Pineward Prototypes 2026

I just tried out all of the scents in the Pineward Prototype 2026 Sample Set and wanted to shout my opinions into the internet void.

Disclaimer: I hate gourmands and I'm a Pineward fangirl

Cabin (EDT)

Selected Notes: sandalwood, cedar, pinyon pine, pitch

My rating: 7/10

Cabin opens up immediately with pitch, hitting you with a diesel-y quality (love). I can only assume that the woods (other than sandalwood) are all in the mid notes because it cycles through the cedar and pinion relatively quickly, then takes on an unexpected coconut quality (LOVE). The coconut isn't cloying or sunscreen-y, instead being more dry and warm. The coconut lasted a couple of hours then it dries down to mostly just sandalwood. I typically don't feel much toward sandalwood, as it just reminds me of the mall but this one hits.

Funerial (EDT)
Selected notes: white sage, leather, myrrh, smoke

My Rating: 8/10

Being named similarly, I assumed this would be similar to Pineward's Funerie, which I'm a huge fan of. Although they give off a similar vibe to me, they do smell very different. Funerie gives gasoline in the woods, and Funerial is a seance in the woods.

Sage is a big projector on me, which typically puts it on the Do Not Try list, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The sage is HEAVY on initial spray, but it actually calmed down for me within a few minutes and started blending soooo well into the smokey incense of the myrrh. I wish I got more leather from this as leather is one of my top scents, but alas, tis but a whisper. During the dry down it warms up to almost a cardamom. Very reminiscent for me of Olympic Orchids Dev Two, or a way better version of Solstice Scents's Tether.

Kailash (EDT)

Selected notes: incense, resin, fir, vanilla

My Rating: 6/10

Again, I don't fuck with gourmands. THIS ONE THOUGH. UGH.

My roommate and I came up with the most apt description I think I can come up with: It smells like the feeling of taking a shot of Jaeger (we are both in the minority who love Jaeger). It's sweet but also spicy in a root beer, Christmas spice kind of way. Definitely a scent to wear around the holidays.

If you've ever tried Gingerbread from Pineward, it falls into a similar vein for me. It smells wonderful and warm and spicy but I will never wear it.

Koyasan (Extrait)

Selected notes: hinoki, incense, chamomile, oud

My Rating: 9/10

My roommate is a huge hinoki fan, so they loved this one. I go back and forth on it, but this one really hit for me. It opens up peppery and clean and delicious and then the incense kicks in and you feel bad as hell. THEN it blends with the oud and it's such a damn chef's kiss of a fragrance. Very much a skin scent, it clings to you but doesn't have a whole lot of projection. I would get whiffs of myself throughout the day though and felt so damn lovely.

Riparian (EDT)

Selected notes: ruh khus, violet leaf, cedar, petrichor

My rating: 0/10

There's always gotta be that one scent in the batch, amirite?

Riparian smells like a public park bathroom, full stop. I have never had this visceral a reaction to a perfume. I hate it. The longer it was on me, somehow the stronger it got and I was afraid it was going to swallow me whole.

In my poorly informed opinion, the ruh khus is far too strong and overpowering, and then mixing with the violet leaf, I gag. I wish it had an inkling of petrichor. I'm begging for petrichor.

I tried to calm it down by putting Wilcox's Potting Shed (RIP) from Solstice over it and it helped me not take drastic measures.

Rivendele (Extrait)

Selected notes: fall leaves, white flowers, rhubarb, pine

My rating: 9.8/10

GOOD GOD THIS IS LOVELLLYYYYYYYYY

The rhubarb smacks you over the head immediately and makes you want to sniff your arm like a lunatic. Absolulely addictive.

Full disclosure: I'm a full-on hater of gourmands because my skin likes to project anything sweet with the force of a freight train. With that context, I was completely enamored with this scent until the dry down hit, because it dries down cloyingly sweet on me. None of the notes were red flags for me, so I was deeply confused and felt a bit personally attacked when this happened, but it is what it is. If they got rid of whatever that is and replaced it with something green I would full size as soon as it hit the shelf.

Conclusions:

Overall a great batch of prototypes! I'm super excited to see how these formulations progress and I need them to put Koyasan and Cabin into production. I hope Riparian gets what it deserves, whatever that may be.