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Here is my initial review after one wearing. I will follow up at a later time after I've worn it more and will add to or edit this post. FYI, my bottle is part of the second batch, which shipped out on January 20th, 2026.
The bottle arrived on a cold day in NY, so I let it sit for a day in my house to acclimate to the indoor temperature. A day later, I gave it its initial spray, and that first blast of the juice was potent, heavy with the smell of dry tobacco and the scent of the inside of an empty cognac bottle, with some sweetness lightly in the background. I sprayed it some more onto different parts of my body, and a few minutes later the air was sweet, but if I buried my nose into the spot where I applied it, the cognac was still the dominant scent. In the air, I’m getting hints of what smells like a lighter version of Initio’s Side Effect mixed with Narcotic Delight. As time passed, hints of vanilla and tobacco began to appear. The transition from the opening toward the dry-down became sweeter but not cloying, with the latter stage being reminiscent of Herod by PDM.
This is a nice fragrance. I look forward to wearing it under different conditions and enjoying all the different notes.

If I had to use a two-word description, it would be "sweet wood."

Living in the USA, it is difficult to get my hands on Aaron Terence Hughes fragrances, but every now and then I find one while searching online.

Luckily, I was able to get a 10ml bottle of this one (which is no longer availableon his site). The fragrance is different from his other ones that I own, which include Hard Candy Elixir, Red Fever, Fever v.2, and Hombre. This one reminds me of the smell of the soft wood from a fallen tree that has been sitting in the forest for some time. It is earthy yet sweet, as if the wood was infused with some sort of sweetness. I wouldn't consider it a mass-appealing fragrance because it's so different, but it's definitely one that you go back to sniff again because there's something alluring about it. It has the same alluring quality that I find in Oud For Greatness.

There are some fragrances that only the wearer will appreciate at first, this seems like one of those. Some I even consider to be a guilty pleasure. One that you hope others will grow to appreciate over time. After spraying this on myself, part of me was questioning whether or not to jump back in the shower to wash it off, while another part of me was thinking "nah, let it ride... we've already come this far!" In the end, I chose to ride it out. I felt the same way about Oud For Glory the first time I wore it.

As is sometimes the case, some reviews on here point to a different experience and scent journey with their bottles. Some even getting none of the passion fruit smell in the fragrance. My bottle's production date is August 2025, and having grown up eating passion fruit, I immediately recognized the maracuja (passion fruit) in the opening. That being said, this potion is nuclear. This one is not dying down shortly after spraying it (like some fragrances do). In fact, I had to extend my arm out as far as possible to spray it, just so that I didn't end up with a concentrated blast in any one part of my body. I also only pressed the atomizer partially to avoid spraying too much. This scent might be one of those that you spray into the air and then walk into the mist. It smells nice in the air, but it is potent if you put your nose right up to the spot where you applied it.

The fragrance notes as written on the side of the box it came in are listed as:
Top Note: Passion Fruit, Saffron, Rose
Middle Note: Oud, Patchouli, Benzoin
Base Note: Leather, Cistus, Vanilla, Amber.

As I'm sitting in the scent bubble, it comes across like a strong passion fruit version of Ombre Leather Parfum by Tom Ford. In fact, every now and then, I catch a whiff of what Ombre Leather Parfum smells like (to my nose) as if it's trying to break through the heavier passion fruit layer on top of it. I'm writing this almost 2 hours after applying it on, and it is still pumping. Let's see how the rest of the ride goes!