Reviews of Copal Azur by Aedes de Venustas
According to AdV at the time Copal Azur was released, copal resin was an incense that was not found in perfumery. Native to Mesoamerica, I suppose this makes sense since perfumery was never really a major part of that world but the burning of incense certainly was. AdV and Duchafour sought to finally capture it in a perfume. Did they succeed? I honestly have no idea. I've never smelled copal before.
What I can smell is a resinous and green combination of myrrh and olibanum. Tossed into the top of the perfume are some calones to give an ozonic, salty, sea water type effect - which is odd for an incense perfume, so perhaps we are to assume that copal has a natural watery and salty facet to it. There seems to be some spice, perhaps cardamom according to the brand, and some earthy notes playing very, very quietly in the background but they are quite meek and imperceptible to what is being presented as entirely incense. The final skin scent is a near invisible balsam and tonka amber base, flecked with - you guessed it - incense.
This is going to be a very brief review, dear reader; I have three final points to make. The first is, is the incense any good? The incense accord is lovely. If you love incense, you're going to love this incense note. The second is, is the perfume itself any good? In a word, no. It's boring as hell. Incense, incense, and incense, and very little else besides. If you want and love a completely linear incense perfume that does nothing else, this is for you. I don't want nor love that, so it's a "no" from me. The third is... well... how to do I ask this.... I suppose the question I'm reaching for is: what is the point of it? Copal Azur is now more than 10 years old and was composed by one of our great perfumers. There might have been a point in the perfume's past, unbeknownst to me, where this was actually much better than the formulation I'm wearing today. As of today, for what it smells like, what it does, and how it performs, for an EdP commanding its high price tag, you'd have to be bonkers to buy it. It's boring, it doesn't do much of anything, it doesn't say anything new, and its longevity is absurdly poor. AdV, as my new bottles of Signature and Iris Nazarena confirm, used to be much better; I have a feeling Copal Azur is what it is today because, just like my new bottles of Signature and Iris Nazarena, it was made insipid and wan to improve the business's bottom line. This is purely conjecture on my part, but I have ample evidence and experience with AdV over the years, and with several other AdV perfumes, to hazard that I am making a very educated presumption. To answer my own question then, what is the point of Copal Azur? As of today, it doesn't seem to have a point; in fact, it seems to be solidly pointless. Moving on, then....
What I can smell is a resinous and green combination of myrrh and olibanum. Tossed into the top of the perfume are some calones to give an ozonic, salty, sea water type effect - which is odd for an incense perfume, so perhaps we are to assume that copal has a natural watery and salty facet to it. There seems to be some spice, perhaps cardamom according to the brand, and some earthy notes playing very, very quietly in the background but they are quite meek and imperceptible to what is being presented as entirely incense. The final skin scent is a near invisible balsam and tonka amber base, flecked with - you guessed it - incense.
This is going to be a very brief review, dear reader; I have three final points to make. The first is, is the incense any good? The incense accord is lovely. If you love incense, you're going to love this incense note. The second is, is the perfume itself any good? In a word, no. It's boring as hell. Incense, incense, and incense, and very little else besides. If you want and love a completely linear incense perfume that does nothing else, this is for you. I don't want nor love that, so it's a "no" from me. The third is... well... how to do I ask this.... I suppose the question I'm reaching for is: what is the point of it? Copal Azur is now more than 10 years old and was composed by one of our great perfumers. There might have been a point in the perfume's past, unbeknownst to me, where this was actually much better than the formulation I'm wearing today. As of today, for what it smells like, what it does, and how it performs, for an EdP commanding its high price tag, you'd have to be bonkers to buy it. It's boring, it doesn't do much of anything, it doesn't say anything new, and its longevity is absurdly poor. AdV, as my new bottles of Signature and Iris Nazarena confirm, used to be much better; I have a feeling Copal Azur is what it is today because, just like my new bottles of Signature and Iris Nazarena, it was made insipid and wan to improve the business's bottom line. This is purely conjecture on my part, but I have ample evidence and experience with AdV over the years, and with several other AdV perfumes, to hazard that I am making a very educated presumption. To answer my own question then, what is the point of Copal Azur? As of today, it doesn't seem to have a point; in fact, it seems to be solidly pointless. Moving on, then....
