Sit back and relax with a coffee and a biscuit – at least that’s what Knus, by Ricardo Ramos, invites you to do with its warm, spicy and wholesome composition.

Listed notes

Tulip, ginger, speculoos biscuits, spices, mocha, cedarwood, patchouli, musk.

Top notes

The opening to Knus by Ricardo Ramos is a multifaceted and bamboozling start to the scent – it takes a few wears to really get used to it because it seems to pass through so many different phases in quite quick succession. The dark brown, ambery juice prowls out of the bottle with tones of scent which match that liquor-like colour. Knus begins with notes which are, at times, earthy, boozy, a little bit nutty even. At first it doesn’t feel very gourmand, more like you have perhaps uprooted something in the garden, and whilst that thing may ultimately be something edible, at first it feels like a tuber here, with flecks of soil still clinging to its bulb. The scent is quite dry, so the loaminess feels sun-warmed and crumbly rather than thick and clay-like but at the same time there is the rich sweetness of something like a fine cognac lurking around the edges, syrupy and heady.

The tulip accord comes into the fragrance as a spicy, bitter greenery and further enhances the earthy aspect that Knus begins with. The green aspect has sass and attitude, and whilst tulips themselves might not be renowned for their scent, here their greener elements strut in amidst the rich warm soil and earthiness and make themselves quite at home. The greener side to the fragrance doesn’t last long, however, before the scent moves on again.

Heart notes

Knus feels like the sort of fragrance which really hits its stride after 30 minutes or more of wearing. The different facets which make the start a touch difficult to follow begin to slow down and stop whizzing past with the same speed and the scent really begins to reveal a delicious spicy aspect which is both the fragrance’s strength and it’s backbone.

A lovely warm tone envelops the composition from the ginger and other spices. Ginger can sometimes be really zesty and bright but here it feels like it has been dried and ground to a fine powder, sprinkled over everything. The fragrance starts to feel more like a gourmand but in a very classy and understated way, more sweet spices than lashings of biscuityness. It has a weight which is pleasing, and manages to have touches of distinct sweetness without being sickly or flighty.

The biscuit side of the fragrance does make itself gently known and is rather delicious. Set against the backdrop of warming spices, the combination of burned sugar and biscuit texture are handled very gently, very delicately, so that the overall impression is nicely balanced.

A flash of chocolate appears, which was visible momentarily in the opening few bars of the scent, and now it comes back, both bitter and milky. It’s almost possible to feel the chocolate’s waxiness before it starts to melt.

In this phase of Knus it is very possible to see the inspiration for the scent. A warm drink offset with a delicious speculoos biscuit in a pleasant, sunny room where a bunch of tulips sit in a vase and you are surrounded by gentle, warm, cosy aromas of spices, sweetness and woods.

Base notes

The latter phase of Knus becomes more loamy and earthy again. The patchouli in the fragrance adds some really interesting texture and is by turn both earthy and radiantly luminous. Shiny soil. A feat I am not sure I ever expected to witness in a scent.

Whilst it has been noted several times that the scent smells earthy, it never actually smells dirty – think more crumbly, partly broken-down leaves, that sort of loaminess, almost wholesome. Overall the timbre of the scent is cosy, warming and gentle. It’s the sort of scent which clothes you in a mid-weight sweater when there is a bit of a chill in the air. Perfectly lovely, and rather delectable, Knus is a gentle-mannered fragrance which would work wonderfully during the day when you need something which is comforting and warming.

The other stuff

The perfumer for Knus was Jorge Lee.

The fragrance was inspired by Dutch hospitality and interior design, which is as interesting and niche as you can get when it comes to fragrance inspiration.

The projection and longevity of Knus are both very polite. The scent doesn’t project much further than hugging distance, even with multiple sprays, and overall it lasts four to six hours following an application. With both those things in mind, Knus does rather feel like a treat for just you and you alone – rather like sneaking that second or third speculoos biscuit, one more spray really can’t hurt, and no-one will know, so just go for it!

The brand

Ricardo Ramos is the passionate and expressive creator behind the Ricardo Ramos Perfumes de Autor brand, which includes Deminiche (the collection which encompasses Sandal Koti, Mangoe Khus and Agar Ahalim), the Al-Andalus collection, and the Cultural Legacy collection (which includes Knus). Find out more about the collections of Ricardo Ramos.

We’ve previously reviewed Sandal Koti by Ricardo Ramos.

Buy it

Knus is available from the Ricardo Ramos web boutique where it is priced at €125 for 50ml EdP.

We were very kindly gifted a sample of this fragrance by the brand, our thanks to them.

Main image from Pixabay.