Sacristie des Arbres Filippo Sorcinelli 2024

now imagine walking alone through an ancient forest just before the sunset. the trees around you are old and the air carries something mysterious. resin, dry woods and a distant trace of incense, but as you continue walking the atmosphere becomes unexpectedly soft. a warm sweetness begins to emerge from between te trees, almost like finding a hidden sanctuary within the forest. the vanilla is creamy and balsamic rather than sugary. surrounded by cedar, pine, incense and resinous warmth. that contrast is what makes it so fascinating to me, it isn't a simple vanilla scent. it has depth. it is a vanilla, but there is something hidden beneath that sweetness, somethin woody, smoky and almost sacred.

Opens with alcohol notes
Then, resinous
Térébenthine
Masculine a bit
And vanilla in the dry down alas
A very faint hint of incense and pine tree
Overall a douceâtre (sweetish?) scent once the perfume settles on my skin

As a nature soul, I chose to try this perfume for its very name. Surely it will talk about forest and church I thought. But to me we are not in a forest not a church but in an artist atelier, a painter. There's wood furniture, a rotten fruit hidden somewhere, with the chemical harsh smell of the product that is a paint remover and cleaner for all the brushes and instruments, and a bit of incense that burned earlier to cover the smell.

The new line of Sorcinelli fragrances, consisting of 8 different scents with lavishly large blessing hands as bottle caps. For some, quirky; for others, fascinating in design, ranging from tasteless to stylish. Here, everyone will have a subjective opinion, and the spectrum is likely to be wide.

Memento - Latin for remember.

The reminder to live in the present, to enjoy the moment, to be aware of the fleetingness of time.
The recollection of the feelings etched in the soul, laughter, tears, happiness, and sorrow. The soul continuously whispers the stories of the past.
Memory as a blessing, to be aware of your worth and the importance of your path.
Memory as the key to a lock to live your dreams, to heal wounds.
Memory as an invitation not to forget that trust must be greater than the suffering we sometimes believe we have experienced.

Eight fragrances, inspired by famous places that stand for experiences of faith and devotion. Sacristies, the side rooms in churches where priests prepare for services and where all the items needed for worship are stored. Often also the place of spiritual and mental preparation for what may follow.

All marketing nonsense? One could see it that way - but one doesn’t have to.
The life design, the complexity and versatility of Filippo Sorcinelli can be gleaned from his resume. An artist - through and through. And isn’t it the viewing of artists through different eyes that shifts perspectives, makes new views possible, reveals new possibilities for thought? Exciting. What would life be without art? The creation of a perfume can also be art, far removed from business guidelines and market surveys. Interpretation and access are left to each individual.

Sacristie des Arbres - the forest

A place full of wisdom and secrets. A place where nature seems to speak with its tranquility and beauty. To connect with the trees, to listen to them, and to try to understand their silent lessons.

As is usually the case with Sorcinelli, the fragrance starts with an inverted fragrance pyramid. The mint, used rather defensively here, combined with equally subtle pine, initially provides a refreshing coniferous freshness and fits perfectly with the incense, which in its restraint immediately leads to a very contemplative scent impression. This feels very calming to me, almost meditative and reflective. I already want to attest to Sorcinelli that he has perfectly captured the theme of the forest, with its scientifically proven positive effect on the soul. The scent has completely taken me in already, playing up and down the keyboard of my preferred scent preferences. Wonderful.

The first scent impression remains quite long, the green of the mint and pine gently recedes, while the (needle-)woody impression with underlying incense remains until the end. Thankfully, I cannot detect the specified Damask rose at any point, and I do not miss an offensive sweetness that would not have suited the fragrance.

However, this changes only later in the fragrance's development, when the interplay of ambrette (slightly musky, reminiscent of amber), benzoin (sweet-resinous-balsamic), amber (warm-woody), and vanilla creates a captivatingly smooth and alluring scent impression. The incense, Sorcinelli's preferred scent note, acts here as a binder around all the other notes, holding them together, ensuring that the fundamental character of the fragrance shifts only slightly towards a more endearing direction, but never deviates from the core theme of needlewood, forest, contemplation, and tranquility.

Sacristie des Arbres has completely convinced me, not only as a fragrance but also in its advertised thematic reference to religious positioning. For me, this is understandable.

As Gerhard Richter, Germany's most popular painter, once responded to the question of how he would interpret his painting: “I just paint. I leave the interpretation to others.”

I am happy to engage with that.

Golden afternoon light breaks through the branches and paints vibrant mosaics on the dry, needle-covered forest floor. Tree trunks rise to the sky like columns, weeping resinous tears of pure ecstasy over the creation of which they are a part. Delicate mint seedlings thrive at the foot of this wooden sacristy.

The sun also warms the weary hiker resting in the bright forest. He has already drifted into a heavenly daydream, into a world between incense veils and vanilla clouds.

Sacristie des Arbres is currently my most worn fragrance. The avant-garde bottle with the life-sized, sacral-looking hand as a cap can stand as a small work of art in the hallway. Whenever I'm in a hurry, I reach for it, which is not solely due to its convenient placement. I find the scent relatively versatile for different situations, and I love how it envelops me in a resinous-woody embrace.

I find it interesting that Sacristie des Arbres appears a bit greener on the strip, with the mint coming through better. On my skin, however, it develops more of a vanilla sweetness - not sticky or bothersome at all, but rather cozy and soothing.
And I occasionally think I perceive nutmeg, but that might be the interplay of the notes.
Overall, a very beautiful composition!

I would like to claim that I know and own a lot of woody scents. At 23 Pineward, there are already quite a few to be found. But that’s another story.
This one is different. At first, I thought, yeah nice, a Bois d‘ascèse before it went up in flames. But the second time, I was taught otherwise; my first impression was completely off.
The forest shrine - that’s how I’ll clumsily translate it - is sweet, no smoke, a whole lot of creamy wood and resin. It has far less of a forest character than what comes across with Pineward or similar scents. It starts amber-resinous, has a medium green character, and indeed the sweetness of vanilla. The mint doesn’t come through noticeably at all, and the rose and pine only make a brief appearance, showing a hint of resin. After that, a linear play begins, which is long-lasting - I really have to give that to this line - but doesn’t want to evoke a true forest feel.
Later on, guaiac wood slowly and laboriously makes its way through, adding very subtly damp woody sprinkles. However, the overall impression remains vanilla-like with sticky resins, a slight incense touch like in Voix humaines, and completely without edges.
I have no idea how I came to my first impression. Although I must admit, every now and then a certain nuance does come back to my memory. Uncanny.