Full Incense

This year I am exploring incense perfumes more specifically ones containing either real olibanum oil or accords which approximate its scent. I will be comparing these fragrances to Boswellia sacra (Hojari) essential oil, which while I realize is a bit different than the standard common frankincense, happens to be my preference in scent. Why not start the stream of reviews with Full Incense? This is my first Montale, and I expected it to be mind blowingly strong based on what I’ve read about the house. It’s not the case, this is actually a comfortably light wear, to the point where I find myself reapplying after about 3-4 hrs. It’s not a “pure” olibanum perfume: the opening has a LOT of pink urinal cake style eugenol/cloves. The olibanum starts to emerge after a few seconds although whatever oil they use for this material itself is a little thin. The pine, citrus, and resinous quality is apparent, but there is no “billowy/puffy/powdery” effect from this raw material. Instead, these effects are filled in by the ancillary notes of labdanum, cedar, and elemi. As compared to pure boswellia sacra EO, there is zero camphorous or cooling element, and substantially less pine or conifer. It smells really good! Compared to the real stuff, the ancillary notes make it quite a bit warmer and sweeter. I’d say it’s about 75% of the way to smelling like real frankincense, it lacks the lift and camphor of the real stuff and ends up a bit too powdery/sweet by the end. Still though, really good and surprisingly affordable. 9 month update: The fragrance has macerated/matured (?) for a while, and I can say that it is now 90% close to the real stuff, and it does contain the billowy, puffy/piney and lemony-pepperiness aspect of frankincense that I pine for (pun intended), and it is glorious. The difference I perceive is in the top notes, where Montale Full Incense uses a distinct eugenol and aldehydes accord, the same accord used in Kouros, Sung Homme, Halston, and many others. Although not present in real incense, this accord smells nice and has always given me the mental impression of a vast indoor space. There is a slight metallic element, the scent of a burnt brass censer and its coals. It's cheaper than real frankincense on discounters, while real frankincense is MUCH cheaper than mass-prestige perfumery. It's a no brainer, must have for incense lovers.

Montale Full Incense: The Stillness of Morning Light in a Church in Nevers There is something sacred about first light filtering through the stained glass of a small church in Nevers, a quiet town in central France along the Loire River. Known for its medieval history and religious heritage, Nevers is home to centuries-old churches and monasteries, places where time seems to stand still, and the scent of stone, wax, and lingering incense fills the air. Montale Full Incense captures that exact moment—the stillness of early morning in a Romanesque church, where the last traces of burning frankincense rise like spirals of smoke curling toward vaulted ceilings. This isn’t just incense—it’s full, unfiltered, and sacred, a scent that feels untouched by modernity. During the 11th century, churches in France were built to embody endurance, devotion, and simplicity, with heavy stone walls, rounded arches, and high wooden beams darkened by candle smoke and time. These spaces were designed for contemplation, illuminated only by flickering candlelight and the slow diffusion of morning sun through stained glass. The air inside was thick with the scent of aged wood, drying wax, and incense that had burned there for centuries. And that is exactly what Montale Full Incense evokes. The first inhale is deep, resinous, pure—a wave of somber yet mesmerizing frankincense, rising from an ancient bronze censer. As it settles, cedarwood and elemi emerge, like the scent of old pews warmed by the sun, polished by decades of quiet prayer. Labdanum and spice hum in the background, adding warmth, a subtle glow, like candlelight flickering against stone walls. This is not just an incense fragrance—it’s an experience, an olfactory pilgrimage. Some scents try to mimic the solemn grandeur of old cathedrals. This one simply is. A scent of devotion, of stillness, of a time when faith was carved in stone and carried in the air—an invitation to step into history, even if just for a moment.

