Chembur

Now this is a Byredo -- at least in addition to Accord Oud -- that I truly liked and appreciated, so I'm surprised to see strong negative opinions of this. Yes, it's incense, resins, coupled with amber, labdanum, nutmeg and ginger. Yes, you need to like more smoldering fragrances to appreciate this. Yes, it's priced squarely in the niche category. And yes, this has more than likely been done in some other formulation with subtle differences. However, it still maintains a subtle elegance and remains not-too-understated nor too loud as many incenses would be. I suspect that subtlety may be lost on some and not others, which leads to the strong preferences either way. I found the longevity and projection on this to be just about right -- Byredo seems to get knocked on short duration, but that hasn't been my experience. Moreover, this either has a certain cult following or isn't produced in large quantity, since my Barney's rep has a running list for advance ordering and the stock is usually sold quickly. I'll stop short of saying this is over-the-moon great, but it's a very solid presentation of an incense-inspired fragrance.

Hmm... I'm surprised I don't see patchouli here, I thought I detected it. This is wearing like Kurkdjian's Lumierre Noir pour femme on me (and like Sublime Balkiss by a Different Company) I.e, it has a high ringing, medicinal finish that I attribute to patchouli. I tried this in the evening, adn in the morning still had it hanging on my clothes. I"m now wearing it throughout the day (a different shirt!), and I'm getting better sillage than I did with Bal d'Afrique, and I'm happy about that. Ginger and nutmeg might frighten some people, but here it does not stand out, and everything is nicely balanced. If pressed I would call this a citrus infused chypre and not an oriental spicy. It probably comes down to chemistry here, but if you are drawn to green chypres you will certainly want to try this.

Another lovely offering - this has a dusty smell, which I rather like - It smells to me like old leather-bound prayer books found in a dusty church and yet warm not cold so it's unexpected in composition and, as a result, compelling. Perhaps a church on the Amalfi coast. An extremely interesting and unusual fragrance which is unlike anything I have or know. I recommend this. It's blinking gorgeous.

Now my favourite. Very harmonious aroma which isn't shouting for every day. Good firmness on my hot skin. An incense with a bergamot sound magically. It is pertinent everywhere.

This is a beautiful light incense just as the notes say. Lemon, gingery incense really nice meditative or outdoors scent. Calm and relaxing. Love it on rainy day hikes!