Question:
I have been wearing this leather scent for over a month, and this is what I have to say:

The opening accord is a burst of assorted citrus notes which resemble the smooth mandarin-dominated accord of the leather classic, Creed Royal English Leather, except not as smooth or rich. Despite what the notes pyramid indicates, the leather makes its presence felt almost immediately. Its a powerful pungent leather note which unfortunately does smells quite a bit like turpentine. Its not the most appealing leather note, and it actually distracts from the overall construction which is extremely well blended. The supporting citrus, wood and floral notes do a good job of toning down the intense acerbic leather, but I think it will bother quite a lot of people. Some may wonder, why bother? The same effect can be had by spending time in a crusty car garage meddling with various motor oils and tools.

The trick to enjoying Knize Ten is to:

1) Wear it in cool weather
2) Mist instead of spraying

If you follow those two rules, you will enjoy the depth and complexity that this leather classic has to offer. However, the leather note in K10 can be classified as too "garagey" and nasty - I cant recommend this over REL or Cuir De Russie, both of which enunciate two different leathers with a decent supporting cast of notes resulting in superb wearable leathers even for people wary of leather notes.

What do you think of K10 ?

Answer:
We K10 fans are a dangerous bunch. We don't take to detractors nicely!!!
Just kidding; I can definitely see what you mean. I love K10, but I learned early those two rules you mentioned the hard way...

Answer:
Originally Posted by rach2jlc I learned early those two rules you mentioned the hard way... I'm a big fan also, but I find it very hard to fit it with a situation...so I wear it occasionally around the house. In addition to ZZ's warnings, another thing I learned is that it doesn't take to kindly to refreshing either. It turns very quickly when applied over an earlier dried down application.

btw, rach, I'm not following you....really!

Answer:
Perfumery leather is defined by bitter and smoky materials like quinolines and rectified birch tar. I used to wear Royal English Leather and Creed Cuir de Russie but find them entirely inchoate (regarding susbtance, complexity, development, and drydown) when compared with the likes of serious leather chypres such as Knize Ten, Chanel's Cuir de Russie, Derby, Cuir Mauresque, Tabac Blond, and even milder leathers such as Eau d'Hermes.
IMO, Knize Ten is as fine, clean, joyful a leather as it is possible to make.

Answer:
Originally Posted by pluran Perfumery leather is defined by bitter and smoky materials like quinolines and rectified birch tar. The birch tar ("silver birch" specifically) in Creed Cuir De Russie definitely blows the doors off Knize Ten - and the best thing about it is that despite being "heavy", its suprisingly wearable and not pungent and doesnt need the caveats mentioned above to enjoy. But ofcourse you are entitled to your opinion.

Answer:
Originally Posted by zztopp The birch tar ("silver birch" specifically) in Creed Cuir De Russie definitely blows the doors off Knize Ten - and the best thing about it is that despite being "heavy", its suprisingly wearable and not pungent and doesnt need the caveats mentioned above to enjoy. But ofcourse you are entitled to your opinion. The Creed leathers as a whole are rendered inchoate by several other leather chypres (IMO), regardless of nuance concerning amounts and varieties raw materials.
I've owned flacons of the two Creeds you mentioned for several years. Although they smell good, I've never derived a great deal of satisfaction from them.
Knize Ten is substantial and complex, but not necessarily heavy, certainly not when compared to the likes of Tabac Blond (the archetypal leather fragrance) in extrait concentration.
Have fun.....

Answer:
Pluran's explanation of how we acheive the leather scent in perfumery is just what I was looking for. Any other info is appreciated guys, I find the subject fascinating. I have a decant of the Tabac Blond extrait and the SL leather. I notice Creed's Royal leather was one of it's first offerings. Who wore a leather scent back then (1800 or so) men or women or both?

Answer:
Which country produces Knize? I suspect it's a UK product.

Answer:
It's Viennese and to look at their website you'd think they were a clothing store for men, which they are.

Answer:
Originally Posted by fredricktoo All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that
the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore,
if you can't get them together again, there must be a reason. By all
means, do not use a hammer. -- IBM maintenance manual, 1925 Oh god! This is terrific!!!
Is that a real IBM manual?