Contre Bombarde 32

I’ll confess: my usual stance on Filippo’s body of work is one of polite, slightly flippant amusement. It often feels like liturgically inspired pseudo-performance art first, and perfume second. But with Contre Bombarde 32, he silences my skeptic side by delivering a genuine masterpiece. Inspired by the most powerful stops of the Great Organ of Notre-Dame, this is the standout from his Extrait de Musique collection among those I could sample. Sorcinelli, an incense virtuoso (or monomaniac?), shifts away from simple sacred smoke to achieve a gourmand-church fusion. Contre Bombarde is simplistically linear but rich. It pairs the citrusy, pine-like resin of elemi with a buttery, caramel accord. This blend transforms the antique waxiness of the organ’s mahogany wood and sap resin into a harmonious, sweetness. It’s mature enough for incense purists, but still comforting for sweet-toothed aficionados. Not a beastly performer, yet a scent that has good lasting power, and slightly above average projection. Forget the many other theatrical slight twists and modulations around boring incense dominant formulas that afflict Sorcy's library. Contre Bombarde is the sound of genius, a unique outlier.

Not a big fan of caramel in perfumery but here again, the creation is just superb. It reminds me of that caramel-flavored cough syrup I loved so much as a child, given by graduated pipette, certainly packaged in those little brown tinted glass bottles. All this coupled with a touch of elemi all light and surface (not as sweet as in Eau Duelle), with a little orange aspect (probably HE), both sprayed on a very fragrant woody slat. Sort of a feeling of having your nose stuck on a clarinet reed, with the little balm that goes with it. Luckily I've said bad things about some of her other perfumes, otherwise, people would start thinking I'm not very impartial. But conclusion: replace me chop-chop this famous Diptyque that I can't see. There is much better here.

Oh oh, this is delicious. A creamy, sweet, well balanced incense. Contre Bombarde 32 works with my skin exquisitely, lasting through a shower and having some of the best projection I've found in my tests. It's not sticky, and is more work safe than my other favorite Filippo Sorcinelli fragrance: Io Non Ho Mani Che Mi Accarezzino Il Volto. Okay, Now that I've got a full bottle and sprayed, in larger quantities this goes from creamy to a burnt caramel, creme brulee type smell, with a little bitterness from the orange. Drys down to mostly incencse. second edit: Got a couple compliments 16 HOURS after spraying. Put it on in the morning and it was still going strong during the night shift.

superb. elemi and juniper bomb with a touch of bitter orange. irresistible opening. the women will jump on you. The sweet base is felt from the beginning. but this is an incense-sweet-balsamic bomb. so sexy !!!!!!!!! what a delicious cedar. It seems to be in the mountains. the sandal appears but is not a main protagonist. of pepper, strong and fantastic black pepper. A base of light amber, vanilla not too gourmand and a splendid caramel. ELEMI, BLACK PEPPER, JUNIPER, CARAMEL AND CEDAR. we pass from a church to a mountain forest to a pastry shop. 10/10 sexy. the sexiest perfume ever tried. a beast of longevity, medium sillage. seasons? autumn and winter. day and night.

This is the fragrance that instantly brings me to Notre-Dame Cathedral, - one of my favorite places on Earth. The smell of incense and wood in the air, the light coming through the stained glass rose windows, the organ music melting into the shadows of its chapels, the whole atmosphere of Notre-Dame, I feel everything in Contre Bombarde 32. Yes, it gets a little gourmand in the middle notes, but it sets to a soft, balsamic incense scent on me. Maybe it’s not meant to for me to visit Notre-Dame anymore, but whenever I miss the feeling of peace, serenity and comfort, I inhale this beautiful fragrance. A fragrance, that will always have a special meaning for me.

I didn't expect to love this as much as I do. This immediately makes me feel like I'm back in St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague. This is not a cold incense, it's a warm and toasted one. The dry caramel is present throughout. Transportive, deep, contemplative, and beautiful. I'd sampled four others by Sorcinelli, but when I first smelled this, I knew I had to own a bottle. Best for autumn, winter, and the first half of spring. Definitely worth a sample first, as incense can go many ways. Without question, it is now my favorite fragrance in my 10-bottle collection. The bottle design is a bonus.

