbal than it is sweet. (Raisins aren't really sweet anyway.)

As it dries, it smells more and more like a kitchen. Herbs and spices and some disinfectant in the cupboard. In a masculine way.

I'm not really a fan.

Thanks for the empty frottle though!

[ghoulnextdoor]

 I inhale this scent and my heart instantly hears “I know you. I’d be blind and I’d know what you are.” Schmendrick brings me to tears. An earthy, woodsy, deeply aromatic tobacco leaf, vanilla-y, apple-y chamomile, and a thoughtful, pruney musk.