Vis et Honor

Vis et Honor's opening is like a 33rpm record played a 75rpm. A remarkable lavender note plays solo for a few seconds as a soprano voice to immediately introduce a full-size orchestra performing an hyper-virtuoso and majestic piece of symphonic music. All the elements are clear and perfectly orchestrated by Pregoni who's able to show in the first three minutes what his true potential is. In the front we clearly hear the strings together with the woodwinds that go from astringent artemisia, laurel, mint, citruses and mimosa while on the right side of the stage the brass instruments start to play piney notes, spices, thyme, oreganum and chamomille contributing to a crescendo that is quite breathtaking. This is the topic moment of the opera, the tension is very high when the drums and all other percussion intruments such as castoreum, tonka beans, incense, mosses, other resins and vetiver start to beat time faster, louder and deeper to finally reach the gran finale which leaves the theatre with a warm, enveloping and endless echo...Epic. Standing ovation. Smoky, spicy, emotional, animalic, rough, complex, visceral, balmy, exclusive, herbal, evocative, brutal, poisonous, ancestral, invigorating, natural, aromatic, edgy, elitary, full-bodied, powerful, solid...recommended. Rating: 7.5/10

“Let there be more... Light” After having worn & tested Vis et Honor for quite some time (2 years...), I can conclude the following: Full bodied lavender leads the opening, followed by a faint herbaceous accord that is suffocated by the extended chamomille/olive oil maceration, allowing the galbanum to dominate the incense/myrrh duo! In my humble opinion, Vis et Honor needs to emanate/breath more... In musical & decibel terms, Vis et Honor should have more mid-range (1k hz) & treble (>10k hz)... While I applaud Angelo Pregoni for taking a leap forward into the unconventional, I just wished he had added some of Duchaffour’s mastery (Avignon is the perfect example) of exploding the molecule, from its nucleus, extracting more olfactory beauty, and avoiding the trap of ‘too much oil, with too little to smell...’ For a $220/oz, I was expecting a ‘whole lot’ more...Therefore, I went Slumberhouse all the way! In its genre (compared to O’Driu, Bruno Accampora, Stephane LH 777), Slumberhouse (price to quality ratio) Leads the way... Addio Angelo! NB: It is by coincidence, only, that the Italian (Alfarom) cheering for the Italian perfumista, while an American is voting for Josh Loeb! Finally, I still insist that you sample the O’Driu line; after all, it is your opinion that matters... Enjoy.

In reading the reviews before, I have to say that I had a vision of what I was to meet. It is all that certainly and more. For me, this is a perfumed fragrant, soothing, poultice, placed upon my gaping wound by the "Hags" ancient. Smoky,Herbal, Medicinal, Dry and Moistened by the Oil of the Olive. The historical, multi dimensional equivalent of today's VapoRub and yesterday's Mustard Plaster and the Kiss of the Healer. Wearable? For me? Most certainly yes!! It speaks to my Warrior.