Encens Jinhae

As the name suggests, the impression of incense is at the core of Encens Jinhae, but it's a delicate incense, clean and light, not heavy or dirty. The creamy balsam, sweet florals, and fresh spices waft in the air, weightless and unified. It’s an atmospheric fragrance—the smell of a place, not a person. In my imagination, this fragrance has always conjured up an image of a small outdoor market somewhere on the Mediterranean coast; the early-evening light so perfect it’s almost hallucinatory. Contrary to the public consensus, to me Encens Jinhae is a summer fragrance, through and through. It smells warm, natural, weightless, and sweet—like a perfect summer day, the heat leaving you relaxed and pleasantly sun-drunk by evening.

Dunno why but Encens Jinhae* (*One of ports in Korea, famous for cherry blossom festival ; also is the navy stationed here) smells milky and smoky to me. Rose and other spices are soft, i guess cherry blossom is very faint or it does not even exist. Maybe just naming or so.. But definitely a nice one to try on. Hope there be released more perfumes like this.

THIS IS ADDICTIVE , the smells it’s so peppery but a bit powdery and sharp because the rose !! Smells so french !!!

I've never smelled Cafe Rose so cannot compare, but I swear I smell vetiver in this. I like the elemi and incense aspect, the occasional whiff of a kind of plastic rose, pepper accord. I do not smell much patchouli in this, and no sandalwood really. There is absolutely no "cherry blossom" for me. On paper, this smells more like incense; on me, it skews, strangely "green-aquatic." When I see how others have grouped the notes, I think "Yeah, this is going to be like an Amouage or something." Nope. This is not basalmic on me really. The light lipstick rose quality arrives in the middle, not present initially in the top notes. I love unisex scents, and pretty much wear only unisex. I'm drawn to woods and incense, but this has a light transparency that reminds me of men's colognes only. Specifically, it wafts a clean quality that reminds me of the 90s and even some late 80s scents ubiquitous for men. So, even though I like it, I don't love it, and won't be buying a full bottle. Definitely try before you buy since more people are picking up incense than I am. I think this is totally office friendly, day-time, spring & summer scent, refreshing with moderate silage and very good (not great) longevity.

My fourth try from the Collection Orient by Atelier Cologne is Encens Jinhae. The eponymous incense note figures in strongly as expected, with spicy and floral notes. Very bold to start with sharp top notes of lemon and pink pepper dominating the first hour with the frankincense (olibanum), and then it dries down into a mix of incense and resin, mainly, a sweet and salty mix that's well-balanced for most of its life. Performance is very strong overall, on par with Tobacco Nuit, perhaps the strongest other Atelier Cologne offering that I've tried to this point. Certainly this is a scent mainly to be saved for colder months, and is probably better-suited for men, though some women might be inclined to try this one out. Overall, it's not the smoothest incense (i.e. Incense Oud By Kilian) or the craziest, or the sweetest, but it's an interesting blend and departure for the house. Still, at its pricing (the same as the other Collection Orient offerings, $250 for 100ml, $350 for 200ml), you would really have to love it to buy a bottle. 7 out of 10