709

709 is the range's night piece and its most polarising release. It opens on coffee, and not the milky, gourmand sort: this is bitter, roasted and slightly harsh for the first ten minutes, which is exactly why some wearers bounce off it. Give it that quarter of an hour and the heart takes over, where tobacco and incense wind around clove and jasmine to build something closer to a smoky resin than a spice bomb. The base is where the money shows. Australian sandalwood, patchouli and amber settle into a warm, leathery drydown that reads far more expensive than the price suggests. Performance is solid rather than enormous. Longevity is long, with wearers reporting it on skin at the end of a full working day, while sillage stays within arm's reach after the first hour. Community comparisons cluster around Tom Ford Black Orchid and Nasomatto Black Afgano, which gives you a fair idea of the register even if 709 is lighter and less animalic than either. This is autumn and winter wear, and it is too heavy for a warm afternoon. Save it for evenings, dinner, cold weather and anywhere a bit of drama is welcome. The lane is dark spicy-woody at high-street money, and it is the IKON most likely to be mistaken for a niche bottle.