Thissideup

This is truly horrible. At first, it smells of rubber and of burnt tires. There is also something reminiscent of the interior of a car, but not a nice one, there is a faint smell of the exhaust gas. Imagine a bumpy ride in an old car that makes you feel really sick. A truly nauseating experience. Out of all Filippo Sorcinelli's creations that I have had the chance to discover I definitely enjoy this one the least. Or actually, I can't bring myself to enjoy this one at all.

I’ve been in love with this one for so many years! This is the most comforting fragrance I’ve ever come across. It’s warm but not sweet. It’s unique but not weird. It’s stimulating but not overwhelming. It’s smooth but not boring. Basically, the name says it all, with the amber being very pronounced. But it’s not amber as in ambergris. This is the amber as I remember it from amber tincture.

I really don't understand the positive reviews of this one. For me this is cheap and smells cheap. I think it's a fantastic idea, but poorly executed. The cedarwood is so dominant, that the other notes hardly have any chance. I've always been saying that I liked dry, woody fragrances, but this one is too much even for me. And the bottle really takes getting used to.

This has been my favourite for the last three years or so. I was fantasising about a church-like incense, but with some more depth to it. And Casbah was the first thing that has been suggested to me. At the beginning, I thought that might be a bit too extreme, but then I realised that nothing can really be too extreme if it perfectly resonates with me.

I’ve been exploring church-like incense fragrances for a while now, but LAVS, my second favourite, smelled too much like iron, Reliquia and Lacrima were too reminiscent of meat or burn flash, Full Incense weirdly smelled of pepper or chilies, Sancti had too much citrus, Cardinal was too boring, Messe de Minuit very quickly started going in a different direction, Orpheline was a bit too sad, Timbuktu was to random, Avignon was too weak, Zagorsk had too much cedarwood, and Hala was a pure cedarwood disaster. Casbah on the other hand seems to be very complex but very balanced at the same time. It has it all and in perfect proportions. It seems to be the perfect choice for every day, everywhere and every mood. And my brain does focus on different aspects of the fragrance on different occasions which makes it extremely interesting. Overwhelming – yes, but very pleasantly so. It’s on the very border of my comfort zone, and that’s very stimulating.

I’m at the Warsaw airport. And I’m not even late this time. Since the duty-free started offering niche fragrances, I decide to have a look. Nothing really interesting, let’s move on. But wait, Polish Potatoes? Did I misread the text on the poster? Apparently, I didn’t. That might be a great occasion to discover the first Polish fragrance brand in my life. And indeed, the Polish Potatoes quickly become my favourite. But there is a certain sweetness there and a red light goes on in my head: if it’s sweet, you’re very quickly going to get tired of it. But the scent accompanies me on my wrist during the flight, later on I decide to buy a sample, and then a full bottle. And there is nothing to get tired of here. The smell is still detectable on clothing for days. The sillage also seems to be great. One small spray is enough to make people in my surroundings notice something interesting. And yes, this is an intriguing smell.

This one does smell of polish potatoes, and I know what I’m saying, having grown up in Poland. And there are potatoes here in more than one single way. First the baked potatoes, like my mother used to make them. Baked with the skin on, emitting a unique slightly sweet and earthy smell. But there is more earthiness there than that. There are also raw potatoes, with some earth still on them, stored in a damp cellar. That’s a very funny thing to say, but what more can you wish for? Pure perfection, and I don’t even like potatoes!