Description
Old School Bench is part of Volume 1 of the SCENT STORIES Collection which debuted in 2014. Volume 1 consists of 11 fragrances to be released on a members-only basis for the first year. The fragrances’ notes and concepts are reserved for members only. The fragrances are planned for release to the general public in a year, when Volume 2 of the collection is released.
“Olfaction is the sense that’s hardwired to your brain. A direct, subconscious passage to memory and emotions, a memorable smell is rarely forgotten. In SCENT STORIES, each perfume is a potion and an abstract work of art. We invite each guest to spend time with each aroma. Engage, reflect, project, and allow each to transcend your moment. Like a good book, we hope each chapter takes you somewhere captivating. An exchange in the creation, alchemy is achieved in this dialogue and we hope that you find the stories interesting. The collection is rare, exclusive, and made from only a single batch of the best ingredients in the world. We encourage true connoisseurs to collect their favorite chapters.”—Chad Murawczyk and Mindy Yang of MiN New York
mornetlettemy – :
This is a very pleasant scent to me, but then again, I love wood in perfumes. It doesn’t smell particularly synthetic, the notes are mostly quite inexpensive as naturals, at this price point, why not use them? Yeah, the price ….. well this kinda smells like something I might mix up in my own little lab, a bit of a no-brainer of a perfume …. but a very nice smell for those who love wood, and not too heavy on the cedar, thereby avoiding the pencil shaving overdose I sometimes get, say with a Serge Lutens. I must say I loved the scent wafting up from my wrist this morning as I went about my day.
Elegant48 – :
This is all about rubber with mild horse shit, charcoal, very mild smoky pencil shavings and mild smell of tar under the hot summer sun. At the end I get more aromatic rubber with pencil shavings. Quite unique but not pleasant for my nose. It reminds me some nasty arabic fragrancies. Other noticeable notes are cedar, angelica, vetiver, patchouli and traces of geranium. The best part of this scent is the drydown. The opening and the first stage are quite nasty.
Performance is good. Long lasting with strong projection for half an hour. Moderate sillage.
kashicin86 – :
Old School Bench opens really dry. Dry patchouli, dry cedar and dry, dusty cacao powder. Alsmost like an attack on the lungs.
After a while the scent deepens. A touch of honey for the barest hint of sweetness and vetiver and whiskey for a deep smoky flavor. There’s a sour note to it as well.
The base is pencil shavings and a deep smoked wood accord, like the beams in an old room where fires have been lit for centuries to keep the cold out.
I find it simple and quite linear, but in the best way possible. Can’t get enough of the smoked woods. It reminds me of ancient lecture halls. A very old school bench indeed.
gregori – :
Old School Bench smells to me like a highly modernized take on patchouli. It opens very aromatic and boozy, unsweetened and almost astringent to then *evolve* into a vetiver-infused uber-dry and non-headshop type of patchouli with woody facets. If you’re drawn to hyper-modernism, this smells very good in my opinion but the problem with these MiN is often the same: Why pay Yohji Yamamoto prices for a COS shirt?
Anyway, this is nice.
Rating: 7/10
uhr556elipseskism – :
At first sniff, this smells exactly like a gnarled school desk en-scrawled with badly drawn penises and wood rot.
However, the individual notes can be assessed if you look for them. The cacao, cedar and a rather dirty smelling vetiver are the main things contributing to the thick, heavy mustiness. The honey and vanilla give the redolent sweetness of the wood, which I would always smell whenever I pressed my sweaty forehead down on the desk and pretended to be unwell so I could skip class.
There is also a strange chemical note, like varnish or paint-stripper, which I attribute to the rum and geranium.
The over all effect is successful in so far as it smells like the concept, but quite honestly I can’t imagine any sane person would want to spend money to smell like a musty old school bench :/
нурсултан – :
Puzzling name aside (I’m assuming it’s an “old bench from a school” rather than an “old-school bench”), this is another strong offering from the collection. In fact, while I personally prefer Moon Dust (and perhaps Barrel), I find this to be the line’s most successful realization of an experimental and articulate vision. It opens with what appears to be a bizarre yet engaging alliance of wood and chocolate that carries an insinuation of a boozy Turkish Delight. Despite this, there’s no overt sweetness as the chocolate notes are rendered with poise. Instead, what emerges is a musty note that becomes a dominant player in the blend—one that elevates this scent into truly distinctive territories. It shares some of Moon Dust’s sense of alienation, but adds an organic pulse through a chord that smells vaguely berry-like and varnished at the same time. Picture an old piece of oak furniture, dripping in character and history—one that’s been given a new lease of life through the application of a semi-sweet chemical process—and you’ll have a sense of what this is about. It’s fairly linear, but is surprisingly accessible and pleasant. I’m honestly not sure how this was accomplished, but it works very well. A real standout.