Botafumeiro

Botafumeiro is my first to try from Carner Barcelona, and what a great place to start. I am a big fan of incense, and enjoy high quality amber scents that smell more traditional rather than relying on ambroxan or other synthetic "amber" compounds. "Botafumeiro" is aptly named - "thurible" in Spanish - as this scent is heavy on the incense. It is a woody-amber scent with sweet and spicy facets; aromatic and not too dry, balsamic with a rich, resinous amber base. Botafumeiro is balsamic from initial spray, slightly boozy, with soft peppery spice adding interest here. A warm nutmeg note dominates the opening, paving the way beautifully to the amber accord that forms the crux of this scent. A hint of bergamot adds initial freshness, but Botafumeiro is primarily warm, spicy and balsamic throughout. As it develops, the amber accord becomes sweeter, honeyed or caramel-like, with a nice hint of patchouli adding some earthiness. There is a subtle floral nuance in the background, softly sweet and powdery, providing a nice counterpoint to the balsamic amber. A nice woody undertone emerges here, complementing the florals nicely. Initially airy, it becomes richer and more dense as it develops, with the ecclesiastical incense taking centre stage as it develops. The styrax note in the base is quite distinctive here, resinous, rich and slightly sweet. It complements the incense beautifully, adding an underlying smooth sweetness in contrast to other dry, smoky, woody incense scents. The drydown remains richly balsamic, but a hint of animalic musk creeps in at the later stages, and the woody notes become more intense too, with a polished beeswax effect given by the sweet resinous amber. It eventually fades to a spicy-musky skin scent with incense remaining until final fade. Sillage is moderate and longevity is long-lasting. A warm unisex scent, Botafumeiro is best worn in cold weather. A beautiful incense scent centred on a rich benzoin amber base, Botafumeiro is beautiful throughout. An olfactive rendering of a beautiful old church, this is the kind of scent I love. Armani Privé Bois d'Encens is my incense perfume of choice, but Botafumeiro is a sweet, resinous alternative that is less dry and smoky. 4.5/5.

As an incense fan, I was eyeing Botafumeiro for years at this point. I haven’t seen it anywhere around my location to try it, until a recent trip to South of Spain, where I tested it and bought during the same day a 50 ml bottle. Botafumeiro is an incense perfume that features prominently besides incense, notes like labdanum, nutmeg, patchouli and styrax. It’s a super warm, soft spicy, ambery, moderately sweet and mildly smoky perfume with minimal floral, citrusy facets. It’s one of those mass appealing, easy reach perfumes that makes you feel comforted, cozy and relaxed. It’s not an overly complicated or intimidating perfume, not very intense or massive projecting, so it’s suitable for most situations and environments during cooler days. I’d say it’s more feminine leaning, because as it’s drying down gets even warmer, sweeter and more floral! Beautifully done! Carner Barcelona is a very underrated brand and very little talked about on social media, besides the summery ones, in the colourful bottles, especially taking in consideration how good their scents are and how well priced they are for the quality! If you like incense dominant perfumes, but with some nuances and twists, with moderate longevity and sillage, Botafumeiro is a safe blind buy!

If I hadn't gotten a sample with a purchase I would not have looked into this at all , but I'm so glad I did! The official notes list really doesn't do Botafumeiro any justice, it doesn't convey how warm and sweet it is. To my nose, this fragrance smells like Coca Cola, Christmas incense (Räuchermännchen cones, for those who know them), amber, exotic resins and balsams, fine spirits aged in wooden barrels and stewed stone fruits. The reviews that mention caramel also make sense to me. It's a very spicy scent with sweet, smokey and even fruity facets that smells unique and mysterious. I don't get musk or any florals from this, and it doesn't smell like a typical patchouli fragrance. When I first tried this I fell in love, now I tried it a couple more times and concluded that it's not quite a must-have for me. It's perfectly unisex in the drydown, but the opening leans a little masculine and the strong wood and smoke notes are not something I would feel like wearing often. Nevertheless it's such a beautiful scent and I would recommend to try it even if the notes sound a little lackluster to you.

Something about the balsamic/smoky/incense side of this does remind me of By the Fireplace, although this is brighter and, because it's smoky, does capture something of a liturgical incense vibe that naturally BtF, though also smoky, does not. I like this and Avignon about equally, for different reasons. The smoke in this is great. Avignon seems kind of darker to me overall (kind of brown where this is yellow) and more complex, but much of its extra detail is toward the top end--bright resin, grassy or herbacous zing... I don't know what. Avignon with its comparative wealth of spice sometimes reminds me of cola, which actually works. This one perhaps reminds me more of actual burning frankincense or something similar--essentially a non-gothic, fairly light incense, with a light woody backdrop, but with added heft from the smokiness. I'd be happy with either. Each has average performance, as probably befits any incense fragrance. @RiddlesKitty That'll be the styrax, not benzoin. "Most people can't distinguish between the two, but they are very different." 🧐

Ok i am absolutely obsessed with this perfume, what a hidden gem from Barcelona! I don't like incense at all and this to me doesn't smell incense heavy, there is a very light airy incense smell but to my nose this is all about spices and benzoin, like a very dry nutmeg powder, some cinnamon and a sweet dry base like benzoin. I can also detect a kind of freshly sharpened pencil smell, this is absolutely lovely and cozy, i need a bottle. Performance is absolutely great, i'm happy this doesn't project a lot, wonderful bubble around you, like 1 meter for more than 8 hours and at least one week on clothes. Longevity is very great, proyeccion is low but i love it this way, when people come close, this is gonna do magic :-) Top top work from Carner!