Maxfield Parrish

There is a golden land, a drowsy, languorous place where time doesn’t pass, but slowly drips, moment by moment.  A land that does not belong to any map, nor any country, but can only be found when the shadowed light suddenly blazes with brass and amber.  And when you raise your head to the warmth of that light, the scent that falls from the clouds is Kiste, by Slumberhouse – a fragrance inspired by the saturated Southern heat of Savannah, Georgia.  But truly  – it visits us from a far more holy place.

Bacchus und Ariadne by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1578

This is my first experience with this line, and I am absolutely floored.  Kiste is the purest nectar, what I imagine Greek gods in their high marbled pantheons drank while debating the fate of mortals.  It is built from the ripest peach note, with an astringent hit of tobacco that keeps the peach from tipping over into overly-ripe mush.  Honey is also present here, and Kiste just shimmers and slides between the dry and the sumptuous qualities of these notes.  The ancient Egyptians believed that their departed had to smell a certain way to attain the Afterlife, and so help me God, when my time comes, I’m going out drenched in this perfume, and no deity will refuse my entrance anywhere in the Cosmos.

Cafleurebon has gone to the top of the mountain with Slumberhouse before, and communed with this Portland, OR-based perfume house for other transmissions from the Divine realm, expressed through perfumer Josh Lobb’s  always aniticipated releases (  Sadanne  ,Zahd Flou, Sana   Or). Lobb’s descriptions of his scents are as elliptical and confusing as trying to understand a deity.  His introductions to the perfumes he’s created seem more appropriate if they were found in a free-verse poetry book, or perhaps transcribed from some arcane, archaeological tome discovered underneath the Pyramids.  Here’s his way of announcing Kiste:
 “The honeysuckle hammer and the sundial

The cigar skinned chevrotain

The thimble of peach cocoonase

Here is where the world become so silent and so still

The nothingness of it all becomes my own laughter”

And despite the seeming existential dread implied in that last line, Kiste is a perfume of profound transcendental peace.  The honey and peach, combined with the astringent qualities of the tobacco all coalesce to bring out a deeply-rooted muscular relaxation in the wearer, a stretching slowness and drowsiness that only sunlight on your neck can mirror.   There’s also some tonka bean, elderberry and patchouli floating through this scent, but  my nose only seems to care about the sweetness of the fruit and the old-timey, “sitting at the feet of your grandparents” feel of the tobacco.

Dali

And, just as wisdom is passed from generation to generation, Kiste is saturated with the acolyte’s rush of receiving ancient knowledge.  You don’t feel as if you’re wearing a perfume as much as being initiated, or escorted out of this world and set free in a dappled, drowsy Elysium.  It provides a passport to The Golden Land, where all is quiet and still and High Summer reigns forever.  Kiste is a drunken, delicious and profound work of art that is as much about wearing fragrance as a saltine is about receiving Communion.  Take me to Church.

Steve Johnson, Editor

Notes: pipe tobacco, spicy peach, scotch heather, tonka, honey, patchouli and elderberry

Disclosure:  I received my sample from Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique

Thanks to Twisted Lily, we have a wonderful draw of three samples of Kiste for our US readers.   To be eligible please leave a comment about why you would liket to try Kiste and if you have a favorite Slumberhouse perfume. Draw ends 3/30/2015

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume