Verticaloud Hermetica 2018

This starts just smelling of a perfume shop, a random mix of all sorts that while it smells ok isn't particularly great (although I think this can be excused as it's supposed to be used like hand cream in this stage(so they claim)). This however as it develops gains a lovely smokiness as the oud emerges and orange fades. However from this point that is about it, it's a mass appealing oud with sweetness running through it.

Good for layering but not otherworldly. Reasonably mass appealing and smells nice but not worth the price unless you particularly want natural hand cream/lotion.

I only put a tiny bit on because I feared it would be a beast. Turns out I was right...a tiny spray from the sample in the Discovery Set was enough! At first, it smells like the perfume section of a ritzy department store—a whole bunch of expensive scents mashed together into something perfumey and generic. It’s inoffensive, but I can’t really narrow down what it actually smells like. Here’s where it gets interesting though: After an hour, I could suddenly smell some smoke, which elevated it out of the generic and made it ten times more interesting! This surprised me because I find Hermetica perfumes to be quite linear, without a lot of development.

It was a blind purchase. The scent notes sounded promising.

I don’t even know how to describe this fragrance. I was convinced I was smelling spicy/woody notes. The only thing that comes to mind as a description: piercingly sweet!

At some point, I had to wash it off my wrist because the perfume increasingly smelled unpleasant, sweet, and cheap.

Of course, Hermetica also launches a rose-oud combo - which collection doesn't do that these days? Whether to appeal to the oriental market, to end up in the shopping carts of sheikhs jetting around the world, because the top notes usually attract well, or because the sales figures still hold up internationally - who knows.

"Verticaloud" certainly follows this path and is unlikely to entice many perfume lovers from behind their stoves. Anyone interested in this direction will surely have their favorites by now and might find this rather stable-boring. However, that shouldn't mean that this vertically launching agarwood, at least in name, produces a bad scent. Quite the opposite. It does its job well. Slightly synthetic (like almost everything seemingly from Hermetica), slightly fruity (mmmmh, raspberry) and spiced with soft saffron. Always and everywhere wearable, European desert, light Orient. Pairs well with suits and everyday evening events. But it never stands out. Not in the slightest.

Bottle: delightful
Sillage: as this combo usually is - pleasantly noticeable
Longevity: see one line above - 8 hours and 23 minutes ;-)

Conclusion: a safe, unexciting choice. Good without courage.