Bertrand Duchaufour

One of the great joys of being an observer of perfume and perfumers is watching as an artist develops his or her style. One of the way this evolution is visible is as a perfumer perfects a specific accord. There is almost no perfumer currently working who does this as well as Bertrand Duchaufour. The first instance I remember noticing occurred when I received my first sample of Amouage Jubilation XXV. This felt like the culmination of a path started with the two incense fragrances M. Duchaufour did with Comme des Garcons, in 2002, Series 3: Avignon and Series 3: Kyoto. Those were the first threads of M. Duchaufour’s incense accord. Over two fragrances for L’Artisan, Timbuktu and Dzongkha; and two for Eau D’Italie, Eau D’Italie and Paestum Rose he would tweak things but the central incense accord remained identifiable; and in flux. When Jubilation XXV arrived all that had come before came to a spectacular intersection in a transcendent fragrance.

Christopher Chong

Amouage Jubilation XXV is also notable because this was also the first fragrance Creative Director Christopher Chong oversaw. At this point in 2007 Amouage had been an ultra-luxe perfume house known for powerhouse fragrances. Jubilation XXV, and its feminine counterpart Jubilation 25, would start a new phase for Amouage which has seen it flourish under Mr. Chong’s guidance. Jubilation XXV shows the hallmarks of an aesthetic that has seen, arguably, one of the best runs of creativity in any perfume house over the last six years. Where Amouage was, previously, all brute force perfumery Jubilation XXV had a gentle lyricism to it without sacrificing projection. With M. Duchaufour at the top of his incense game and Mr. Chong imposing a creative control Jubilation XXV represented a rare artistic convergence.

One of the notes M. Duchaufour really likes working with is blackcurrant bud, or cassis. He found that it was a great partner for frankincense in Eau D’Italie and he would return to those two notes as the foundation for the top notes of Jubilation XXV. Citrus in the presence of orange and a trio of spices in coriander, cinnamon and clove finish the opening stages of Jubilation XXV. Rose and guaiac control the transition of the incense into the heart of the fragrance. Here the guaiac and rose are precisely balanced so that each is supportive of the incense. If the rose had gotten out of balance it could have tipped this over into something overpowering. M. Duchaufour uses a brilliant application of immortelle to usher the resinous core into the base where it is joined by even more of its brethren as myrrh, opopanax, real ambergris, and musk take Jubilation XXV into the depths.

Jubilation XXV has overnight longevity and above average sillage.

Ever since the first two Incense fragrance for Comme des Garcons I had flippantly referred to M. Duchaufour as the “High Priest of Resins”. Under the creative direction of Mr. Chong, Jubilation XXV turned my facetious words into glorious reality. Jubilation XXV is what I consider to be the best incense fragrance ever made.

Disclosure: This review was based on a bottle of Jubilation XXV which I purchased.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor