Athanor

I fell in love with this after trying it on skin when a sales associate recommended it after asking what notes I like. Unfortunately, that was before I knew the price. I've never spent anywhere close to this amount on a perfume, so I got a decant first and thought that would be enough. Nope. I bought a full bottle on Black Friday, so at least I feel a bit better that I got 20% off. This is my favorite perfume in my 75+ bottle collection, by far. To me, it smells of warm amber with a little incense and a prominent papyrus note. It's as if I'm wearing a warm and inviting amber and open an old dusty book in a little used corner of a wood paneled library. The sulphur note is present, but only for the first 3-5 minutes and only when I look for it. It's fairly linear, with only subtle changes once you get past the initial sulpher/cassis note. I get compliments, often after I've walked by someone. The sillage as you're moving is amazing, but it doesn't project a ton when you're still. It was 100% worth the fortune it cost me.

Athanor has become one of those rare perfumes that feels like a real signature for me – something that just makes me feel warm and comfortable every time I wear it. I usually love incense and woody gaiac, but this offers something else that I can't put my finger on: beautifully balanced, strong, and it clings to my skin for a good seven hours, projecting most when I move. Yes, it’s insanely overpriced (and I wish there were refills at a lower cost), but the truth is my partner and I are both addicted to it. If only it projected a little more, it would be near perfect. There’s a centring, almost medicinal element here – clarifying, (dark) spa-like. It feels deeply meditative, like sitting under a mossy, rocky, earthy overhang in a forest sheltering from the just easing rain. It feels like a ritual – grounding, soothing, yet quietly powerful and undoubtedly woody and earthy.

Smells of earth, but more like a damp stone statue forgotten for many years. Sulphur note is nicely done, not sickly. Iris, iris, iris, deep, dark, masculine iris. Everytime I try a Mendittorosa, I read the prompt and think I can't possibly like that, but I do.

Don't overspray this, else the Iris, cashmere, incense and saffron are overwhelmed by the sulphur. I feel like this may be an example of a needing the right spray head, but I love it when I get it right.

(If you want to know what I think this smells like, go to the second paragraph and skip the first paragraph rant :) ). I'm definitely noticing a theme as I go through Mendittorosa's lineup, which is a consistent tendency towards weighty musings and inspirations from highly-philosophical literary works and mystical practices. I feel bad for their perfumers; composing a work of art via scientific principles from a source of inspiration that has no scientific or corporeal literalness to it at all is - and must be - a terribly headache-inducing endeavor. Primarily, to scientifically construct a work of art around an idea that is open to a myriad of subjective interpretations usually translates to the perfumer making hundreds of attempts to get it right before it meets the subjective criteria of one specific person signing off on it for the brand - and then who knows if the people who try it to explore a purchase will have the same interpretation. I have to say Mendittorosa are commendably ballsy and committed to perfume as an art form, even though it may be a bit foolhardy from a practical and business perspective. The idea behind Athanor is alchemy, the practice of trying to convert a material into something else of higher "quality", e.g. iron into gold. That is, through the subjection of heat and material additions something can become something else, a base metal can become exquisite finery, or, in the case of Athanor, a human through trial and tribulation gains a strength of spirit to become a better human. It's an interesting concept for a perfume. How can a material or a person, through the heavy guiding hand of a human, applying heat and other materials, transform something or someone or themself? Well, alchemy is consigned to the pages of disregarded mysticism for a reason, when we learned that since the universe exploded into being the laws of physics figured out how to do what alchemy purported it could do, and physics doesn't do it the way we thought it was done via alchemic ideas. Heat and pressure do, in fact, turn carbon into a diamond, but for humans to think we can wield these incredible powers that created our universe on any sort of large transmutative scale is a laughable solipsism fitting the intellectual faculties of protomen from millennia before (the same ones who thought the earth was the center of the universe, killing another human on top of a rock was going to bring rain, and that fire was given to us by gods). We have figured out how to make diamonds, sort of, but it wasn't through alchemy. Neither does the real human condition fit Mendittorosa's inference that alchemy is an accurate metaphor for how someone can change. Ask someone who has been a victim of abuse, drug addiction, war, etc., whether or not that alchemical interference (incendium amoris) to their condition made them feel like a better and more complete human being. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but you've never heard a dead man say that. Alchemy doesn't work for the human condition either. So, while I read what Mendittorosa has to say about Athanor, I groan. This isn't the first, and likely won't be the last time, I read a description of one of their perfumes and think "rubbish. Even if that were to make sense you can't turn it into a perfume." So, I shall forget about it, and just tell you what I'm smelling :). What I'm smelling is actually really, very good. The top notes are very striking. Overall, I get a leathery iris, but there is a lot more besides. The leather and the iris are poking up from the heart to join seamlessly with the top. The iris is cold and rooty, and the leather animalic and smoky. Hanging off of these notes are a sulfuric note - like overcooked eggs - and a massive note of hay-like and floral saffron. The sulfur is gentle and rounded, unlike the stringent and acrid sulfur you smell burbling from a Yellowstone mud pot, and it gives this first stage a very earthy metallic and unnatural feel. It's the elephant in the room, but the elephant fits in the room. The saffron combines with a blackcurrant note to be almost inseparable from each other. Primarily, I pick out hay and florals that are decidedly saffron, but they have a wet and thick and slightly sweet feel to them, which is unusual for saffron. I have to conclude that the blackcurrant is what's doing this, since I'm not getting any overtly blue/black fruity aspects. The sulfur, saffron, and iris are the first to exit the perfume, leaving thin layers of suede-like leather that wrap a woody, vetiver, amber base. The cypriol used to create the leather note through the top and heart starts to mingle with cashmeran after the initial start of the heart stage to shift the leather from animalic and smoky to a soft, plushy suede. Very nicely done. Guaiac wood and vetiver give an elegant, stately, confident feeling. The guaiac is a bit smoky and dark, the vetiver a bit salty and green. Supposedly there is a "black amber" to the base notes - whatever the hell that is. I can believe there are some amberic materials here, mainly balsams to help round out the guaiac, but my nose hasn't really grabbed hold of whatever is called black amber. As time marches on and the mystical alchemical powers of body heat perform their magic (cough) the vetiver and the guaiac are all that remain. In particular, the vetiver seems to be the loudest on my skin in the last dry down - salty, green, and swampy - showcasing a skin scent that is very mature and one might say a bit retro. One aspect of the inspiration Athanor seems to have succeeded at very well is seamlessly transforming a weird and rough amalgam at the top that shouldn't normally exist or work well, to a final scent that is classic, smooth, and well developed. It really is a work of olfactory art, challenging to the point of making you think but not driving you away, and wonderfully composed with technical care and grace. It's a compelling piece of work that tells me that, while Mendittorosa's prose and inspirations are none too useful, they are working with talented perfumers capable of decoding the inspiration and delivering something unique and highly enjoyable. Will I add it to my collection? As of today, 100mL costs the equivalent of $530. That's a lot to ask. But, it is an extrait and it acts like a good extrait should, the artwork of the packaging and the bottle is exceptional (one thing Mendittorosa consistently delivers on), and most importantly, the perfume itself is very good. This will require several more wears before I decide whether or not the conversation I'm having with Athanor is one that I want on repeat for years to come (100mL and $530 dollars's worth, that is). As of now, color me very intrigued and impressed.