37 Thoughts I Had About Jason Kelce’s Totally Real Kingsford Charcoal Fragrance

Kingsford’s new fragrance Slow Burn — made in partnership with Jason Kelce — bottles the scent of charcoal. For real. I had a few thoughts while trying to process that fact.

Kingsford — the brand responsible for every backyard barbecue since time began — has decided the scent of your next signature fragrance should be…smoke. With the help of Jason Kelce, the self-anointed “King of the Grill,” the company just launched Slow Burn, a $30.62 eau de charcoal pit that promises nostalgia, warmth, and possibly the faint memory of hot dogs. Available exclusively on Kingsford.com, the limited-edition fragrance boasts notes of charred hardwood, fire ember, and carbon clove.

“Charcoal has a very distinct smell and characteristic aroma that instantly flashes me back to backyard barbecues with my family, sporting events, and memories centered around sports and kinship,” Kelce said in a statement. “When Kingsford approached me with this idea, I thought right away this could be really cool. Smell is something that is so visceral at times, and the right scent strikes a chord when it hits your nose, Slow Burn by Kingsford strikes that note. It’s guaranteed to make you feel nostalgia, barbecue, and connect you to the memories about what’s important in life, and you’ll smell damn good doing it!”

He’s not wrong. But is he right? I have some thoughts.

1. I just double-checked my calendar. It is not April 1.
2. I read “Slow Burn” and immediately thought this was a Taylor Swift rerecording.
3. Wait — it’s a fragrance? As in…for humans?
4. Okay, I get that it’s not barbecue season, but this is a bit much for a relevancy play, no?
5. Is this what masculinity is supposed to smell like? Why does Jason Kelce get to decide that instead of Glenn Powell? Or Idris Elba?
6. “Charred hardwood” is listed as a top note. That’s one way to say “smoke in my hair.”
7. Middle notes include “sawdust” and “powder smolder.” Translation: post-campfire laundry day.
8. Kingsford describes it as “gourmand-smoke.” Because nothing says appetizing like eau de brisket.
9. There’s nothing about it being a clean or nontoxic fragrance. Is that even possible with something formulated to smell like smoke?
10. Do I apply it pulse-point first or baste lightly?
11. “Guaranteed to make you feel nostalgia, barbecue, and connect you to the memories about what’s important in life.” Yes, but also no?
12. What’s important in life: friends, family, SPF, and not smelling like a Weber grill.
13. Also, why is the bottle $30.62? The precision feels suspicious.
14. Maybe that’s the going rate for liquid campfire.
15. Kingsford has been making charcoal for more than a century, so I suppose this was inevitable — evolution is real.
16. Somewhere in a boardroom: “What if…instead of selling smoke, we sell the smell of smoke?”
17. Someone probably got a raise for that.
18. The bottle design looks sleek, actually. Like, if you didn’t know, you’d want to know.
19. I wonder if it comes with tongs.
20. Imagine the conversation at a perfume counter: “Hi, I’m looking for something woody, maybe leathery, with notes of…grilled chicken?”
21. The sales associate just sprays Le Labo Santal 33 instead.
22. Do I wear it to a dinner party, or do I become the dinner party?
23. Kingsford calls it “a fragrance for the discerning grill master.” So, Dad’s Christmas stocking is sorted.
24. But what about the discerning vegetarian? Smoke, yes. Sausage, no.
25. Gourmand fragrances are usually edible-adjacent — vanilla, caramel, tonka bean — not char.
26. Though, to be fair, Tom Ford did make people crave Tuscan Leather.
27. Where are the press photos showing Kelce in (just) an apron, looking intense, like he’s about to tenderize your soul?
28. “Whether you’re firing up the grill or heading out for a night on the town,” the release says. I’d argue those are two very different vibes.
29. Imagine a first date: “Is that — mesquite?”
30. To be fair, scent is emotional. Kelce’s quote about smell and memory is kind of beautiful.
31. I just prefer my nostalgia without the risk of setting off a smoke detector.
32. The marketing copy says it’ll “stoke neighbor envy.” Nothing says envy like calling the fire department.
33. If nothing else, this is an excellent prank gift for your ex who loves cologne named after emotions.
34. Part of me wants to buy it just to see what my house will smell like.
35. Maybe “Slow Burn” isn’t a scent at all, but it’s just Kingsford’s way of proving that, deep down, we all secretly want to smell like confidence and cookouts.
36. So is that the point? Every fragrance says something about you, and this one simply says, “I contain multitudes… and possibly lighter fluid.”
37. Maybe it’s genius after all, because in a world of vanilla, amber, and musk, smelling like the grill is the only true power move.

Related on Ethos:

• Electric Grills Ditch the Gas, Not the Flavor
• The Oceans Have ‘Memory’ But It’s Fading Because of Climate Change
• Ellis Brooklyn’s Best Clean Scents: The Definitive 2025 Rankings
• Dior Fragrances Back Puma Protection in Chile