This is lovely. A different visión ofnthe incense. A frankincense similar to the one that oriza l. Legrand uses in her fantastic reve d'ossian, but into a gourmand revision, with elemi, vanilla and caramel in the foreground. This is for me like a sweeter and more intense zefiro by xerjoff. Good for cold weather and for a night use better. The longevity is very good and the projection just moderate, leaving you under a very pleasant but subtle sweet and balsámic aura. Scent: 9 Longevity: 8 Sillage: 7 Quality/price: 5 Versatility: 6 Originality: 7 Global: 8.5

A heady blend of resins, warm incense, creamy caramel, dust and dry wood. It's gorgeous. Yes it does evoke a church but in an abstract, artistic depiction rather than a literal environment. Think the oil painting "The Organ Rehearsal " 1885, by Henry Lerolle. Difficult to know when you would wear this. It's intense (maybe slightly too intense, to the edge of madness) and has enormous projection and longevity so people are going to know about it. Maybe one to enjoy at home.

As If you were at the center of an orchestra of angels playing violins and other WOODEN and stringed instruments! I'm not the most experienced guy, far away from that, but the best woody scent i've tried in my entire life. The notes are orchestrated like a perfect melody. Oh gosh its amazing scent. Sweet and woody, not for everyone, try before. 10/10 for me

I love this one, quite reminds of an old church, but with much depth from caramel and others. Main noticeable notes are elemi, caramel, and cedar, in that order. Not cloying at all, but does dry down to basically just the caramel at the end. Still pondering a bottle because it is very enjoyable.

I love this one, it opens with a blast of with that old European cathedral sort of incense with a woody element. However before it becomes to old church on me the sweetness of the caramel, amber and definitely vanilla set in and it is amazing on my skin. The bottles are very cool also.

With a sugary veil and wooden treasure inside, Contre Bombarde 32 is an atmospheric frankincense - people are dressed in light colours, the sun enters from the open portal and the lemony woodwax warms up, its scent rising. There is solemnity paired with joy. I like it very much.

This is the strongest (and the least incensy) of the 3, and also my favorite! The caramel note is a cut above others—rich, warm, and slightly animalic—nothing like Prada Candy, Mugler A*Men, or even L`Artisan Parfumeur's Amour Nocturne.

a splendid not too sweet vanilla, much more balsamic on skin rather than on paper: its resinous and warm, definitely one of the most mature and deep vanilla perfumes i've smelled in a while, love it 9/10

So good, sweet but not oppressing. The smell looks like a light sweet rum: i think it’s the caramel, vanille + sandalwood. You can smell a light aromatic incense. Good performance and sillage. Lovely

Scent: 9/10 Quality: 10/10 Originality: 7/10 Sillage: 8/10 Projection: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 Price VS Size: 8/10

Bought it!!! I'm enjoying a custard donut while burning incense in the forest. ;~)

A church balcony, old wood, an ancient organ and its pipes. A wonderful scent.

To me this almost smells like benzoin resin! Nice!

Sweet incense with a caramel core - bliss!

Incense, full of aromatic caramel. From the initial rubbery to gentle and warm, elemi balm cleverly avoids the thick and greasy defects of balsam. Consisting of polished ivory wax balm and vanilla in a soft focus lens, served with crispy caramel pieces that look like they were freshly toasted, with a bit of bitterness. Because it is simple and has no redundant parts, Contre Bombarde 32 must have a considerable level of raw material support to achieve this oriental amber with gourmet characteristics and wooden elements.

Elemi, cedar, black pepper, musk mellow, rosemary, Slight thyme, & amber. It has that smoky incense, with slight black pepper, slight citrus, and a tiny bit of sweetness. It's kind of spicy incense with hints of sweets. Meh Edit (20th March 2019) After 1.5+ years i am back to this blend! It's herbal sweet! it does have a slight gourmand to it but it isn't meh as i thought it were! It's quite weird and amuzing! It does have incense sweet herbal with that caramel. Beauty in a bottle.

In the opening the caramel note is very prominent along with resinous invansy notes in the base To me presonally smells too sweet and too gourmand/edible Then as it dries the caramel starts to dissolve and what's left is the sweet vanilla that blends beautifully with woods and ambers and incense Reminds me of Sacriste des Arbres in the dry down but i however still prefer Sacriste to this one

A base of sultan's amber, warm, with a nice opening of bitter orange, church incense and sweet puffs of greasy vanilla and caramel. Sweet, balsamic, herbal, woody cedar. Straight to the point without long previews. Balanced between East and West. Good.

