I get offered a lot of stuff to review. Hazard of the job. Most weeks that means the usual run of phones, gadgets and gear, but every so often something properly random lands in the inbox, and this was one of those weeks. Someone reached out about a cologne tied to Kingdom Come Deliverance, and that was a yes before I’d even finished reading the email. Find out the brand behind it is called Kintsugi and I was doubly sold.
For anyone landing here without the context, the Kintsugi Perfumes Kingdom Come eau de parfum is a genuine collaboration between developer Warhorse Studios and the Czech fragrance house Kintsugi Perfumes. It comes in a 50ml bottle priced at €155.99, and because it currently only ships within the EU, Irish buyers are sorted while UK fans are left watching from across the water. Kintsugi position all their scents as gender neutral, and this one pulls its notes straight from Henry’s journey through Bohemia, apple and herbs up top, honey and sage through the middle, leather and incense underneath.
I’m no cologne expert, I’ll say that upfront, but I know what I like, and I like this a lot. More on the smell, the price, and the one thing that actually worries me about owning it, shortly.
What does the Kingdom Come cologne actually smell like
It opens with the strong alcohol hit you’d expect from any spray, and that clears within a minute or two, leaving behind a fruity, smoky sort of scent that doesn’t smell like anything else I own. Kintsugi call it gender neutral, and fair play to them for saying so, but if this were a candle in my house we’d be calling it a “mandle” without a second thought. There’s a tobacco, Mad Men sort of energy running through it. The official notes back that up too, apple, lavender and mint at the top, chamomile, rose, elderflower, honey and sage through the heart, olibanum, leather, papyrus and birch holding it all down at the base. On skin, it reads exactly the way that ingredient list sounds, which is more than I can say for most fragrances I’ve tried on.
I can only assume here the idea was to create a scent that lands you in medieval times without a bang of plague.
Is €155.99 worth it for a gaming tie-in fragrance
Compared to what you’d pay for a proper premium fragrance, honestly, I suppose it depends. I’d been in the market for a cologne anyway and had been trying the usual Tom Ford style options in Brown Thomas, baffled by the price every time. A Tom Ford would set you back €300 – double the price of this – at €155.99. So this isn’t cheap either, but it’s not a bad ask for something that smells this good and this specifically odd. If you’re not sure you’ll get on with it, Kintsugi also sell a 2ml tester for €8, which is the smarter starting point for most people rather than committing to the full bottle blind.
Here’s the thing that actually gets me though, and it’s not the price. This looks like a limited run, and once mine is gone, I don’t expect I’ll be able to replace it. As a reviewer, that’s the gut tell that interests me more than what I paid.
Can you actually buy the Kingdom Come cologne in Ireland
Yes, and that’s not something every Kingdom Come fan can currently say. The eau de parfum ships EU-wide for now, which covers Ireland without any bother, while UK buyers are locked out until Warhorse and Kintsugi sort out shipping outside the EU. Even though it does look like the Kintsugi team needed reminding as “part of EU” sits beside Ireland in the drop down menu of the shopping options. If you’re ordering from Ireland, the official Kintsugi Kingdom Come store page is the place to go, and the €8 tester is there too if you want to dip a toe in first.
Feel free to try a batch of testers and save €33 off your next full scent purchase.
The Goosed verdict
As a random piece of marketing or a gaming accessory, this is brilliantly barmy, and I mean that as a genuine compliment. I wasn’t expecting to reach for it as often as I have, but I like it, a lot, and I’m now more precious about running out of a game tie-in cologne than I am about the price I paid for it. If you’re a Kingdom Come fan with €155.99 spare, or just curious enough to try the €8 tester first, it’s worth a go, and Ireland is one of the easier places in Europe to actually get your hands on it. It’s available now through Kintsugi’s Kingdom Come collection, priced at €155.99 for the full 50ml bottle.