Some incense fragrances are bitter, or sour, which can lend a sort of sophistication. They can smell exotic, or old fashioned.
Copal Azur isn't like that for me. It combines a wonderful copal resin scent with the ozonic salty notes described above. This is where the 'blue' comes from. I normally dislike this note, but it works here, combining with the incense to create a very modern, wearable, but ethereal experience.
The spices are there, adding a bit of warmth, but I find they aren't overly sticky when it dries down. I like that a lot. I find some fragrances end up just being a warm spice sticking to me, and I hate that. I find this one dries down really nicely; the ozone and salt are less prominent, but the sweeter amber and incense notes persist, with a little bitterness and sophistication thrown in.
This is a great concept, in my opinion. It smells very modern to me, yet it also reminds me of a place of worship. It is unlikely to offend, but it also gives you some nice complexity.
I'm new to fragrance, but with my first 20 or so samples, this was a stand-out. Definitely recommend trying it.
Price is high, but performance is good, and the composition is unusual.
Copal Azur isn't like that for me. It combines a wonderful copal resin scent with the ozonic salty notes described above. This is where the 'blue' comes from. I normally dislike this note, but it works here, combining with the incense to create a very modern, wearable, but ethereal experience.
The spices are there, adding a bit of warmth, but I find they aren't overly sticky when it dries down. I like that a lot. I find some fragrances end up just being a warm spice sticking to me, and I hate that. I find this one dries down really nicely; the ozone and salt are less prominent, but the sweeter amber and incense notes persist, with a little bitterness and sophistication thrown in.
This is a great concept, in my opinion. It smells very modern to me, yet it also reminds me of a place of worship. It is unlikely to offend, but it also gives you some nice complexity.
I'm new to fragrance, but with my first 20 or so samples, this was a stand-out. Definitely recommend trying it.
Price is high, but performance is good, and the composition is unusual.
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I adore this perfume. It's one of the best incense perfumes that I know of. Luminous, bright opening with very crisp and clean incense! Good stuff!
First is a blast of Vick's Vapo-Rub. It then soften's into a quite beautiful incense symphony. More complex than my other incense faves " Cardinal" and "Bois d'Encens". A touch of patchouli interweaves and a most remarkably true camphorous Cardamom dances center stage and then stands back to a canvas of softened Myrrh and Blue Orchid. A dryness that brushes with LADDM.
It is here where it shares a moments exploration similar to Chanel's No. 18.
The "Ozonic" for me emerges later. It strikes me as masterful in composition and very wearable.
If you listen carefully, you can recognize the same structure in Oud Shamash. Bertrand Duchaufour
Wishlist definitely!!!
It is here where it shares a moments exploration similar to Chanel's No. 18.
The "Ozonic" for me emerges later. It strikes me as masterful in composition and very wearable.
If you listen carefully, you can recognize the same structure in Oud Shamash. Bertrand Duchaufour
Wishlist definitely!!!
It smells like a bathroom cleaner, but a really good one. This is an incense fragrance that opens with a bang – a blue flame kind of effect carved from a snappy combo of aldehydes that gives it a feel not too far removed from one of those blue CdGs. From start to finish, it's clean – like OCD clean – which seems odd against incense, but it does work somehow. What bothers me about it, though, is the slight herbal tinge that seems sage-like – a note that I'm jut not a fan of. Even though I don't think this is something I'd wear by choice, I am impressed by how daring the approach is. I must admit, though, that it's a very poor performer; all the good parts are gone within 20 minutes, and what's left an insipid shadow of what came prior. If I were to sum it up in a just few words, I'd say it smells like someone just mopped the floor of a church with some top-shelf bleach.
When I originally heard the news of Copal Azul, I immediately thought about a cold / bright incense….well, this is not. At least not completely.
