20Mars2022 Rundholz Parfums 2017

It's a somber, powerful incense-dominant fragrance that makes a statement the moment it touches skin. It opens like a dense, black cloud — thick with resinous smoke and a commanding sillage that wraps around you like a heavy cloak. The scent is warm, peppery, and dry, with not a trace of sweetness to soften the blow. The composition feels slightly off-balance; I find myself wishing the promised strawberry and floral notes would rise to the surface, if only to cut through the heavy incense. But they're nowhere to be found. What you get instead is a relentless wave of smoky cistus labdanum and frankincense, supported by dry woods and a touch of earthiness from patchouli and vetiver. There’s a whisper of spice lingering in the background — mostly black pepper, adding to the firelit mood.

The fragrance liquid itself is a stunning deep blue. Visually striking, but dangerous. It will absolutely stain light-colored clothing, so wear with care.

It’s a winter scent through and through. Dark, contemplative, and almost 'ritualistic' in its intensity.

I wore this to watch Oppenheimer, and it couldn’t have been a more fitting choice. The film’s themes of destruction, danger, and moral complexity mirrored the perfume perfectly. As the scene unfolded where he quotes the Bhagavad Gita — "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" — I was struck by how well those words captured the very soul of this scent!

There’s a subtle, salty nuance hiding beneath the smoke, perhaps ambergris or a salty musk, but it's barely there. Animalic notes are listed, but don’t expect anything overtly funky — they’re more of a warming undertone than a bold presence. In the drydown, I begin to detect a hay-like dryness — possibly tonka bean and the listed hay note. Though even then, labdanum remains the unyielding protagonist. Cypriol adds to the smoky intensity, while cedar and sandalwood offer some much-needed softness and structure, lending the fragrance a slightly more meditative, grounded finish.

The perfume feels raw, rich, and unpolished in the best way. You can tell the ingredients are of high quality, and there's a certain artisanal character to the way the scent unfolds. That said, it’s not an easy wear. For many, it will be a challenging scent to wear. But for those who appreciate complexity and mood, it’s so, so rewarding.

Incense immediately perceptible, spiced by black pepper and rose pepper.
Occasionally florals seems to pop up, but then darkness returns as the protagonist.
Smoky, incensy with a very solid base of Nagarmotha, Civet and Castoreum.
Probably my favorite from the house with better performance and more personality.

First things first: this gives more or less the same vibes as Rien Intense Incense and Anubis -they are siblings, and 20Mars2022 is more like their distant cousin. If you like any one of these two, you may have a good experience with this as well (if not better).

20Mars2022 is a fragrance of contrasts: earthy but doesn't offer comfort, spicy but cold, animalic but only a whiff at a time. The florals are there but they're not overly-worked, neither indolic, they are just wildflowers in the background. On my skin, it's nagarmotha, cistus, vetiver, some animalic notes and pepper give the fragrance its character. I also smell something spicy green which has to be lovage. It doesn't change much over time.

To me, an urbexer, the whole fragrance is a picture of an abandoned amusement park, a factory or a locomotive graveyard. These places are perfect for casual strolls through ruins; among overgrown fields, wildflowers, trees. A whiff from the mineral fluids left at the factory. The sky is clear, the air is clean, temperatures dropping just enough so you don't sweat.

I haven't bought any full bottles in a long time but I think this may be it.

The opening of this perfume is for me all about pepper. There are many notes around, the saffron, the cinnamon ... But what i get the most is a very harsh and strong pepper.
To the dry down the incense gets more and more strenght, becoming the dominant note. Around It some Woods and other balsámic notes which gives yo the fragrance a Smoky and dry character. The most It dries the sweeter It becomes, but with a very very slightly sweetness which, if It is there It is always very far, like a light at the end of a túnel. The nagarmothe goes hand by hand with the incense.
20mars2022 is for me a difficult to wear fragrance. I like It, It is very natural and I think It has a very good quality, but I am not sure when could I wear It. For cold weather and maybe for night, but not to very elegant events ir when you want to feel sexy, because It is not sexy at all.
I find It unisex but maybe a bit more masculine. Goes a bit on the side if black afgano by nasomatto, but less sweet, or like some Come de Garçon perfumes. It is very nice as olfactive experience ir ti be includes in a collection since It is very different and original but not to use with some frequency, at least for me.

Scent: 7
Longevity: 8
Sillage: 7
Quality/price: 5
Versatility: 5
Originality: 9
Global: 7.5

Here is a gothic gyre of aromas that bends my perception as I wear it. I smell Papier d'Arménie, smoldering in a dark room, then I am wandering the aisles of an occult shop in Salem. Now I am at fireside, a hearth festooned with boughs of cedar and fir, relishing a smattering of pinecone jam on bread. Further in, I am opening tins of tisanes with mulled spices while olibanum tears sizzle and the body heat of someone attractive entrances me. I decide on spruce-tips tea and inhale.

I smell my spiritual side coming back to me when wearing this. It's the smell of not needing to know all the answers—to accept the darkness of the unknown. It is expansive on my skin, radiating like a luminous arc around my body. In other words, this is some trippy stuff. Do you know that smell that seems to come from steam, as from a bathtub or a sauna? That strangely cloudy sweetness—it is here. There is a bit of a smoke machine, too. I nuzzle into my arm and smell old pelts in abandoned closets of the long deceased—there's that, too.