A wooden orthodox church on a hot summer day. As a lover of incense scents, I recommend giving it a try

The contre bombarde is a thirty-two foot long reed stop in a pipe organ. It is extraordinarily powerful and bass resonant. Why then does the perfume open with a screech? The resinous green notes at the top of the perfume are shrill and loud - so at least the latter part sticks to the brief, I guess. Joining the cacophony is an extremely bitter orange note, all pith and zest, no fruit or juice or sourness. There is no doubt that it is shocking and attention grabbing, like an organist stamping on the pedal for the CB32 - you’re going to notice it. Then it’s as if the organist changes their mind all together or immediately starts playing a different song. The resinous green and bitter orange top falls away instantly to a caramel and woody amber that Sorcinelli likes to reuse in his perfumes. The green resinous part of the top is allowed a short-lived role in the skin scent, though much quieter than it was at the top. The whole of the perfume goes quiet, actually, a warm whisper barely hovering above your skin, and there it stays for the rest of its meek life. I can’t say that I’m able to follow along with the organist on this tune. It’s not making any sense, and I’m not hearing the CB32 being played despite the song calling for it. The perfume doesn’t act like an extrait - there is no richness, breadth or depth, or character here, the organ is very muted, and the melody is disjointed and uninspired - and it is a progression that has been played by the brand before. Where is Bach when you need him....

This stuff is so. darn. weird. It frustrates me that there is a perfume in my collection whose name I can never remember. I get sweetness immediately when it hits my skin, a pervasive sweetness that lasts the entire time and doesnt change. It doesn't smell anything like caramel, it smells like strawberries! Brings to mind Cape Heartache. At first I get Cape Heartache mixed with very distinct frankincense as well as a hint of something funky, like when you open an old library book and it stinks. Like rotten glue or something. Then I get elemi, specifically, but only when I put my nose right on my skin. Otherwise I just get Cape Heartache. I think the gross library book scent gets better as it mellows out, giving the fragrance an animalic-ness. I thought I'd smelled it all, but this has absolutely got to be the most bizarre fragrance I have ever encountered because of its sheer randomness. I'm no art expert, but to me this is like what some people think of as modern art. Throw some red paint on a canvas with the tip of a machete to represent rage, then dribble a basketball over it because it's your favorite sport, and spit on it because that is how you feel right at that moment...okaaaaaay. If I were to describe it in a few words, it would be "a strawberry frankincense milkshake with roasted marshmallows". "Gimme that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff." (Rick James) (Edit: Sold it. Too funky for me)

Second of the gourmand church incenses, Filippo Sorcinelli’s comparatively lighthearted Contre Bombarde 32 is inspired by (and shaped after in its typically brilliant bottle design) the post powerful range in the church organ. This is to me the standout from Sorcinelli’s Extrait de Musique collection, which ams to describe with scent the many sounds of the registers of the Great Organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. I will speak at length on Sorcinelli as a man of faith and a perfumer, as – surprise – the rest of this article will be exclusively devoted to his creations, but suffice to say that prior to the release of Bombarde he had already proven his incense chops. Here, however, he turns the waxiness of antique wood and the sweetness of natural sap resin into its own harmonic poetry – creating an incense like no other. Bombarde is a fairly linear arrangement, opening with distinct combination of elmi resin and caramel. Known for its citrusy-piney profile, the sap from the canarium luzonicum species of tree is similar to frankincense and often used in ritual. When mixed with a somewhat nutty, buttery, and rich caramel accord, the sweetness of the interceding woods (cedar, sandalwood) and the stickiness of resin are brought to light. If you hate the smell of incense, first off congratulations on making it this far, and secondly this might be the perfume for you. I can imagine its sweet but mature composition satisfying sweet-toothed mainstream perfume buyers and seasoned incense addicts alike. Astonishingly persistent, this perfume will cling to your skin for hours and your clothes for days, sanctifying you and those around you with an addictive and comforting air of well-worn organ detailing, resounding with a sugar-sweet vibration of melodic notes. Wear this to audition for a part-time organist position at your local Catholic church, or just to capture the atmosphere of sweet sweet harmony between disparate notes and smells.

