Clive Christian — Matsukita
Essence
Matsukita is Clive Christian’s 2021 entry into the smoky-tea genre, the second release in the brand’s Crown Collection - a line that loosely revives perfumes from the archives of the Crown Perfumery Company (the brand’s Victorian predecessor). The name and concept trace to an original Crown perfume launched in 1892, marketed around a Japanese princess who supposedly charmed the Victorian court.
Scent Profile
The defining experience is smoke wrapped around tea and jasmine. The opening reads as thick, resinous, and aromatic with an immediate dose of smoke that several reviewers liken specifically to Lapsang Souchong - the tarry, wood-cured smokiness of Chinese black tea - rather than a fresh or bright tea note. Pink pepper is more perceptible than the listed bergamot up top, lending a peppery sparkle over the smoke. The mate note functions as a moody, slightly bitter, grassy-green anchor rather than a literal beverage; one notable critique points out that mate is not technically tea at all, and a minority of noses read its character as faintly petrol-like rather than appealing. The heart is where Matsukita distinguishes itself: Chinese imperial jasmine and jasmine sambac are woven into the smoky mate so that floral sweetness and tarry smoke hold roughly equal weight, neither dominating. The jasmine doubles down on the bitterness rather than sweetening it, adding sappy, leathery, soapy inflections, with hedione lending an airy, expansive trail. Guaiac wood and a coniferous balsam fir aspect keep the woods smoky but aromatic and dry - a quality reviewers repeatedly credit with stopping Matsukita from going as heavy or stringent as Le Labo’s The Noir 29.
Performance
Performance is regarded as strong for the genre, which is significant given how quickly tea notes typically collapse. Members report roughly 6-8 hours of longevity with notable projection for the first 1-3 hours before it settles closer to the skin. The smoke and hedione-driven jasmine give it an expansive, silky trail early on. Reviewers specifically contrast this favorably with Nishane Wulong Cha, whose tea note they found faded too fast.
Wearing Context
Matsukita is positioned as a contemplative, year-round scent rather than a seasonal or occasion-specific one. Despite its smoky darkness it retains an airy quality that several wearers say keeps it wearable even in spring and summer without feeling heavy, though its reflective, moody character suits cooler weather and quiet, introspective wear equally well. It is firmly unisex in the modern Clive Christian framing (the 1892 original and its 1990s reissue were marketed as feminine; only Clive Christian added the “princess” framing and the unisex positioning). Wearers framing leans toward “me-time,” calm, and a meditative sipping-smoked-tea mood rather than a loud signature or seduction scent.
Comparisons & DNA
The most frequent and instructive comparison is to Le Labo The Noir 29: Matsukita occupies a similar smoky-tea-and-floral space but is consistently described as darker yet softer, less stringent, and richer. One critic positions it as jasmine green tea hybridized with a dark-tasting Lapsang Souchong, with leafy, barbecue, and wood-smoke aromas. Other reference points raised by reviewers: Memo Winter Palace “without the fruits, pushed in a The Noir 29 direction,” with a brief dalliance toward Miller Harris Tea Tonique but stripped of bright citrus. One member flags Guerlain Neroli Outrenoir as a tea fragrance they rank above it, and notes a clone - “Athena’s Adonis” - as “pretty much dead on Matsukita. Within the Crown Collection it sits as a base-note-rich, complex composition that critics tie stylistically to Tom Ford’s woody-opulent house signature while feeling more modern and conceptual.
Reception
Reception among enthusiasts is notably warm, and unusually so for Clive Christian, a house frequently accused of charging luxury prices for designer-quality juice. On and, Matsukita is repeatedly singled out as a standout in the lineup - one member who found most CC fragrances overpriced named Matsukita and “X for Men” as the two masterpieces of the house. A widely shared sample-review from a perfume writer recounted being unmoved on earlier sniffs before it “absolutely rocked my world,” resonating on an emotional, almost memory-evoking level. Columnist Eddie Bulliqi (Oct 11, 2023) wrote that “Clive Christian’s 2021 Matsukita is probably the most full-bodied, rich, and satisfying tea-based fragrance I’ve smelled. Dissent exists but is the minority: the mate note strikes some as petrol-like or “nauseating,” and skeptics maintain the broader Clive Christian catalog isn’t worth its price.
Versions & Reformulation
Matsukita (2021) is a single modern composition within the Crown Collection, issued at 25% parfum concentration and marketed as built from 252 ingredients. It should not be conflated with the original 1892 Crown Perfumery Matsukita or its 1990s reissue; members confirm the modern release reuses the historic name but is effectively a new fragrance with no meaningful formula continuity to the Victorian original. No reformulation of the 2021 version is known.
Acquisition Notes
This is a full-price niche proposition. The Perfume Society listed it at £325 for 50ml EDP via Harrods at launch; retailer aggregator shows wide price dispersion in the US, including $610 at Neiman Marcus, with discounters such as FragranceNet ($369) and Maxaroma ($370) considerably lower. Given the steep entry cost and the polarizing mate/smoke character, wearers strongly favors sampling or decanting first - Matsukita is genuinely distinctive and not a crowd-pleasing safe blind buy. Those who already enjoy The Noir 29, smoky teas, or moody woody-chypres are the natural audience.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The Crown Collection concept revives names and loose inspirations from the Crown Perfumery Company, founded 1872, which held the unusual distinction of being permitted to use Queen Victoria’s crown on its bottles.
- Matsukita is one of the oldest Crown scents (1892) and, like Crab Apple Blossom (the collection’s first release), was originally a feminine fragrance.
- The brand’s marketing frames it around “an intoxication of delight” lifted from archive advertising copy and a fabled Japanese princess - but the “princess” narrative appears to be a Clive Christian invention, as the historic perfume carried a Japanese theme without the royal storyline.
- Reviewers consistently emphasize that the 252-ingredient, 25%-concentration build is a genuine technical flex even among those skeptical of the house.