Encens Copal

Always a pleasure to spend a day wearing Encens Copal, such a surprising and uplifting perfume. The brand write up and perfumer's notes lead you to expect a fresh fragrance, but what you get is an unconventional freshness with the incense notes front and centre. I'm not knowledgable enough on resins to differentiate well between the white copal, mastic and benzoin but from start to finish there is a beautiful crisp cooling backbone with a slightly piney bitter balsamic undertone, a rounded phantom fruitiness and a nonspecific background warm spice. I do also pick up the mandarin top note, particularly in the first half hour or so, but the incense is the focus from the start rather than an explicit citrus top. The hazelnut I get adds a bit of a savoury bite and comes across more green and raw, perhaps lightly roasted, than a sweet hazelnut spread like accord. With it all there's a good balanced sweetness that never veers gourmand, and of course there's the wonderful multifaceted and always developing incense accord that never veers smoky. I've owned my bottle for a bit over a year now and in that time I don't think I've worn anything more than Encens Copal. Without me realising it's become a bit of a go to both on days where I don't want to (or don't have time to) think about today's perfume choice and on days where I specifically want something that'll put a smile on my face. Light and brisk but warm and comforting, I find myself wanting to wear this on any given day any time of year. Can't recommend enough.

Encens Copal is a unique blend of freshness and balsams. I wear it daily since I got it and works every time, no matter what, even in scorching temperatures or freezing weather. I thought it shy, but people are commenting on it, hours after I believe it gone and always positively. Works equally well for men, it is spicier on my husband's skin, although I don't share it with him - I want it only for my self. I love it.

A surprisingly lovable scent. Spicy yet a lot of newness in it. Reminded me of Grand Soir in many ways. Has the same scent profile.

A very very unique scent, huzelnut , bergamont on top balanced with cedar and sweet notes, highly reccomend it

Beautiful and very unique fragrance

When you try it... You can't help but want more of that delicious incensy hazelnut beauty. If you love high quality incense resins and gourmands, chances are you will love it (even if you only live pure gourmands, I recommend to sample this beauty). It is a beautiful fusion of incense (mastic frankincense, etc) and rich toasted hazelnut, with subtle orange and bergamot completing this beautiful composition. Performance is okay, and you may want to reapply it once throughout the day, but it is totally worth it!

It's very unusual. Somehow the hazelnut mixed with incense smells for me like an expensive cigarette smoke, not bad but rather unexpected. It's dry, has a rough texture and no sweetness for me. I like it and get compliments. Rare scent that it's hard to describe. I see it on a man in suit or a lady in smoking. Please try it before you buy.

Does not last whatsoever. Soapy incense for the most part. Dries down and evaporates in the second. I can only catch a whiff of hazelnut and sweetness on my skin

The brief second upon spraying Encens Copal is my favourite: a wet leather that dries instantly. Blink and you’ll miss this moment, but for now this leathery scent simply gets shown to the back, because at the exact moment of the drying, the tangerine shows up. It’s bright, it’s sour, it’s juicy — the only photorealistic tangerine I’ve ever smelled in a perfume. But this stage too is short lived, as something sweet in the back replaces the leather and starts moving to the forefront. Eventually, the sweetness becomes cloying, and though you can sense burning incense at the back, it’s also overpowering, to the point that the tangerine gets reduced to a slight tinge in the dry down. I wish I got the florals, the hazelnut, and especially the mastic, but none can be found here. I cannot comment on final longevity as I washed it off me after 7 hours, when it was still noticeable.

If you've found your way here you know what time it is and with Herault at the helm we're playing in the big leagues. Encens Copal is his third creation for Jacques Fath, completing a trilogy tied together by the 'hazelnut' note. Needless to say this one is another banger and dare I say the best of the bunch. In interpreting the copal resin Herault has crafted a fresher, juicier take on incense which is fruity, sweet and uplifting amongst the green, resinous backdrop. Sparkling off the top I get a lot of mandarin which is given a distinct twang by the greener elements. This opening is much fresher & fruitier than you might imagine and you can immediately smell there's a depth to it. The dominant tone for me is this orange smell which is being being balanced on one side by the resinous base and on the other by sweet hazelnut giving more of a gourmand quality. This balancing act is expertly done and makes the incense (most noticable when you bury your nose in it) take on a more joyful, happy vibe than typical offerings in the genre. On my skin the sweeter, nutty aspect comes out more in the drydown and there's almost a caramelized effect to the combination. Make no mistake, deep down this is still a resinous scent but it's fresh, sweet and charming to wear. It's also totally unisex and suitable for any occasion. Performance is not a screamer (though as a Parfum it lasts on skin) but that's what you get with this sort of natural quality top to bottom. Bravo to Jacques Fath for keeping their prices so fair and to Mr Herault for knocking another home-run!

It was so familiar to me... I knew that backbone DNA from somewhere else but with an added note of hazelnut. It was from pure xs. Smelling them arm to arm and honestly they share a lot of similar traces to me. Feels like pure xs made more mature and with added hazelnut

Brilliant creation!!! The frankincense is so realistic. This is the scent of heaven’s entrance, whatever that may be. Actually more like the corridor towards heaven. Fresh, resinous, clean, unisex, holy af!! BRAVISSIMO!