Castaña Cloon Keen Atelier for women and men

I am finally getting around to taking down my Christmas tree and switch out my holiday season perfumes for my winter fragrances, and I realized I had still not written a review for my newly acquired festive scent. So here goes.

Maybe because Luca Turin described it as a "silken, lanky Art Deco wraith of a fragrance" (Perfumes: The Guide 2018) but this does rather seem like something a wealthy 1920s socialite would wear to a holiday party, with an ivory silk dress and and matching fur coat. However, it would go equally well with a cozy sweater, jeans, and boots worn for a casual pub lunch with friends. There is something about this that is warm, yet sophisticated. Maybe it's the design of the bottle as well but it feels sleek, yet festive, like a silver Christmas bauble. One could very well wear this throughout the autumn or winter but I rather like having a selection of fragrances that I only wear during the holiday season, as we make so many special memories during this time. Very unique, but like roasted chestnuts, Castaña is something I want only on special occasions.

This is a very unusual composition. A combination of nuttiness with green, herbal facets. I appreciate the originality but it is not for me. The opening smells like nut butter and spearmint toothpaste. The softer dry down is more palatable. Creative, aromatic and soft spicy but I don’t care for it.

I have wanted to try Castaña for a long time. An unusual chestnut-forward scent, this was awarded a five-star review from Luca Turin. A non-sweet, unisex gourmand, Castaña smells niche and luxe yet manages to be wearable. It is unlike anything I have smelled before, and I am very taken with it.

Castaña is nutty from initial spray, with a beautiful roasted chestnut accord leading the way. Slightly sweet, it is beautifully rendered. There is some peppery spice, cardamom-like and nose-tickling, adding a nice edge. Woody notes follow, particularly dry, grassy vetiver. It enhances the chestnut to perfection.

As it develops, creamy white florals round it out but remaining in the background, serving to enhance the chestnut. I get some tonka bean as it begins to dry down, rounding out the smooth nuttiness beautifully. I get a hint of incense at its late stages, adding some balsamic smokiness, again adding to the roasted effect of the chestnut note. It fades to a tonka bean skin scent, becoming slightly musky as it fades. Sillage and longevity are moderate.

A unisex autumnal scent, Castaña's central theme is beautifully and accurately rendered as well as it being wearable. Cosy and elegant olfactory art. An original. 4.5/5.

This is really lovely, nutty and cosy without the added sugar.
Unfortunately, I seem to go anosmic to it very easily.
I'm not sure what the commenter below found so sweet about this, as I find most gourmands sickly and was fine with this one.

I was looking for the incense in the notes, because this is what comes through more clearly to my nose 15-20 minutes into the dry down. Soft, sweet incense. I think the perfumer did a great job of capturing the sweet and ever so slightly smoked scent of roast chestnuts.

This somehow has put me off Chestnut perfumes.. which is something i didn't think would happen. This is too sweet for me and a very un-classy to my personal taste. I guess chestnut isnt the way forward for me. This doesnt remind me of any other perfume and this most certain isnt a safe blind buy at all. Please go smell this first. I like my Feve delicious and other gourmand fragrances, such as, Tres Chere and Poudre D'Or by Mizensir. But this one.. its just a no from me. Sickly to me.

Smells more like chestnut shell than actual chestnut. Very strong smoky scent, as if the chestnut shells are burnt in charcoals. Then the powdery sweetness gets stronger and stays. Chestnut is not so common in perfumes, go get a sample if you are interested. Castana does not attract me enough to commit to a full bottle. It lacks depth, would be better if it were a candle than a perfume.

Cloon Keen Castaña (2011) - powdery chestnuts - @inspiration.libre was commissioned by an Irish brand. It starts with an uplifting opening of Cardamom, Vegetal peppers and roasted Chestnuts. Slightly caramelized yet not dense and heavy. Its heart comes in pillow-like powdery clouds of Cassia flower, with a slight animalic accord that creates interest and makes the perfume fit for human skin. Transitions were seamless and tells a focused story of something that is nostalgic to Filipinos buying and eating Castaña’s during the holiday season. My type of gourmand fragrance.

