The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Sunset in Havana was launched in 2023 by Jinkoh Store. The perfumer is Marius Pană. The name points to Cuba, and the composition follows that cue without postcard sugar: Cuban tobacco, rum, guava, and resins form the whole architecture. There's no citrus sparkle or vanilla overture doing the work here. The framing is a place rendered in materials rather than a place photographed, tobacco leaf and rum taking the lead while resin supplies a dark, composed foundation. The fragrance opens with the dry character of tobacco and the warmth of rum, then introduces guava as a bright, juicy counterpoint. As the notes settle, the fruit softens into the darker materials, while resins lend smoke, depth, and a quietly resinous finish.
What makes the combination worth attention is the friction between materials that shouldn't be this comfortable together. Rum is liquid sweetness, guava is soft tropical fruit, tobacco is dry and earthy, and resins are incense and smoke. Stacked in sequence they'd read as separate ideas. Stacked in a single composition, they behave like a single habit, the sweetness makes the tobacco smell stronger, and the tobacco keeps the sweetness from tipping into dessert. Resins are the hinge, holding the rum and guava close enough to the tobacco to feel inevitable rather than arranged.
The evolution
The opening arrives with the force of the name suggests, tobacco and rum taking over quickly, sharp and dark, with the guava pushing a bright fruitiness against the leaf. Early on it reads almost like a humid evening in a tobacco field, the kind of heat that settles on skin before you notice it. As the first hour passes, the resins draw the whole thing together, smoke and sweetness closing ranks until the fruit disappears into the leaf rather than sitting on top of it. What lingers past the midpoint is less about the fruit and more about the tobacco, drier, darker, closer to the inside of a wooden chest. Toward the end, rum keeps a residual warmth underneath, a sweetness that never turns candy but keeps the resin from going cold. On skin the drydown holds close, gradually becoming a soft, low-key trail of tobacco, smoke, and faint sweetness.
Cultural impact
Sunset in Havana is built around tobacco, rum, guava, and resins, a combination that gives the fragrance both a dark aromatic center and a bright point of contrast. The tobacco leads with a dry, leafy character, while rum introduces warmth and sweetness without making the composition feel sugary. Guava brings a juicy, fresh accent that moves against the heavier materials, creating an opening with more movement than a simple tobacco-and-resin scent. As the fragrance develops, the fruit recedes and the tobacco becomes more prominent, joined by smoky, resinous notes that deepen the drydown.
The House
Jinkoh StoreJinkoh Store is a niche fragrance house that emerged in 2018 with a focus on hand‑crafted scents rooted in classical incense traditions. The brand releases limited editions that often reference specific places, such as Sunset in Kyoto (2023) and Sunset in Assam (2024). Each bottle is presented as a concise narrative, inviting collectors to explore a line that balances aromatic depth with restrained elegance. Jinkoh’s catalogue, though compact, spans woody, floral and resinous families, offering a quiet alternative to more commercial scent portfolios.
The Creator
Marius PanăPană favors a disciplined layering technique, building structures that reveal themselves over time. He often begins with a mineral or resin base, then adds a heart of rare woods, and finishes with a subtle amber or spice veil.
