For the year’s first regular episode of Love At First Scent, we had an incense theme running through many of the scents, notably the new releases from Widian and Ojar. How successfully they presented the note is something you’ll have to discover by watching the broadcast. Here’s a link, followed by a list of the scents, with timestamps: Widian Luban, Ojar Encens Cuivre, And Flame, BDK Pas Ce Soir extrait, L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage D’Enfer and Montana Parfum De Peau reviews.
Widian Luban (Randa Hammami) 5:34
BDK Pas Ce Soir extrait (Violaine Collas) 15:18
And Flame (Simon Constantine) 23:10
Ojar Encens Cuivre (Jordi Fernandez) 33:23
L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage D’Enfer (Olivia Giacobetti) 39:02
Montana Parfum De Peau* 45:43
From the four new creations, the prize for chutzpah unquestionably goes to Flame. The Widian is elegantly composed, but ultimately forgettable and redundant. The Ojar is the kind of boorish, attention-seeking, rough-edged, supposedly ‘Arabian’ scent (bristling with unattractive woody ambers) which well and truly belongs in the past. The BDK is essentially another Angel… and no, we don’t need any more of those. But And Flame, with its endearing naivete and eyebrow-raising combination of woods, coconut and spicy-fiery notes, is the one that lingers in the mind far longer than the others. Well done And for continuing to astonish and perplex.
You’ll see from the list above that I also made time for a couple of older releases. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year – and enjoying a new, limited edition bottle – L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage D’Enfer by Olivia Giacobetti remains one of the most genuinely intriguing takes on frankincense. I suspect its formula is very simple and heavily reliant on synthetics. But that doesn’t matter one bit, because what rises up from the simplicity is a helix of ghostliness, every twist of which reveals subtly varying facets of the main material, from floral, to gingery, to woody, to citrusy. One of Giacobetti’s finest creations, it is a haunting, whispering wonder.
At the other end of the scale, we have Montana Parfum De Peau: a growling, gloriously 80s chypre, positively glistening with sweaty animalic notes and barely contained lustiness. That said, it knows how to balance dirt with decorum – there’s a floral accord running through its core that is pure heartbreak – which is precisely why it’s one of the greats. If you’ve never smelt it, try to seek out a few drops of a vintage juice.
Persolaise
* Authorship of the Montana appears to be a matter of some dispute. A few sources credit it entirely to Jean Guichard; others entirely to Edouard Flechier. Some claim the original version was by Guichard and the reformulation was by Flechier.
[Samples provided by the brands, except the Montana, which was obtained by me.]
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