I love this one so much. It’s warm, woodsy, a little spicy, nutty, and comforting without turning even slightly syrupy. it doesn't smell like literal roasted chestnuts, but the idea and inspiration from roasted chestnuts is definitely there. Perfect for wearing with sweaters in autumn and winter. Also one of the best bottles I’ve encountered - the atomizer is so nice! If they ever discontinue I’ll be devastated, it’s already a bit hard to find where I am in the states

This is very similar to Lorenzo Villoresi Musk - but there is something in the base that differentiates it. This is also an example of a fragrance that you should just buy if you like it, regardless of reviews or of others opinions. To me it’s fresh, gourmand, sweet, reminiscent of baby powder on chocolate - but just so sensual and delicious. I get the roasted chestnut thing - but there is also something that makes you smell so fresh and clean - sexy and sumptuous. I also love the story behind this house. If you like baby powder and gourmand fragrances - this is for you xxx

A pleasant sweet woody hum of a fragrance. I agree it is more of a cold weather scent.

I don't know if the combination of shiny metallic bottles and the Cloon Keen name is supposed to make me think of Jeff Koons but it does. Every time. But that is by the by.

I have had a sample of Castaña for some months now. The opening is all about the eponymous sweet chestnuts, marrons glacés or confit de marrons (if you haven't tried it, it's a treat on pancakes). The drydown retains some sweetness but is predominantly woody. In my opinion, it would work very well as a unisex.

Conclusion? Lovely though it is, I just can't get excited about it.

I can hardly smell it. Poor longevity and sillage. It's such a shame as the few Cloon scents I've tried were really nice. Why are they so weak.
Castana so promising ☹
It's a miracle I can make out the chestnut or Vetiver!
If Cloon made edp or extrait sttegth versions of their lovely creations then I would definitely buy.

in delicacy it reminds me of nicolai le temps du un fette, but something old fashioned bothered me there, that powdery note spoilt it for me to keep wearing it. Castana has it all, it is that much on the unique side, from the first test the beauty hits you : roasted chestnuts so gourmand like el nonya, but if you go on trying more perfumes you will loose it because after 10 mins on the paper it smells weird like a card board nothing that exciting but strange.the day after its little powdery but so well balanced sweetnes that for me this is the smell of the year, so unique yet smelly that you wish to wear it anywhere, everywhere, i find it extremely rare. this is 5 star perfume by far in my book. it must be floral, musky and woody in simmilar weights because it is so well rounded, no element sticks out as dominant after the roasted chestnut is finished...it takes you in.....into the most unique blend of floral and woody notes. i dont smell the parts.

Knew nothing of this brand or the notes of this fragrance.

Sprayed it on this morning and what a treat. The masculine greenery hits with a peppery dark edge. This settles to a lightly smoked vetiver note and this is the only clearly defined note I could get and it is KO gorgeous to be fair. I said to myself.... Castana definitely has vetiver (this usually means I check the notes and it's not listed) and hoorah there it is.
However, as it settles it almost completely mutates and the heart/base take over and curiously does really smell of vetiver anymore, but a men's designer fragrance....I'm gonna say from the 90's and I wracked my brains thinking of what ot was, driving along in my car and all of a sudden ah ha!!!
It dries down to something in the ballpark of Versace Dreamer of all things! This is a hasty review and I will need to sample again but It smells like dreamer, shades of Le Male and maybe even reflection man?
So I'd even say there's a lightly floral tobacco and even touches of vanilla scented barbershop, fougere. I always think dreamer has a hazy, chemical smell, a bit stale and unsettling but fantastic for it.
This is similar. I enjoyed it.

