Chéngmén

Chéngmén (50 ml.) We have at least 3 bottles of Chengmen in Thailand. One of my friend preorder this since release. I have chanced to sniff long ago. Somehow, certain memory struck with me. And I ask him kindly to revisit again. I send messenger to collect this. It’s rain and messenger is kind of cute tho.. :) I believe as nose grow mature. And we appreciate differences idea of fragrance. We should be aware that fragrance. As an art form and product. A form of appreciation thing silently. And perfumer communication. Unknowingly often time, hide message in creation. As oud fragrance often time. Go big, and highlight material. But Chéngmén use oud as tools For communication, purposefully. Not big but a stable woody ground Smell of old table then put spices on top. Minced and dry. Strong smell project around. Skin and branyard. A doctor allocate herb. Hot and sweaty. You could smell cotcus. Moist and big in the amber accord. As page. It strong walk. Become woodier as time. Floral feels like smell of wood. I, not so sure. How oftentimes I will revisit this. But I wish I have you around. Yeah, as a manner of creation. Without lost or fear of fail. I think. If it presented in front of me. I will definitely buy one.

I think John deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with January Scent Project. He has been able to create the most unique library of niche fragrances at a price that doesn't make you scoff. And his limited additions are at a other level completely. You will not find derivative fragrances from this house. Chengmen is no different. I think John has created something really special here for only $5 an ml. If certain other brands were putting this to market, it would cost $700 plus. I will not name these brands, I don't support these clowns. Here you have a true oud. Dipped in the most gorgeous flower known to man, red champaca. Now... many new perfumers overdose champaca with oud and call it perfume. So will this break any new grounds and change perspectives? No. But this is done better than all those others. This is done with an insightful view into the past. A careful hand, someone who truly loves the art. And not the money. 9/10 and full bottle worthy. No question.

I blind bought this which I promised myself I'd never do. Chengmen opens with a warm aldehyde and earthy floral scent that mellows into a sweet, complex oud blend. The olive seems to be a dominant smell to my nose, but I would never have guessed it without peeking at the notes. It gives the fragrance a bridge from the subtle citrus top notes to the medicinal pastiness or creaminess of the base. The sweetness of the fragrance and the initial aldehydes are not typically my thing, but the drydown on this is so gorgeous. Reminds me of drinking jasmine tea and eating salted plums at my grandparents' house in San Francisco, smells of incense and pork fat in the air. Really lovely, a quiet and comforting scent. I should add that Chengmen is the only fragrance that my cat tolerates!

A bouquet of yellow and white flowers fell into a pile a dung. Who or whatever left the pile of dung did eat a lot of sweet fruit, as evidenced by the 💩 's waft. Someone had the courtesy to decorate the dung with black olives, mimosa and vanilla stalks. Nice take on an oud base, just not my bag.

Another extremely last-minute addition, but one that already has neared the top of my ranking, off-kilter indie mainstays January Scent Project have managed to concoct a serene mad-scientist floral fusion of multiple different types of oud, and the results are truly arresting. Chéngmén (trans. City Gate) is perfumer John Biebel’s effort to transliterate the cultural fusion of smells from a Chinese apothecary he experienced while living in New York’s Chinatown. Released as part of January Scent Project’s yearly limited edition sequence, Chéngmén is a nascent masterpiece of the floral-oud genre that manages to communicate perhaps one of the most inaccessible and esoteric types of perfumery in an extremely approachable manner. Calling to mind the compositions of fellow self-taught perfumer Prin Lomros’ label Prissana, the principal three accords in Chéngmén are the already multilayered oud, a balmy and heady red champaca flower accord, and a unique orris-ambergris-olive fusion that adds a fatty, buttery dimension to the mass of wood and flowers. What appears first, among throne-bearers of waxy aldehydes and miscellaneous fruit brought to market, is the champaca. A product of large evergreen magnolia trees bearing deep orange and yellow blooms, champaca releases a euphoric, tea-like floral scent across the Indomalayan region of Asia. Here it provides an accessible and gorgeous anchor to the general composition, sweeting otherwise bitter and dry notes and boosting the overall powdery and herbal character of the perfume. Its medicinal properties are brought about by assorted botanical players: olive absolute, costus root, spikenard, orris, pepper, flouve absolute, and coleus root. The cumulative effect here is depth and dimension, like sticking your head into a produce bin at your local pan-Asian grocery store. It is only into the drydown that these many forces yield to their final conclusion: I found myself so overwhelmed with sweet flowers I had until this moment forgotten this was first and foremost, an oud. Biebel sources its Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese varieties to make this scent. I have recently, thanks to the well-timed gift of another perfume-obsessive friend, taken to burning actual oud in my home. I have since learned to appreciate the vanillic, hay-like, spiced undertones to this precious wood. I get the sense one is not supposed to be able to distinguish between specific sourcing here, but rather, enjoy the cumulative cultural fusion already at the heart of this perfume’s purpose. What oud I do smell, however, is both dry and smooth in texture. This is far cry from the pungent, jagged Japanese oud in Di Ser’s Jinko, for example. On skin it wears low and long, with sultry associations to my nose of rum, civet, and unripe fruit. In all, Chéngmén nearly heads my list of the year’s best creations, and is sure to please both cultured oud aficionados and fragrance neophytes looking to dip their toes into the more nuanced areas of perfumery.