Top Notes 
Caramelized fig
Rum
Elemi absolute
Spanish cistus absolute
Heart Notes 
Maple syrup
Rose oil
Saffron
Base Notes 
Tonka bean
Patchouli
Peru balsam
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122 Reviews
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Helpful Review
4
On second thought, not that great
This review, originally posted on in mid-April 2025 when the fragrance first came out, was subsequently edited in early December 2025 as a part of me revisiting the top 20 products of 2025 to nail down the exact order. The original review title "Solid start to Xerjoff's 2025 calendar year" was changed to "On second thought, not that great".
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While Xerjoff did have a couple good products in 2024 with scents like "Deified Tony Iommi | XerJoff" and "Alexandria II Anniversary | XerJoff", the brand's continued path of market saturation also led them to drop numerous duds with "Newcleus | XerJoff" being the worst. Coming off the highs that Xerjoff reached with their previous collaborations with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, the iron already started to cool off as Deified was unable to match the highs of "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff". Now, Xerjoff is taking another shot, this time by launching 2 collaborative scents with the English pop/rock band Duran Duran. But can these products meet Monkey Special's moment?
Upon first wear & initial impressions, NeoRio opens fruity and sweet-spicy. The fruitiness feels quite non-descript, but having later smelled Xerjoff's Milano exclusive Via Manzoni 20, I would say that it's cherry. That cherry is done in a very particular sugary-sweet style alongside the sweet-spicy structure, smelling a bit of incense and mild-to-moderate tobacco. This initial feel had me thinking the scent was inspired by products like Smoking Hot and Tobacolor. That is to say it felt like a fruity tobacco fragrance.
When you smell "NeoRio | XerJoff" up-close, the spiciness is obviously more intense. Xerjoff has recently utilized this type of spiciness in the base of several of their fragrances, incl. "Louis XV 1722 | XerJoff" and even "Groove Xcape | XerJoff". I get moderate incense and touches of the exotic spices that have also featured in scents like Golden Dallah. There's no fruitiness or tobacco listed, but the implied feel that you get on-skin is somewhere between cherry tobacco scents, patchouli-driven tobaccos and fruity tobaccos, i.e. a cross-section of prodcuts like Manhattan Eau de Parfum, Boundless and Smoking Hot.
I find the dry-down a bit too plain, meaning the depth that NeoRio features in the top is not a core part of the scent's final dry-down with the aromatic tones in the base again having some Golden Dallah and perhaps even the incense/elemi from Golden Moka. The scent primarily smells spicy-resinous-sweet in the final phases. The marketing here has me lost, because Xerjoff launched this in 4 different "happy colors", yet the final product is clearly meant to be a fall-winter scent (masculine lean). The brand's marketing in Milan at Esxence also has me lost, because you were not able to smell either of these 2 products at the event, yet once the product subsequently launched, Xerjoff started giving out bottles like they're free candy. In Milan, they also implied that this would be a Harrods exclusive, yet this fragrance was purchasable all across Europe after launch and now in early December, I see it on clearance at some boutiques for 50% off. Lastly, the price at €315/50ml feels very harsh - when "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff" launched in 2021, the scent went for €235/50ml. That is to say the value is below average.
Ultimately, it has its positives and negatives. The scent's primary positive is the opening which I'd argue is the only selling point that it has. The product itself isn't flawlessly executed in its blending, esp. in the final dry-down (aromatic tones). For the profile, I find the performance fairly underwhelming: having worn it both indoors and outdoors, I'd say sillage is below average (peaks at arm's length) and longevity slightly above it (est. 7-8 hours). Additionally, I find NeoRio underwhelming in its originality as somebody who already owns several of the comps listed in this review and I'd say the highlights of the scent fade into a fairly plain spicy base within an hour. Given the competitors I listed all retail for nearly the same price in quantities between 100 and 125ml instead of NeoRio's 50ml, there's no objective way to make a recommendation here either. Prior to the revisions, NeoRio was 12th in my annual list and the revision moved it down a few spots. I'm looking at a retail bottle for 50% off as I'm revising this review and I believe it's still going to be a pass.
---
While Xerjoff did have a couple good products in 2024 with scents like "Deified Tony Iommi | XerJoff" and "Alexandria II Anniversary | XerJoff", the brand's continued path of market saturation also led them to drop numerous duds with "Newcleus | XerJoff" being the worst. Coming off the highs that Xerjoff reached with their previous collaborations with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, the iron already started to cool off as Deified was unable to match the highs of "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff". Now, Xerjoff is taking another shot, this time by launching 2 collaborative scents with the English pop/rock band Duran Duran. But can these products meet Monkey Special's moment?
Upon first wear & initial impressions, NeoRio opens fruity and sweet-spicy. The fruitiness feels quite non-descript, but having later smelled Xerjoff's Milano exclusive Via Manzoni 20, I would say that it's cherry. That cherry is done in a very particular sugary-sweet style alongside the sweet-spicy structure, smelling a bit of incense and mild-to-moderate tobacco. This initial feel had me thinking the scent was inspired by products like Smoking Hot and Tobacolor. That is to say it felt like a fruity tobacco fragrance.
When you smell "NeoRio | XerJoff" up-close, the spiciness is obviously more intense. Xerjoff has recently utilized this type of spiciness in the base of several of their fragrances, incl. "Louis XV 1722 | XerJoff" and even "Groove Xcape | XerJoff". I get moderate incense and touches of the exotic spices that have also featured in scents like Golden Dallah. There's no fruitiness or tobacco listed, but the implied feel that you get on-skin is somewhere between cherry tobacco scents, patchouli-driven tobaccos and fruity tobaccos, i.e. a cross-section of prodcuts like Manhattan Eau de Parfum, Boundless and Smoking Hot.
I find the dry-down a bit too plain, meaning the depth that NeoRio features in the top is not a core part of the scent's final dry-down with the aromatic tones in the base again having some Golden Dallah and perhaps even the incense/elemi from Golden Moka. The scent primarily smells spicy-resinous-sweet in the final phases. The marketing here has me lost, because Xerjoff launched this in 4 different "happy colors", yet the final product is clearly meant to be a fall-winter scent (masculine lean). The brand's marketing in Milan at Esxence also has me lost, because you were not able to smell either of these 2 products at the event, yet once the product subsequently launched, Xerjoff started giving out bottles like they're free candy. In Milan, they also implied that this would be a Harrods exclusive, yet this fragrance was purchasable all across Europe after launch and now in early December, I see it on clearance at some boutiques for 50% off. Lastly, the price at €315/50ml feels very harsh - when "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff" launched in 2021, the scent went for €235/50ml. That is to say the value is below average.
Ultimately, it has its positives and negatives. The scent's primary positive is the opening which I'd argue is the only selling point that it has. The product itself isn't flawlessly executed in its blending, esp. in the final dry-down (aromatic tones). For the profile, I find the performance fairly underwhelming: having worn it both indoors and outdoors, I'd say sillage is below average (peaks at arm's length) and longevity slightly above it (est. 7-8 hours). Additionally, I find NeoRio underwhelming in its originality as somebody who already owns several of the comps listed in this review and I'd say the highlights of the scent fade into a fairly plain spicy base within an hour. Given the competitors I listed all retail for nearly the same price in quantities between 100 and 125ml instead of NeoRio's 50ml, there's no objective way to make a recommendation here either. Prior to the revisions, NeoRio was 12th in my annual list and the revision moved it down a few spots. I'm looking at a retail bottle for 50% off as I'm revising this review and I believe it's still going to be a pass.
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