L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme Or Encens Issey Miyake 2017

I am from Saudi Arabia, so I'd like to think that I know a thing or two about Oriental perfumes and this is definitely one, and although beautiful, it's not unique by any stretch of the imagination.

The immediate impression I got upon spraying is : "oof, this is classy" I was greeted by a thick, almost oily cloud of sweet, velvety rose, absolutely beautiful, the insence and leather kept it in check to give the fragrance it's classy masculinity, the dry down was equally as impressive.

While 90% of Oriental perfumes are unisex by virtue of their notes, this is purely masculine, classy and for me, only for men over the age of 35, kudos to any woman who can pull it off but that would be really, really difficult in my opinion.

Now I don't know if this was a special tester or something, but Or Encens stayed on my skin for a DAY, yes you read that right, a whole day where I could reach to my inner elbow and still get a whiff of it, silage was monstrous as well.

Notes detected by my nose: rose, incense, soft spices, leather, and sandalwood.

Blind buy: if you are under 30 just don't even bother, this is dark stuff for "mature" men, not a playful or sexy scent, but rather a classy upscale one, still better to test first, although beautiful this is an acquired taste that is not for everyone.

This is classy, special occasion classy, thick, dark, sweet and velvety stuff that will last for a long time, I haven't smelled Noir Argent or Noir Ambre which are praised a lot here, but to me Or Encens is already the best Issey Miyake creation since the original L'eau D'issey pour homme, and I am not exaggerating.

An absolutely incredible release by one of my favorite brands, 10/10.

From about 2001 until I tripped and fell down the fragrance rabbit hole a few years ago, L’eau d’Issey and Angel for Men / A*Men by Mugler were the 2 most perpetual mainstays / closest to signature scents in my couple dozen deep rotation during those years. Suffice to say, Issey Miyake has always been a mainstay and been near and dear to my nose’s heart.

Over the years, I picked up a couple flankers at TJ Maxx or Marshalls - Nuit d’Issey and bleu Eau fraiche. I hadn’t kept up with anything related to fragrance from about 2003 through 2019 or so, but I enjoyed those flankers. When I took that fateful misstep that saw me and still sees me free falling into what seems to be an endless fall into the fragrance world, I had begun to spend a lot of time with fragrance as a focus of something I read about daily and just in time to purchase the newly released, at that time, Nuit d’Issey Polaris. At that point, I had dipped my toes into the niche waters and sufficiently felt so comfy, I waded into the waters knee deep. My mind, though, was blown by Polaris. I hadn’t experienced anything quite like it before, and certainly nothing that deep and heavy from a designer fashion house.

I’ve since tried out the Intense offering and honestly was quite underwhelmed - there’s a reason the pricing on that one makes it a straight up cheapie offering. I’ve also tried the Vetiver offering which I enjoyed a tad more, and also the discontinued Eau de toilette fraiche, which for a summery freshie deserves the acclaim it gets, imho. The thought that really grabbed hold of me, though, was those heavier wintery fragrances that it seems have been mostly kept out of the US retail market - I must have them, or at least one more. Out of the blue, I saw fragrancenet had Or Encens. I immediately placed an order, but it was cancelled due to not being in stock, though it’s now been several days and they still show it in stock on their website. I tried to order it a few more times. It kept showing in stock, at times showing qty 1 left, others qty 5. Suffice to say I gave up after multiple orders being cancelled. It was stuck in my mind, though, and I found a reputable eBay seller with a high rating on fragrance sales and pulled the trigger. This arrived about an hour ago and just like Polaris, my mind is blown. The blend of spices, leather, amber, incense, and rose is absolutely spectacular and if I didn’t know this was a designer release, I sure would never guess that would be the case based upon the scent alone. As I’ve seen indicated by others, most often fragrances like these are unisex niche / middle eastern offerings, but this one is overtly masculine and so very well blended. Due to having just received this, I can’t speak to the performance aspects, though those are aspects that typically I don’t concern myself with, but rather it’s about the scent for me. This one joins Polaris in what my nose perceives as top shelf choices in my collection. I typically don’t view fragrances as being seasonal or set / setting dependent though for those who do view fragrances through such a lens I would venture to guess most would view this as somewhat specific for cold weather, evenings, and formal. This is gorgeous, I’m excited to have it, and highly suggest for anyone who enjoys dark, rich fragrances that stand out from the crowd! I’m honestly not sure if this would be a crowd / people pleaser, though even if it wouldn’t be, I feel quite certain it would be a conversation starter wherein it would be commonplace people would wonder and ask who is wearing what. I picked this up for about 125 usd and given the difficulty in finding it, I feel that was well worth it to add to the collection. Bravo! Wondrous fragrance! Now if I could just find Noir Ambre, Pulse of the Night, Noir Argent, Bleu Astral, and Bois Arctic, my wallet will be very unhappy, but my nose will be extremely happy. For so long, just for being away from the fragrance scene, I always associated Issey with the original l’eau d’Issey and how wonderful that fresh citrus woody fragrance is and remains. Having been somewhat underwhelmed with the original Nuit, I just continued to associate Issey with fresh clean citrusy fragrances, but my gosh, with their deeper, darker, bolder, more robust offerings I’ve had my nose on, I would say, at least to my nose they do these fragrances as well as any designer house out there and I hope, despite Issey Miyake having passed, that we’ll continue to see some new releases that live up to the trend they’d begun.