This is what I imagine Jimmy Page's castle smelling like, back in the day. I'm going to go in an entirely different direction on Full Incense here. But lovingly so, as I really do like it. This is Gucci Pour Homme/Bentley Absolute + the scent of the incense booth at every Renaissance Fair ever. It also evokes a certain memory of Christmas past, that evergreen sap oozing from a fresh cut fir. At the opening I get a powerful blast of dry and smoky cedar that takes me to a very similar place to the aforementioned GPH/BA, no question about it. To my nose, this forms the backbone of FI from start to finish. On top of that accord sits a potent combination of what I can only describe as frankincense and a bit of a semi-dirty patchouli, forming what can all at once give the impression of catholic mass or -- at least more for me, that Ren Fair vibe. It's burnt wood and unburnt incense, with just enough sweetness to make it wearable. It's also got great longevity and so far fairly good reach on the sillage. But beware, a little goes a LONG way, so go easy on that trigger! This is not the most versatile thing in the world, but it's perfectly good for cool weather and semi-formal affairs, occultist gatherings, Halloween parties, vampire hunts, pirate ship mutinies, medieval reenactments, Led Zeppelin tribute concerts and so on. Point is, it can be imagined as kind of serious, but you can also make it work for not-so serious occasions, too. Glad I bought this. So far it's a solid "like" for me. If it proves to be more versatile, maybe room to grow into a "love." EDIT: It's a love. Really works well as a base layer, adding depth for anything woody and/or with some sweetness. As such, I think I intially underestimated its versatility. It's also very much like Heeley's Cardinal, minus that odd but inoffensive spray starch opening.

Fabulous. Rich and full and incensey and a bit smokey. Effervescent. I'm in the first 5 minutes of two quick sprays, and in that short a time it's gone up into my top 20 fragrances, even though I haven't made a top 20 list in 10 years. I'll report back/add to this appraisal in a 6 hours or so, but I can't imagine the rating will change. Days later: I stopped writing this review because I wanted to definitively describe the incense they used, and am still having trouble doing so. I'm not an authority on incense, and I don't know how perfumers use incense in fragrance and/or what types of incense are available to them. But I passed as a hippie in the 1960's, so I've smelled a lot of incense. Whatever is in Montale Full Incense isn't hippie incense though, or something you could buy at Cost Plus or World Imports in 1968. And mercifully not Hari Krishna incense either; no one is nostalgic for that stuff. I don't think it's church incense, although I have limited experience in Catholic churches. And it's not Rani Incense, those little cones that came in small boxes with blue and magenta slide over matchbox style covers you could buy in dime stores in the 1960's; they sold a good wisteria incense. Nor did Montale use my absolute favorite 60's incense, Mumtaz, which came in a black box with gold elephants marching over a small golden bridge on the top. God, if they could put some of that into a perfume... But I'm probably the only person in captivity who still has any of that left. And it's not the wonderful stuff the Tibetan Meditation Center in Berkeley burned in the late-1970's either, and if anyone knows exactly what kind that was please chime in here and tell me. No, Montale's Full Incense is different from all of those. More traditional, but whose traditions? I'll work on this and get back to you.

Profile: if you like frankincense "olibanum", buy this. If you're familiar with CDG avignon, this is it's bigger brother, very similar profile, however Full Incense gets ambery/ warm and more dense "which I like", while avignon remains on the brighter side. Full incense performs better than avignon. Both are churchy. Very realistic frank incense, starts abit fizzy and slightly smokey, gets warmer and more ambery as it develops, from there it's fairly linear. It's the frank incense at the beginning of its burning stages, it's not chocking with smoke, yet it's not raw as in L'Eau Trois , or piney/ greenish type as in Aesop's Hwyl. Its warm, not dark, slight smoke only. If you're looking for something dark or Uber smokey this ain't it. Performance: very good, not beast mode, I get 5 to 6 hours of good performance, then later it's still there, gives you whiffs here and there, comes more alive with more body temperature. In terms of projection I can say it creates a decent warm bubble, which is more than enough, it doesn't scream. Leaves a trail, lingers on clothes, I go for 6 to 8 sprays. Gets compliments from people, gets zero hate, It's not for everyone to wear, not many people dare to wear incense frags. If you do, grab a bottle. If you like CDG incense collection, you'll love this. Safely unisex. I tried every incense fragrance I could lay my hands on, including Armani's Bois d'encens, cardinal by heely, CDG and my conclusion: full incense ended the search. It's best used during moderate weather, fall/spring. Certainly not hot summer/ cold winter.