Vintage Collection Incensi Lorenzo Villoresi for women and men

Having been very impressed by Ambra, also from Lorenzo Villoresi's Vintage Collection, I am now convinced that amber is where Villoresi excels. Like Ambra, Incensi is a beautiful, high-quality amber scent, classic in style but adapted for a modern audience. It also manages to be quite a different scent from Ambra - Incensi is less dry, greener and more balsamic. I fell in love with Ambra, but Incensi manages to give it a run for its money.

Incensi's opening is quite similar to Ambra's. Both are amber-dominant from initial spray, led by elemi, with its pine nuance enhanced by other green notes. Hazy galbanum is prominent in both, as is citrus. However, Incensi is more dewy than Ambra, and the citrus here is more bitter and tart than fresh. When it settles, an apple-cinnamon accord becomes evident - an interesting addition that manages to complement the amber. Juniper keeps the pine-like freshness alive for longer, and some peppery spice is evident here too.

The amber undertone is present throughout, sweetly balsamic and smooth, and coming to the fore as it develops. Mimosa is an interesting addition to the heart, adding hazy, pollen-y sweetness to the smooth amber accord. It gives a honeyed quality to the amber, but is more lightweight and powdery than a waxy honey note. Despite the name, the incense is not churchy at all - it is not smoky and is somewhat fresh. The cinnamon remains.

The incense really comes into its own during the drydown phase, with dry, woody notes complementing the incense-led amber accord beautifully. It fades to a sweet amber scent, slightly musky but balsamic until the end. Sillage and longevity are moderate. It is unisex in my opinion, and manages to be transeasonal despite its typically wintry scent profile, thanks to how lightweight it is.

Incensi is another light, airy take on amber that is palatable for modern audiences while paying homage to the classics. Although I love the balsamic amber here, I prefer Ambra, finding it a little more cohesive throughout and more classic in style, but Incensi is another great scent from Villoresi. 4/5.

Opens with a complex fresh green bitter note (probably galbanum and citruses).
Shortly after, it morphs into an overpowering foody/dusty cinnamon with a touch of orange. And cinnamon. And cinnamon. And cinnamon. The juniper is also noticeable in the background, and a hint of myrrh will also appear, but only during the late drydown. No church incense here.
I cannot spot any similarities with Tauer Incense Extreme, Villoresi Ambra or Piguet Casbah, that I own and love (I m wearing these on the other arm, to make a side-by-side comparison). That said, it shares noticeable vibes with Etro Messe de Minuit.

A crushing overload of cinnamon is the main player here, and unbalances the juices. This one should have been named "Cannella" imo. Definitely an oriental spicy fragrance, not a resinous/incense one. Will revisit this one in a few days, but for now, it's pretty much a disappointment. And the poor performance doesn't help either.
For fans of this theme, I would strongly recommend Sorcinelli Io Non Ho Mani, which has similar notes but fully masters the use of cinnamon, and delivers a vastly more accomplished result.

Fall days, feminine leaning.

At the beginning I have a vintage alcoholic whiff of stirax, a green mix of galbanum, apple and lemon that smells of detergent. Then he slaps me with elemi, juniper, olibanum, pepper, opoponax, cinnamon, tolu.
Some flowers in the background. I imagine a church on a hot afternoon with polished wooden benches coated with tolu instead of beeswax and dense vegetation around it.
Vintage? Surely! It takes you for a walk in time.
Incense? For me it is more Balms.

I see it best on a man. On a woman the real age would increase.

Serious.

an elegant green, fruity incense. a little dated.
soapy and stone. 4/10

5/10

I love incense perfumes, and, unlike some reviewers below, adore Heeley and Avignon. This is so odd, my first and last reaction has been "BLECH!" It is bracing, astringent, woodsy-juniper for sure, with sharp herbal greens, the odd apple accord, and Cinnamon. To each his/her own, but this smells like bug spray with generous heapings of cinnamon. Basically, the bugs get a treat.

I think my skin must amplify cinnamon, and while I like it in general and in food, I don't love it here, and would be interested in what this smells like without it and the apple... What I don't smell is incense! Despite the listed ingredients that would indicate smokey-resin goodness, it just smells discordant.
Perhaps this would smell good on someone else, from a distance and also on a man. As a woman, I can't swing this. It's both a bit too masculine for me & weird (& I generally wear unisex perfumes).

Most Incense Fragrances go overboard and I've made a few blind buy mistakes, namely HEELEY's Cardinal and Francis Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour le Soir. Both I am willing to part with. They are very extreme and does not allow me to breathe as a human being.

Incensi is amongst my favourites, It is a classy, ethereal, boozy and very spiritual fragrance. Not that spirituality has a fragrance (I think) but I do associate it with the fragrance of Incense, Sandalwood, Earth, Amber, Flowers etc. which are part of the religious ceremonies in a temple.

What makes this one special is there is a Gin note here which sits side-by-side with the incense note. However there probably are about 6 notes behind these two notes which I have no clue of, and these in turn give value to the main notes.

Highly Recommended. Could be someone's signature perfume.
May be one day, mine...

Hehehe it's funny myonlyvice, saying that a perfume it's not wearable because it smells like incense it's as clever as saying that a perfume it' not wearable because it smells like perfume. Incense is at the base even of the word "perfume", it's the act of burning incense for it's smell who create the word perfume, it's is first signification-per fume (by the smoke).
It's here a green-flowery resinous. I think there is even not incense, it's more a re-construction of the note evolving to a mineral mimosa. It's not cold, not church like at all, it's really more spring like.
Really nice and pleasant.