Top Notes
Heart Notes
Base Notes
Rate
Collection
Souk
Classify
Notes11/14/2014
9.0/10
Tropical incense
Copal Azur by Aedes De Venustas and created by Bertrand Duchaufour is a new and fascinating take on the incense genre. Bertrand Duchaufour has created many memorable incense perfumes including Aedes's own eponymous scent and the famous Avignon by Commes des Garcon.Here he creates a new genre.I'd call it "Tropical Incense" or "Oceanic Incense".
Too often these days are the launches of perfumes accompanied by marketing drivel and florid descriptions that rarely live up to the hype.Descriptions of exotic locales, rituals and rare ingredients fall flat as the reality is far different from the promised journey.Copal Azur is one of the few perfumes I've found that indeed does take you on the promised journey and what a journey it is.
Designed to recall the juxtaposition of the scared Mayan incense Copal,the lush oceanic locale of Tulum,and the verdant Mayan jungle,Copal Azur starts with a powerful blast of incense apparently constructed from 3 different extractions of Frankincense as Copal itself is not used as a perfumery ingredient.The opening is eye- wateringly strong.Behind the incense lurks a marine like ozonic note but don't worry aquatic phobes there's no Calone like note here.Because of that the incense has less of a Catholic or liturgical feel. It's more of a dry/bitter green ozonic note,almost chlorine like with a salty element.It has an airy and crisp feeling like staring into the depths of a deep blue cenote.Since cenotes usually occur at a fresh and salt water interface this makes perfect olfactory sense.Think of it as a salty fresh note,maybe Floralzone?.
After a few minutes a tropical note begins to creep in.This is the note of the Mayan jungle.It is the scent of a distant jungle rot with a spicy sweet green accent provided by the Cardamom.Bertrand Duchaufour used a similar note in his excellent Aurore Nomade for The Different Company.In Aurore Nomade the floral element was turned up and accented with rum and spices.Here it's much drier and airier.It'se the distant humid veneer of the jungle made drier by the incense and ozonic notes.At this point Copal Azur really does provide a remarkable realistic feeling of being on the beach in Tulum surrounded by a cloud of burning copal resin.As the perfume reaches it's middle stages it becomes slightly sweeter as the notes of Tonka bean and Amber make an entrance. The amber is meant to represent the fire that burns the sacred Copal. That sweetness is tempered by the patchouli and the Myrrh and the resinous smell of the Copal still swirls like a sweet smoke holding everything together.As Copal Azur dries down the notes meld seamlessly into each other into a resinous salty/fresh tropical blur.With a polite sillage and excellent longevity this is a must try for incense lovers and those that enjoy fresh tropical salty scents.It'sew and daring take on incense.I truly enjoyed the journey.Bravo Bertrand Duchaufour and Aedes De Venustas!
Too often these days are the launches of perfumes accompanied by marketing drivel and florid descriptions that rarely live up to the hype.Descriptions of exotic locales, rituals and rare ingredients fall flat as the reality is far different from the promised journey.Copal Azur is one of the few perfumes I've found that indeed does take you on the promised journey and what a journey it is.
Designed to recall the juxtaposition of the scared Mayan incense Copal,the lush oceanic locale of Tulum,and the verdant Mayan jungle,Copal Azur starts with a powerful blast of incense apparently constructed from 3 different extractions of Frankincense as Copal itself is not used as a perfumery ingredient.The opening is eye- wateringly strong.Behind the incense lurks a marine like ozonic note but don't worry aquatic phobes there's no Calone like note here.Because of that the incense has less of a Catholic or liturgical feel. It's more of a dry/bitter green ozonic note,almost chlorine like with a salty element.It has an airy and crisp feeling like staring into the depths of a deep blue cenote.Since cenotes usually occur at a fresh and salt water interface this makes perfect olfactory sense.Think of it as a salty fresh note,maybe Floralzone?.
After a few minutes a tropical note begins to creep in.This is the note of the Mayan jungle.It is the scent of a distant jungle rot with a spicy sweet green accent provided by the Cardamom.Bertrand Duchaufour used a similar note in his excellent Aurore Nomade for The Different Company.In Aurore Nomade the floral element was turned up and accented with rum and spices.Here it's much drier and airier.It'se the distant humid veneer of the jungle made drier by the incense and ozonic notes.At this point Copal Azur really does provide a remarkable realistic feeling of being on the beach in Tulum surrounded by a cloud of burning copal resin.As the perfume reaches it's middle stages it becomes slightly sweeter as the notes of Tonka bean and Amber make an entrance. The amber is meant to represent the fire that burns the sacred Copal. That sweetness is tempered by the patchouli and the Myrrh and the resinous smell of the Copal still swirls like a sweet smoke holding everything together.As Copal Azur dries down the notes meld seamlessly into each other into a resinous salty/fresh tropical blur.With a polite sillage and excellent longevity this is a must try for incense lovers and those that enjoy fresh tropical salty scents.It'sew and daring take on incense.I truly enjoyed the journey.Bravo Bertrand Duchaufour and Aedes De Venustas!
