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Collection Classique

Wazamba Parfum d'Empire 2009

7.4 / 10 203 Ratings

A perfume by Parfum d'Empire for women and men, released in 2009. The scent is spicy-smoky. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Spicy

Smoky

Resinous

Woody

Fruity

Fragrance Notes

Apple

Ethiopian opoponax

Somalian frankincense

Fir balsam absolute

Indian sandalwood

Kenyan myrrh

Labdanum

Moroccan cypress

Aldehydes

Perfumer

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.4203 Ratings

Longevity

7.9158 Ratings

Sillage

7.3150 Ratings

Bottle

7.2137 Ratings

Value for money

7.252 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 11/20/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Collection Classique collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Fille en aiguilles

Encens Kapnos

L'Eau Trois

Plum Japonais

Homme

Haxan

Reviews

18 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/17/2012

SystemeD
58 Reviews

SystemeD

3

Wondrous Woodiness

Wazamba is one of the most interesting and fragrant incense-based scents that you will find.

It opens with a Cepacol note that I very much dislike (just like the original Comme des Garcons).

However, it immediately deepens into a resiny, piney, sandalwood-suffused fragrance, with a touch of honeyed apple to provide a delicious roundedness.

There is incense here as well, but it's the wondrous woodiness that makes Wazamba a unique experience.

06/06/2025

ClaireV
969 Reviews

ClaireV

Helpful Review 3

Tangy pine cones

Wazamba! It sounds explosive, which is strange, because it smells explosive too, especially when it tumbles out in that first, aldehyded rush of sugared pine needles, frankincense, and cinnamon-dipped red fruits. The pine ‘flavor’ in Wazamba is the connecting dot (for me) between the coniferous notes and the naturally piney facet of frankincense. As with its close relative, Filles en Anguilles by Serge Lutens, the pine notes read as something sunlit and Mediterranean, rather than snowy and Northern, a feeling cleverly underlined by a tangy cypress note.

In Wazamba, the umbrella pines are bent sideways by a Bora or a Sirocco, the soil beneath them is springy with orange-brown pine needles, and everything is warm, dry, and aromatic. It is an extremely fruity scent, if you stand back and look at it from a distance – dried plum and cranberries, I think, more than apple. But up close, the piney-coniferous freshness of the woods proves an effective bridle, slowing the roll of the fruit and sobering it up. There is also quite a lot of clove or cinnamon, which manifests as a dustiness or chalkiness of texture in the gradient of the wood rather than as a hotly-spiced standalone accent. I think Wazamba proves that, in the right hands, heavy-duty stuff like plum or myrrh and frankincense can be manipulated to take up the shape of light filtering through sea-leaning pine trees. Nice (but non-essential).

09/26/2018

10Scent 10Longevity 9Sillage

Greenfaerie
86 Reviews

Greenfaerie

1

Snowy evergreen mountains

Wazamba is such a fantastic immensely woody fragrance. Just an entire mountain range covered in evergreens, with precious resins seeping out. A touch of crisp, sweet apple in the first few minutes serves to uplift the heavy notes and the mood, but this is not a fruity fragrance on the whole. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a little bit of oud in there, or maybe a mahogany note, as the woods seem a bit on the dark side. Lovers of forest fragrances take note--Wazamba is as good as it gets!

08/20/2023

9Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

OdorAeternus
27 Reviews

OdorAeternus

2

scent of sprituality

This perfume is not on my buying list but I appreciate it as artistic and a high niche fragrance. The concept of the fragrance is spirituality. All 3 notes of myrrh, olibanum, and labdanum together with incense have important religious essences and have been used in religious and spiritual events throughout history. The top apple note was selected to complete the concept of this fragrance, which has a symbolic meaning (the forbidden fruit) in relation to other notes.

Regarding this concept, this fragrance was not created to get you compliments or refresh you like a cologne, it is rather more suitable for your private moments or your special events when you want to have a layer of spirituality around yourself.

03/08/2019

8.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Meggi
1018 Reviews

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Meggi

Top Review 28

'Il Duomo' to start and elsewhere

Great experiences are worth being reported a second time and thus warmly recommended to others once again.

The Easter before last, I was in Milan with my family. A globally renowned sight is the Milan Cathedral, whose roof can be walked on. You can go up by stairs or elevator, and a small passage leads outside. Endless marble, tiny people far below, and a panoramic view over the rooftops of the city all around. But the cathedral itself also offers new perspectives during the tour: surprisingly narrow paths and niches alternate with wider sections leading to the vast open space on the left and right of the ridge. And that is simply overwhelming.

At one point, through some grilles that likely serve ventilation, not only organ music and singing from the Easter Sunday mass penetrated, but also quite distinctly the smell of incense. As a Northerner, I had no idea before how bright and sour, almost green it can smell.

I find a similar scent in the opening of 'Wazamba': bright-sour-resinous smoke, but here it quickly becomes fruit-accompanied. For a while, a haze like burning plastic is disturbing, but that settles down, and over the course of the first hour, more and more fruit and darker smoke join the initially dominating church-like impression. As it progresses, the fragrance spans a beautiful, wide arc from light to dark, from bitter to sweet.

I imagine chocolate-patchouli; after about an hour, dark wood appears, durable in its compactness. The interplay between the acidity from the incense and from the fruit is charming, Madame Plum secretly seems a bit (rosily) tipsy and leans, I think, on Mr. Cashmeran. Probably, vetiver in the background helps the bright incense idea over time. When I return to my office after an absence, I do not think "incense," but "vetiver."

Around noon, more sweetness appears, honey-like gradually replacing the fruit. Again, an interplay arises, this time between bitter-sour and sweet aspects of the smoke. I particularly enjoy the ethereal quality of it. And once again, I think of the cathedral, of the abundance of loving decorations, the somewhat winding corners on the roof that give the monumental structure - within the realm of possibility - a certain lightness.

This lightness remains in the fragrance for a long time, into the afternoon. Gradually, creamier additions and more dark wood emerge, balancing the swelling sweetness. Only in the late afternoon and evening does the gentle, increasingly honeyed sweetness take over completely, reminiscent of more passionate smokers like Tom Ford's 'Sahara Noir' or 'Calling All Angels' by April Aromatics.

Only the plastic from the beginning and the certain impression of having experienced practically everything multiple times prevent me from being overly enthusiastic today. This may be unfair, as among the numerous references (no twins, just siblings and cousins of various degrees, but plenty of them!) there are also younger representatives, such as the beautiful 'Incense Pure' from Sonoma Scent Studio (2010), which spans a similar arc, or the aforementioned 'Calling All Angels' (2012). It cannot be changed. Nevertheless: 8.5 points are quite decent!

Those who find incense fragrances too intense or overwhelming should dare to test this one and gradually explore it throughout the day.

I thank Yatagan for the sample.

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