01/03/22 Update: I can't help but read back this review and think it might, just might, be a touch unhelpful/misleading. I really stick to what I said but I can't believe I downplayed (straight up didn't mention!!!) the nutty aspect of this perfume, because it is very nutty, like a beautiful, warm, chestnut. Vetiver (and certainly sandalwood) can also have this nutty quality, folks will be familiar with Haitian and Java vetivers but I have a material from Brazil which is obviously not as popular or well known but is very characteristically nutty.
I think what I was driving at was that the base of this perfume is musky and soft, the top notes are interesting, a kind of hybridized Gourmand/fougere of sorts and I think the perfumer has struck a perfect tone here of innovation and calming, reassuring, perfuminess and chic, style, making Cloon Keen the kind of Chanel or Celine of the Emerald Isle. I think it's superb in both it's subtley and creativity and no wonder Luca Turin bummed it into next week! (He does get things right occasionally, the senile old git)
The creamy warm hay/coumarin character and vetiver earth to it, does make me think it's something people who enjoy Hermes Vetiver Tonka would really like. Castana is basically Vetiver Tonka but for people with more personality.

hmmmm this is pretty unique, it smells exactly like what it says, firstly chesnut then a gourmandish creamy vetiver! really enjoying this! 7/10

I have worn this several times to get a handle on it and I seem to have a slightly different response if I dab just a small amount as opposed to being more generous. When applying gently, I get more vetiver and cool notes, whereas a more liberal application brings out the chestnut.
Either way, I love it. That cassie note, which I now know was what I identified (even more strongly) in Malle's Une fleur de cassie, along with jasmine are just dreamy, without making this a floral-dominant scent. I don't know whether it is also the effect of the cassie, but it is reminiscent for a while of the darker aldehydes used in Baghari.
I was concerned that this would be too gourmand, or too chestnutty, or too vetiver, but above all I appreciate the blending in this - chestnut warmth to vintage floral to vetiver.
I see why the chestnut makes people think of autumn, but actually, I would happily wear this all year.
I find the three-part construction classical and timeless, there is something both delicate about the style and tenacious about its performance (4 hours moderate to good sillage then another 4 low sillage) and it is utterly distinctive.

Castana is a melange of sweet nectars infused with sumptuous heart notes and a sensual blend of spicy vetyver , aromatic woods, and the creaminess of the Tonka bean. One of the best vetyver scent I have ever smell.Although the perfumer is Delphine Thierry, it’s very much a collaboration team between her and Cloon Keen Atelier’s Canadian Margaret Mangan, she is the inspiration behind it.

The attractive guy in the perfume shop suggested I try this one. Perhaps it was the side of cute male, but I fell for it.

It is rather lovely, I mean chestnuts ! Yum. But also..... When the rosy glow of first love faded, there's a metallic note, very cold steel Vs warm copper. Now hard metallic objects have their place, but perhaps not in a perfume. So the jury is kind of in... And out

This one smells like a metallic mineral water filling a cup of dried chestnuts. It's neither sweet nor nutty although sometimes gives me the impression of a marron glacé while IT IS already A chestnut but blended so well in away that makes both the nutty and sweet flavors quite mild AND balanced.

As it calms down & around (20 minutes) I get a hint of old wooden furniture fills the place in an antique house! And surprisingly, and as I keep on sniffing my hands that is full of castana, the first hall of the infamous "Resident Evil 1" game on playstation 1 came up to my mind repeatidly with its super strength! It's the first room in the mansion when Jill, Barry, & Wesker (if you are playing by Jill, while Chris, Barry, & Wesker if you are playing by Chris) escaped the forest and gone into the mansion. To be clear, it's the following hall:

The video:
youtu.be/bdrbLeTx-xM

Min: 4:15

It just feels as if I'm there sniffing the whole scene!

I've tried "castana" last year in one of london's niche fragrances shops and I was mad about it when I left as it made quite an impression on my skin, and last month I tired it again in the sam shop and I have a sample of it, it is quite impressive although I don't like metallic notes but I'll try to get over it since it is a great kind of gourmand fragrance. Besides, the metallic here are presented more as the mineral water which is a bonus... let's have some tests and see.

A unisex scent. Baked chestnuts, warm on my skin. A cold weather comfort scent. I do get some pepper and mint, but rather lightly.

On the tester strip "Castana" was a thin, papery, fresh vetiver. On my skin, however, it smelled intensely warm, dark and nutty; An abundance of buttery ketones.

Natural vetiver does indeed have a slightly gourmand hazelnut tinge, but here I found it a bit too stodgy; I preferred the lightness it had on paper. My skin does tend to draw out the heavier aspects of a fragrance though, so I can only speak for myself.

Definitely could work well on the right person.