Les Absolus d'Orient Encens Mythique

Batch code: 9K01 (Oct 2019) I remember trying this (or so I thought) in an airport Duty Free and my socks were blown off. This was beyond this world. Finally my search for that ultimate perfume had ended. After some time and research, I pulled the trigger on a bottle. When it arrived I sprayed it and got nothing but an overwhelming "old lady" rose. It seemed super feminine in a dated, odd way, and I'm a man who generally loves masculine fragrances. I checked my notes to see if this was indeed the same fragrance that I loved when sniffing it on my travels. No! It wasn't. I'd tried Encens Mythique and had concluded that there was something too sweet about it, and while it had "something interesting aspects, but it's not really me. Pass." Damn, so I just wasted almost $100 on this bottle and now had to sell it, I thought. But as the day went on, I couldn't stop smelling myself, and I noted how the rose slowly gave way to something really intriguing and softly mysterious in the drydown. The next day I sprayed it and didn't get that overdose of rose at all. It was still there, but I wasn't overwhelmed by it. A perfect illustration that an untrained nose interprets new smells in simplistic terms, and needs time to appreciate what it's experiencing. Again, for the rest of the day I was obsessively smelling the back of my hand, forearm, and the blotter strip. This time, I started warming up to it even more. Today it's my third wearing and I'm still coming to appreciate and love this beguiling, masterful creation more and more. It's true that the opening hour or two does lean quite feminine, but it's getting to the point where I love this perfume so much that I don't care. I can actually see how it's a unisex fragrance. As for the other fragrance (the one I actually did smell at the Duty Free), I think it was either Bois Mysterieux or Patchouli Ardent. Hopefully it wasn't Ambre Eternel because that seems to be extinct and way too expensive on ebay. Anyway, this is a masterpiece, and not just as an art piece to smell occasionally and enjoy alone at home; I want to smell like this, especially on grey rainy days. The mood is very serene, almost somber, like watching an ocean storm unfold under dark skies in very slow motion. Deeply beautiful. As the rose and aldehydes settle down, an uncannily smooth combination of patchouli, incense, and vetiver come through, with the faintest hint of pepper. I haven't personally experienced what true ambergris smells like, and I doubt they used it for such a widely-available product, but the ambergris accord must be what's giving that mysterious element to the whole composition. The drydown seems to get a bit faint for me, if I'm honest. It could be that I'm going nose-blind, but like most fragrances I don't get the longevity that others claim. That's my only criticism. There's something timeless and ineffable about Encens Mythique.

This fragrance is a marvel! The notes are doled out in surprising proportions, but this is one of the things that makes this such a special blend. If you just look at the official pyramid, you'll expect to smell something akin to either a heavy attar-esque rose or an old-fashioned rosy aldehyde. At least, that's what I was anticipating. What you get, though, is a strikingly modern and unique scent, one that is—in my opinion—the most underrated, understated, and brilliant of Guerlain's Absolus d'Orient line. To my nose, the delicate and realistic rose is placed on equal footing with the equally delicate and realistic ambergris and the resinously spicy frankincense. They are all perfectly balanced, all vying for attention... and getting it. The sweetly airy saffron takes this tight, intense triad and billows it out, illuminating and diffusing it. The aldehydes are a background phenomenon, adding a touch of mellow fizz that isn't really detectable unless you're looking for it; it also helps bring out the dash of pepper. As in all great perfumes, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts: a soft-spicy floriental devastating in its beauty and quality. In typical Guerlain fashion, the progression is anything but linear. Instead of fading over time, Encens Mythique grows stronger, more sure-footed. The amber, incense, and rose become somehow creamier and dustier, almost decadent. This is a very Western take on the classic amber-rose oriental, but not to the detriment of the perfume. Rather, this is what makes it such an original composition: the two fragrant traditions meeting halfway in mutual respect. The East sacrifices its tarry, liturgical smoke and glowing amber for a modest take on olibanum, and the West renounces its waxy-soapy version of aldehydes for an iteration that plays a very minor supporting role. They both bow to the rose, and it bows back. Perhaps that is the "myth" being recounted here. Genderless, ageless, wearable year-round except perhaps in great heat, and slightly more on the formal/intimate side. Very impressive longevity, and it projects without becoming overwhelming. If you have the opportunity too test this one, don't pass it up!