It's good. Semi sweet, semi peppery hence the incense. I get the old church aura with the wooden pews. The sweetness keeps it from lingering too far but just barely. The caramel is definitely lightened, it's somewhere in the background not even contributing really. I mostly get cedar, sandlewood and vanilla. The incense loosens it's grip as the frag wears on. I feel the cedar is a bit too much and could've honestly did without. As the sandlewood would've been more than enough. It's like someone took a tonka bean and smeared it against a plank of cedar. Sweet wood. Nothing new but it doesn't take away the fact it isn't interesting. Blind buy success as I really don't have anything like this in my collection. Edit: After today's wearing I truly believe this is a fantastic fragrance. It's so simple yet so irresistibly pleasant. As the whiffs kept hitting my nose I was ever so kindly reminded of another fragrance. Couldn't think of it for the longest. Then, it hit me! This is a smoother Ivory Route by Xerjoff. Instead of the harsh pepper opening in IR, the incense in Contre makes up for it so it's not as spicy. As stated before the incense doesn't last long in Contre so it seems more inviting. I love IR and have it in my collection as well. However, Contre is more signature worthy due to it's simplicity. Odd right? Enough of a signature to replace my current signature, Richwood by Xerjoff.

If you have to describe this fragrance with as few words as possible, I think ’sweet incense’ are two good words to begin with. Then I would mention the very prominent pepper. Making it ’spicy incense-gourmand’. And unfortunately, the pepper is overpowering the rest of the composition. It gets better later in the drydown, but still. The very distinct pepper does simply not work for me. I like the combination of the pepper and the sweet caramel, but the balance is not right. Still, a very nice composition, and I understand why so many like this. It’s chic somehow. It has a lot of personality. I think it’s a very good perfume, however, the incense and the pepper is really not for me. I’m simply not an incense-fan, or pepper for that matter. It’s overall a very strong perfume. It doesn’t make any excuses for itself. In an cultural setting such as Sweden, this won’t work. It’s much too strong.

Creamy, spicy, dry woods. I feel like I also pick up cinnamon, incense and peat in this. This smells like opening an old dry wooden chest. Cozy and comforting. A perfect Autumn/Winter scent that is subtle and delicate. This is a crowd pleaser and blind buy safe if your like sweet, creamy, cozy woody scents. Edit to add: This becomes too spicy on my skin after 6-8hrs which really upsets me as I love this but it leans black pepper and chilli pepper spicy and i have sadly grown to really dislike those 2 notes at the moment. It isn't a massive spice but i am sensitive to them and my skin ramps it up.

Imagine an old wooden cabin deep in a cedar forest that has just burned to the ground. You walk across the still-warm ashes. Charred branches crack beneath your feet, while the air is filled with smoke, soot and the scent of burnt wood. Somewhere among the ruins lie melted church candles, their warm beeswax slowly blending with the smoky air. That is exactly what this fragrance smells like to me. It is smoky, woody, mysterious and incredibly atmospheric. I smell cedar, ashes, soot, warm wax and the feeling of something ancient that has survived the passage of time.

This is a waxy incense with something else that smells like a fragranced plastic toy I had as a child. I don’t know if it was a Cabbage Patch Doll or a Strawberry Shortcake or something else entirely, but it had a smell of artificial sweetness alongside the plastic it was made from. It’s a comforting and nostalgic scent for me. The drydown is an even sweeter caramel. Sillage is intimate.

Yep. This is delicious. Don’t know of a scent quite like this. I’m a newbie though... the woody caramel is irresistible and there is a hint of sweet cumin like spice. This is autumn, winter and even cool spring worthy. Definitely in for a FB. Really want to wear this...

Ambre Fetiche + vanilla, with extra ashtray It's nice, and since it clocks in under $200 it could have a place in an amber collection. BUT. There are a lot of frags that are playing variations of this tune. I like the incense.

Yeaa, this is bloody lovely, every bit of what the comments say is true. Art,.. to be enjoyed in peace and calmness, take your time and go on the journey. +10h, I could still smell subtle traces of it on skin.

Deeply reminiscent of the wooden pews of an old church, warmed by centuries of butts. Slightly papery, but the dryness balances wonderfully with the judicious use of vanilla. I really like this....