Ralf Schwieger of Mane holding Musc Ensence photo Lauyrn Beer©

At Esxence in Milan this past April, I was fortunate enough to snag a proper whiff of the brand new Aedes de Venustas Musc Encensé and I remember the fragrance had an immediate effect on me. I was suddenly rooted to the spot and completely mesmerized. I quickly jotted down some notes: “Deliberate. Thoughtful & considered. Passionate. Personal.” Those words still ring very true almost five months later on the eve of the release of Musc Encensé.

Incense by Bela de Takach von Gyongos-Halasz

The name Encensé is not just a play on the French encens (incense) and insensé (crazy). The french verb Encenser means both “to scent with incense” and “to praise to the skies.” Musc Encensé will garner an abundance of praise I suspect, all of it well and truly deserved. This is Master Perfumer Ralf Schwieger’s second perfume for Aedes de Venustas, the first being Iris Nazarena  (which won a Fragrance Foundation Award in 2014 for Perfume Extraordinaire). Aedes de Venustas Iris Nazarena did for iris exactly what Mr. Schwieger has done for Aedes de Venustas Musc Encense, weaving musk and  the brand’s signature incense into something so exquisite that it must be experienced. Schwieger is the nose behind some of my most favorite scents; Lipstick Rose for Frederic Malle,  Atelier Cologne Iris Rebelle, Christopher Street for Charenton Macerations, Eau Des Merveilles for Hermes, Etat Libre d’Orange Fils de Dieu among many others.

(Detail) In Bed, The Kiss Henri Toulouse de Lautrec

It comes as no surprise to me that he created a musk and incense perfume that stops me dead in my tracks. All the more miraculous for having an incense-centric scent that I can actually wear and adore; incense has heretofore been a note I struggle with, my skin really hates it and almost always reduces it to a murky/ashtray/cigarette odor. Not so with Musc Encensé. This is incense that positively trills with joy and delight, but quietly and for my exclusive pleasure.

Aedes de Venustas Musc Encense is a fragrance with pedigree; perfectly realized and clearly well thought out with exact deliberation and consideration; a swoon-worthy takes-your-breath-away scent that truly feels as if a lot of time and effort went into the creation. A perfect perfume that is “crazy good” as my young niece would say.

Egon Schiele The Embrace

Opening with a furry and green herbaceous clary sage, it is a bright and fresh fragrance, but like pure white trails of soft smoke heading heavenward, this is a scent that slowly spins and pirouettes through a scented journey in a seemingly constant state of change, unfurling like bolts of silk thrown across a burnished mahogany table in slow motion. The ambery accords provide an unctuous warm base of near-gourmand feeling, sweetened slightly, and just when you think you’ve settled in for the long run, whoosh….you are off in another direction, the cashmeran and musks creating an almost feral, dare-I-say sexual vibe that is nothing short of a scented prayer or meditation. Aedes De Venustas Musc Encensé is sheer and airy staying close to the skin. When a perfume is this good, I simply don’t want to share with anyone, except for my “significant other” whom I suspect will want nothing more than to just get as close as can be and lick my skin. Notes: Clary Sage, amber accord, cashmeran, tonka, incense, musks

Disclosure: Many thanks to Francois Duquesne of Maison Duquesne for the samples. The opinions are my own.

–Robert Herrmann, Senior Editor

Indira Varma as Maya and Naveen Andrews as Raj Singh in  the movie Kama Sutra

Note: As I am taking my 2018 mid-terms so to speak, at this time, Aedes de Venustas Musc Encense is one of my top five best perfume of the year, which is why I felt compelled to write a mini-review. Like Robert, I do not fare well with incense or strong musk perfumes, but Musc Ensense’s swirls of incense wafts through folds of amber silk that caress my bare skin. Traces of his musky scent linger on my pillow; I feel his lips gently brushing the hollow of my neck and I am distracted all day. The Kama Sutra of perfume.-Art Direction, Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to Maison Duquesne the distributor we have one 3.4 oz tester for one registered reader in the EU, USA or Canada, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you enjoyed about Robert’s (and Michelyn’s mini) review of Aedes de Venustas Musc Encense, where you live and your favorite Aedes de Venustas fragrance.  Draw close 8/30/2018

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