I count myself among the old-fashioned Guerlainophiles who worship the likes of Shalimar, Jicky, Mitsouko, Chamade... And yet, Thierry Wasser, in his efforts to modernise Guerlain and keep the house alive, has spun out some excellent scents, Shalimar Parfum Initial springs to mind. Encens Mythique, however, truly is his magnum opus. Encens Mythique has an unusual note combination: plush aldehydes, red roses and salty, addictive ambergris dominate the scent from the very first spray. It is truly stunning, like a glittering deep sea, and is (in my opinion) the highest "aquatic-like" fragrance I've ever tried. It makes me think of being far underwater, where the light from the surface is just barely reaching through, and yet the fragrance is also warm and comforting like a bath. It is soft and gentle, and also dark and eyelike, and readily evokes visions of a seaside garden, with vines of red roses flinging themselves off the cliff into the wet rocks below. The saffron is short-lived but pleasant, and blessedly the other green/spicy facets do not compete with the ambergris for attention. The ambergris truly is the core of the scent; it is waxy and salty, sweet and heady, all-enveloping. I'm not an expert on the smell of ambergris (though I've heard mutterings that EM contains at least some natural ambergris) but this is gorgeous. It plays off the rose perfectly in a haze of seawater and petals. There is an animalic element to this, but it is buried very far in the dry down and is only offered up briefly as the scent dies on the skin, around 9 hours in. Projection is moderate but long-staying; the fragrance only contracts into a skin scent after many hours. Relative linearity in the scent can cause partial olfactory fatigue over time, however: this feature is the hallmark of many niche perfumes as I understand them. Remarkably, EM to my nose doesn't lean conventionally feminine or masculine but slap-bang in the unisex category. This surprises me given its plush/cuddly/sympathetic feeling, but I expect it comes from the force-of-nature image it conveys. Also it makes me hungry for seaweed.

A bombshell of a fragrance fallen out of time. Aphrodite upon her shell, emerging from the seafoam. Breezy salted rose, musky ambergris, frankincense/olibanum resins and veils of soapy aldehydes and powdery blonde wood swirl and swirl and swirl. A delightfully on-trend Arab market inspired modern chypre from Guerlain, while also quixotically of such off trend neo-vintage curation and style, it's almost like releasing an old gossamer genie from within a bottle. What was once old is now new. I get the feeling Encens Mythique isn't about literal burning incense, but more about the raw resin and portraying the location where the precious trees from which olibanum and myrrh are harvested, grow; the deserts and the craggy rocks and hills and I believe along the Mediterranean and Arab coasts. Comparisons to Mitsouko is actually pretty palpable, the old-school Guerlain powder and woods is present in such an enchanting way but en lieu of peach and spices there's the sparkling beach rose, more forward and sheer, which combined with the ambergris and incense resins conjures (on me) almost the impression of apricot or apricot jam without it actually being gourmand. The woods and earth are of course drier than Mitsouko here too, as others have mentioned, like driftwood, or the actual trees from which the resins came. Keeping that in mind, it could easily been fashioned as a rosy summer Mitsouko flanker, which isn't a bad idea (Guerlain call me!). Further comparisons to the loosely marine themed Hermes Eau de Merveilles line that I've seen pop up is also somewhat apt, though Encens is obviously more powdery, rosier, smoother, deeper and more animalistic than any of their current flankers, but should they ever make a rose centered flanker for that line, it could easily be close to this.

This is a great potion. Ethereal, spiritual. Rosewater ambergris. Some subtle support. Waxy, indolic, hint of Incense, a faint sanitary antiseptic smell. The rose smells a beautiful spectrum of white to red. It wafts and sparkles from time to time. Soapy and stale to sweet and powdery. It can also go a little in the old vase water direction. It's got depth of soul. Transcends boundaries. It's fairly potent on my skin. Well named. It has mystique also. What happened to the Incense? I can get hints of a beautiful frankincense balm, waxy yet balsamic. I think the saffron, patchouli, and vetiver are coming off a bit medicinal in this potion. I can pick out some of that quality camphorous menthalated vetiver if i really bury my nose. Incense also fades in and out and goes from cold, to smokey, to stale, and captures the essence of a rose and ambergris temple blend. I got this for the ambergris which is very well done here. I'm sure it's natural ambergris fortified with modern synthetics by a master. I'm getting schooled here. I was hoping for more Incense. I think my nose is having trouble detecting it fully. I'll keep trying. I don't know much about aldahydes so I can't say much. I've smelled lots of #5 and can smell something similar but I can't really point it out. I love this kind of art. Very familiar yet unique. It's an Obvious blind buy for any fragnerd. Really impressed and happy with this stuff. Coming back to update on the incense note. It is more prominent now. It's like equal parts rose, ambergris, frankincense. It's one of my all time favorites. Top 5.