Today is probably my fourth of fifth wearing of the 2017 release from Issey Miyake, L’eau d’Issey pour Homme Or Encens, which I purchased this year as a blind buy due a very good price and good reputation. Mostly as advertised, it’s a mix of resins, woods, and, certainly to my nose, a fairly prominent rose note, and it’s well-balanced as respects these main accords. It also feels like a good balance of exploratory/artistic ideas and well-established norms, like a resinous rose oud, so that it’s very workable and wearable but not redundant. That it’s not especially rosy or animalic prevents it from actually being a rose oud, instead having an incense center with only a slight spiciness via some pink pepper and cumin—used modestly, in my estimation—with an assortment of resins and woods making up the balance. Certainly the rose always remains detectable, though as one player in an ensemble, not dominant.

Overall, it’s robust but fairly agreeable as resinous fragrances go, and I could easily see it being a cold weather unisex staple, though it is of course part of the men’s collection.

Its performance is very good, especially considering that it was priced at $43 when I purchased it on FragranceNet but the pricing generally seems to be a bit higher, at $73 on FragranceBuy.CA, and I still think the $73 price is reasonable for this.

8 out of 10

Issey Miyake fragrances have mostly been flankers. Okay, that's not entirely true, but it often felt that way. The brand's releases were too interchangeable, especially in recent years. Only recently have a few detours been taken, like with this incense rascal.

"Or Encens" is a cool, smoky companion par excellence. Almost icy, as the church component is interpreted here. I like. In the background, the good Issey is still present, but in the foreground, the bells have never rung more beautifully. As if the Pope were setting up his second residence in Iceland. This slightly Arabic touch combined with European coolness is quite pleasant. Incense without incense. The impression of immortality. A moment of clarity.

This is not just a welcome sidestep, but a standalone, really nice fragrance. Whether the high prices of the new, darker Isseys were necessary is another question, but if the wallet is feeling loose or if it soon lands on the gray market, fitting its scent color: why not?!

Bottle: a more refined version of the regular Isseys - quite elegant!
Sillage: you might not smell like a mosque or a full-grown church, but it's enough for a small temple.
Longevity: 8 hours justify the price... somewhat.

Conclusion: (not) an incense scent, completely unobtrusive and casually wearable. Miyake can still deviate from his usual, now boring paths. New route: impressive!

Well, what can I say when I receive three compliments from the dermatologist? From the entire team. After all, my scent clouds have never been noticed before. In my opinion, the fragrance leans a bit more towards the feminine side, but that could also be due to my skin. Another masterpiece from my favorite house Miyake :) Labdanum of very good quality in the top note, not too much rose, and otherwise wonderful, buttery, ambered woods and leather. I don't notice much of the vetiver in warmer temperatures, but that's not really necessary. A clear 10 from me :)