Wazo

Quite a gem! I rediscovered it today as the weather is rainy and cold. Immediately beautiful. Deep, complex.

This is a very nice woodsy amber with a lot of small nuances tacked on. To my nose it leans ever so slightly masculine. The woodsy balsam notes are just so loud. I definitely picked up a slight fir/pine nuance on first whiff, and i can notice the presence of that animalic castoreum. There's a resinous quality, a definite woodsy quality from the cedar (probably the strongest note), and i can definitely notice the oakmoss too. The cinnamon lends a bit of a spice to the whole thing. I expected more sweetness from the benzoin and other similar notes but honestly, there isn't a ton. If i had to rate the sweetness on a scale of 1-10 i'd say it's smack dab in the middle or even a touch less sweet than average. For an EdT this juice is potent. Strong sillage and longevity. I can see this being something you would wear when you're dressing up. It's haute parfumerie, refined and artistic in its execution.

Dry, dusty wood notes, underpinned by dirty-sweet, vanillic amber. It opens bone-dry, with almost a rusty tang to it, but after a few minutes the warm sweetness of the amber and balsamic accords starts to balance things out. The ultra-dry tang of the woody aromatics is not my scene, but as Wazo sweetens up in the dry-down, I increasingly see the appeal. The way it balances sharpness and sweetness, dustiness and stickiness, ruggedness and coziness is quite nice. It's like being holed up in a small, dirty woodworking shop in the dead of winter, drifting off over your work, and then being roused by someone who's come in to toasting marshmallows in the woodstove.

This has one of the longest lists of notes I have seen in a while. Smelling it though, the notes that stick out to me are the cedar and juniper on the opening and labdanum and castoreum on the close. Really lovely and the drydown in general reminds me of Camel by Zoologist. Im excited to try more by this perfumer.

Tried a sample. It's a very nice woody amber fragrance, but I find it's too sweet and cloying. It's a little too much for me. Would not buy a full bottle. Scent - 6/10 Performance - 8/10