WRoth

Opens with iris, honey, dried fruit and a sheer tobacco/hay/immortelle note. The fragrance is smooth and creamy with a pleasant subtle sweetness. Alas, the iris top note is not very strong, which is why I'd say the EdT is more aromatic-gourmand than iris-centric. As the notes bloom on my skin the fragrance becomes woodsier with a pinch of incense, honey and iris to liven things up. Volutes EdT dries down quickly into a generic woodsy-herbal blend and then nothingness.

The EdP opens with more creamy-powdery iris and less dried fruit/tobacco/immortelle than the EdT. The fragrance is again smooth and creamy, but has a better balance between sweet/powdery/herbal notes. The woodsy-herbal base does not dominate the orris note, but enhances its vegetal-rooty nature. The EdP is less warm and sweet than the EdT and it vaguely reminds me of Chanel's 28 La Pausa. They share the same peppery woodsiness in their bases, but otherwise they are totally different. Volutes is a lot denser and opaque than the 28 La Pausa. Just like the EdT, Volutes EdP quickly dries down into a generic woodsy-herbal blend ( with an unpleasant acidic facet) and then into nothingness.

This fragrance starts with a rather harsh citrus accord which immediately softens into an aromatic citrus accord. Fruity and floral notes soften the composition which now vaguely reminds me of Timbuktu’s main accord. I am also reminded of Terre d’Hermes and N2 by Miller and Bertaux, because I smell fresh pepper, ginger, incense and mineral notes. As the fragrance progresses it loses its citrus sparkliness and its peppery spiciness and turns into a floral, watery green, woodsy fragrance. Warn spices like cardamom add depth and sweetness to the whole. Rather sheer it is well-balanced and pleasing. The scent does not smell of anything in particular, its is deliberately vague. Lasts for six hours on my skin.

This fragrance opens with an accord that smells of roasted nuts; the aoud note, which is usually very strong, is not yet dominating the fragrance at this point. This soon changes when the aoud note fully blossoms and releases its typical pungent, medicinal smell. The fragrance then needs a while to find its balance, but eventually turns into a beautiful woody and nutty aoud fragrance with a patchouli base. Initially, the patchouli can be smelled only very close to the skin; later on, during the dry down, it gets more intense. This offering by Montale has a darker feel to it than the golden-glowing Steam Aoud. Lasts for more than 6 hours on my skin.

This fragrance opens with a spice and wood blend that is cleverly done to smell sweet and fruity. I associate this accord with the smell of hot, honeyed fruit infusion. The fragrance is velvety smooth, warm, fruity and slightly spicy. It is a perfect comfort scent for cold winter days; it is also very powerful and has great sillage. It is a nice fragrance no doubt, but I find it rather uninspired.