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8.2 / 10 136 Ratings
A popular perfume by Yves Saint Laurent for men, released in 2007. The scent is spicy-woody. The longevity is above-average. It was last marketed by Shiseido Group / Beauté Prestige International.
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Main accords

Spicy
Woody
Smoky
Oriental
Leathery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
CistusCistus LabdanumLabdanum RoseRose
Heart Notes Heart Notes
Pink pepperPink pepper SpicesSpices CuminCumin JuxfriplonJuxfriplon
Base Notes Base Notes
Dark woodsDark woods LeatherLeather VetiverVetiver WoodsWoods SandalwoodSandalwood Obstructed TinfoilObstructed Tinfoil

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.2136 Ratings
Longevity
8.1128 Ratings
Sillage
7.8128 Ratings
Bottle
8.0128 Ratings
Value for money
7.868 Ratings
Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 07/31/2025.

Smells similar

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Faqat Lil Rijal
Elevated Oud by Zara
Elevated Oud

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions
8
Pricing
10
Bottle
9
Sillage
10
Longevity
10
Scent
Zebra782

18 Reviews
Zebra782
Zebra782
Helpful Review 3  
Classy Oriental delight.
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.
0 Comments
10
Pricing
10
Bottle
9
Sillage
9
Longevity
10
Scent
Dmbfaninmass

33 Reviews
Dmbfaninmass
Dmbfaninmass
1  
A True Gem by the house of Issey
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.
0 Comments
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Landshark321

734 Reviews
Landshark321
Landshark321
0  
Nice, balanced incense/amber/rose
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
0 Comments
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Leimbacher

510 Reviews
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Leimbacher
Leimbacher
Top Review 14  
Minaret of lonely hearts
Issey Miyake scents were all flankers. Okay, that's not exactly true, but it used to seem that way. The outpourings of the brand were too interchangeable, especially in recent years. Only in the recent past have a few detours been made, as with this frankincense slaverer.

"Or Encens is a hypothermic fellow smoker in front of the gentleman. Almost icy how the church component is interpreted here. I like. In the background the good Issey is still at the start, but in the foreground the bells rarely rang more beautiful. It's like the Pope's second home is in Iceland. This slightly Arabic pinch combined with European coolness can be smelled. Incense without incense. The impression of immortality. A moment of clarity.

This is not only a welcome lunge, but an independent, damn nice scent. Whether it would have needed the high prices of the new, darker Isseys is another question, but if the wallet sits loosely or he soon, matching his fragrance color, lands on the gray market: why not?!

Flacon: a more noble version of the normal Isseys - quite fine!
Sillage: you may not smell like a mosque or a full-grown church, but it's enough for a small temple.
Shelf life: 8 hours justify the price... something.

Conclusion: (k)an incense burner, completely unobtrusive and portable. So Miyake can still deviate from his usual, meanwhile boring paths. New route: impressive!
2 Comments
10
Bottle
10
Sillage
10
Longevity
10
Scent
AgnesEva

34 Reviews
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AgnesEva
AgnesEva
Less helpful Review 14  
SOOO GUT, I ordered two backup bottles :)
Well, what can you say when you get three compliments from the dermatologist? The whole team. Since my scent clouds have never been noticed before. In my opinion, the fragrance is a bit more feminine, but can also be due to my skin. Another masterpiece of my favourite house Miyake :) Labdanum of very good quality in the top note, not too much of the rose and otherwise wonderful, buttery, ambered woods and leather. I don't notice much of the vetiver in warmer temperatures, but it's not really necessary either. A 10 of me, quite clearly :)
3 Comments
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Statements

10 short views on the fragrance
BertolucciKBertolucciK 4 years ago
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
8
Scent
Or Encens is an alluring scent with rose, amber, incense, leather and a woody base. It's warm, spicy and balsamic.
0 Comments
DarellDarell 5 years ago
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
This is pretty strong stuff, So do not overdose this will affect the way the rose flows into your nose
one of the best along with Noir Ambre
1 Comment
SejanoSejano 6 years ago
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
9.5
Scent
Excellent smooking and dark profumo. Beautiful incense with dark woods perfectly equilibrated by Rose and Labdanum notes. Great masterpiece!
0 Comments
AquamonzaAquamonza 8 years ago
The pronunciation alone leads to an 'O'-face... promising.
0 Comments
DJSaunterDJSaunter 2 years ago
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
9
Longevity
9
Scent
Don't overpay on discontinued prices, but imagine Dior Homme Parfum with juicy rose instead of Iris. Was such a steal. Mature, smoky rose.
0 Comments
Topfpflanze3Topfpflanze3 4 years ago
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
7.5
Scent
Very nice rose scent, not too sweet and well balanced with smokey woods. Definetly didn't expect this one from Issey Miyake
0 Comments
GolcherGolcher 5 years ago
9
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
such a gorgeous fragrance, daring and niche like quality. Issey is putting out some great stuff
0 Comments
MaxelisMaxelis 3 years ago
8
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
10
Scent
An unusual combination of components.It is unlikely that the essence of the fragrance will be accurately determined the first test.Patience!
0 Comments
PioPio 4 years ago
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Smells to gasoline -petrol. Challenging but nice.
0 Comments
Finerthings8Finerthings8 5 years ago
6
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
7
Scent
It was promising notes on the paper but in reality I didn’t like it.Combination of rose,leather,incense didn’t work on me.try it before buy!
0 Comments
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