Attaquer Le Soleil Marquis de Sade
Etat Libre d'Orange (2016)

Reminds me a bit of Etro's Messe de Minuit, the less goth, second version. Shares the same 1980s head shop/novelty gift store meets Christmas pomander vibe. I get LOTS of pine from this, a very clean, almost citrus-y pine, nothing fusty. A smoky incense, but not campfire smoke, more like freshly-lit match hitting a candle wick. Some spice, but thankfully no cumin. If I ever finish one of my gazillion incense-centric perfumes, I might spring for this. For now I'll just enjoy my generous spray sample—tis the perfect season to wear it.

It's incensy, slightly smoky, balsamic. On darker side but not heavy either. More like these incense sticks for home scenting and atmosphere than like a personal fragrance, but hey, I enjoy it that way

I've become quite familiar with both the resinoid and absolute of labdanum and cistus (both from the same plant), along with a number of fractional distillations and bases that focus on Cistus ladanifer. Here, Quentin Bisch ingeniously brings all the many facets from this fragrant plant and accentuates them as if there is a discrete note pyramid that could very well be built from it, even though we see only labdanum.

I do detect both cistus exudate from the leaves and labdanum from the plant's resin itself: therefore, the sweet and ambery is here, but also the animalic, skanky rawness of the absolute and resinoid is here as well. But let's sniff further: let's build that pyramid. The opening showcases the arid, desert pine prickliness, coniferous, with aspects of pinecones and sap, baked in the sun. That's one note. We also have this incense cone element—after all, labdanum is often present in incenses for its fixative value. There's still more here, with there being camphorous, herbal, sage like qualities.

Then, as it dries, the depth of labdanum is really brought into relief, without any interference from benzoin, vanilla, with only the faintest cinnamic quality, but mostly the salacious skank and leathery funk. The heart of austerity and introspection loosens its grip and gets a little frisky. Labdanum has bared its well-worn unmentionable, threw them into the balsam fir trees to have a roll in the pine straw under the blazing sun. I really lose track of time wearing this sexy outdoorsman of a fragrance.

The opening it a spicy incense blast to starts off with: lots of labdanum, cardamom, and touches of cistus. It is not a peppery or curry-like spiciness, but more of an incense impression, not very ceremonious but more of a storage house filled with these ingredients.

A tangy and nigh smoky background transiently appears in the drydown as some cumin is added in. The spices gradually recede, with a nonspecific woodsiness replacing them over time.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and five hours of longevity on my skin.

This is an autumnal scent that is not uninteresting; a spice-incense creation with some agreeable features if one likes this genre of fragrances. On the downside it is rather generic at times. May it is meant to be olfactory pain and pleasure a la de Sade? Overall 2.75/5

I love Labdanum and Cistus, but not, apparently when mixed with a slug of Cumin.

The divine Marquis deserved better than this.

I'm reasonably new to my fragrance journey and ordered the EDLO sample set. This was my first scent and wow, I've never really smelled anything like it before. Opened with burnt/charred wood for the first five minutes and then boom - strong church insense. Very evocative of a cold, slightly damp church in winter - it sounds like it should be awful but I absolutely loved it. Can't wait to get into the rest of the set!