It opens with a sparkling and extremely clean incense note joined by a subtle ozonic accord. In this phase it vaguely brings to mind of other similarly themed incenses such as Liquide Imaginaires Sancti, Heeley's Cardinal and, to a lesser extent, Andrea Maack Craft or even Comme Des Garcons Blue Encens. This phase doesn't last long though and the fragrance morphes pretty quickly into a competent, if not completely deja-vu, sweet ambery incense middle-phase and drydown which are both comforting and boring at the same time.
Not bad after all. It's absolutely pleasant and well done but, in my opinion, also redundant and kind of formulaic too.
It opens with a sparkling and extremely clean incense note joined by a subtle ozonic accord. In this phase it vaguely brings to mind of other similarly themed incenses such as Liquide Imaginaires Sancti, Heeley's Cardinal and, to a lesser extent, Andrea Maack Craft or even Comme Des Garcons Blue Encens. This phase doesn't last long though and the fragrance morphes pretty quickly into a competent, if not completely deja-vu, sweet ambery incense middle-phase and drydown which are both comforting and boring at the same time.
Not bad after all. It's absolutely pleasant and well done but, in my opinion, also redundant and kind of formulaic too.
Is Copal Azur the unusual incense fragrance you want to wear in summer, or a cold weather incense that works by putting you in mind of summer? Yes.
Straight off the nozzle I get aquatic and salt notes, together with a lotion+incense accord, a zingy/salty accord and a floral note that I cannot identify (and which is not listed among the official notes). To be sure, there is a calone note to start, but that passes rather quickly.
In the heart phase, the scent is dominated by a frankincense and myrrhe accord which is dry, zingy, slightly sweet and completely unique; with pop! added by a just right application of cardamom. And, I swear there is a floral note in there that I can't put my finger on.
Although classed as an Oriental (and it does have its oriental aspects), Copal Azure is office friendly without the overly viscous notes one associates with that group. Length is very good.
Copal Azure is a warm weather, almost beachy incense. Cool idea!! It could be great in summer. But even now, in cold, prematurely cold winter weather, it is snappy, rich, dry, interesting, nearly weightless--and fun.
Straight off the nozzle I get aquatic and salt notes, together with a lotion+incense accord, a zingy/salty accord and a floral note that I cannot identify (and which is not listed among the official notes). To be sure, there is a calone note to start, but that passes rather quickly.
In the heart phase, the scent is dominated by a frankincense and myrrhe accord which is dry, zingy, slightly sweet and completely unique; with pop! added by a just right application of cardamom. And, I swear there is a floral note in there that I can't put my finger on.
Although classed as an Oriental (and it does have its oriental aspects), Copal Azure is office friendly without the overly viscous notes one associates with that group. Length is very good.
Copal Azure is a warm weather, almost beachy incense. Cool idea!! It could be great in summer. But even now, in cold, prematurely cold winter weather, it is snappy, rich, dry, interesting, nearly weightless--and fun.
Copal Azur by Aedes De Venustas and created by Bertrand Duchaufour is a new and fascinating take on the incense genre. Bertrand Duchaufour has created many memorable incense perfumes including Aedes's own eponymous scent and the famous Avignon by Commes des Garcon.Here he creates a new genre.I'd call it "Tropical Incense" or "Oceanic Incense".Too often these days are the launches of perfumes accompanied by marketing drivel and florid descriptions that rarely live up to the hype.Descriptions of exotic locales, rituals and rare ingredients fall flat as the reality is far different from the promised journey.Copal Azur is one of the few perfumes I've found that indeed does take you on the promised journey and what a journey it is.Designed to recall the juxtaposition of the scared Mayan incense Copal,the lush oceanic locale of Tulum,and the verdant Mayan jungle,Copal Azur starts with a powerful blast of incense apparently constructed from 3 different extractions of Frankincense as Copal itself is not used as a perfumery ingredient.The opening is eye- wateringly strong.Behind the incense lurks a marine like ozonic note but don't worry aquatic phobes there's no Calone like note here.Because of that the incense has less of a Catholic or liturgical feel. It's more of a dry/bitter green ozonic note,almost chlorine like with a salty element.It has an airy and crisp feeling like staring into the depths of a deep blue cenote.Since cenotes usually occur at a fresh and salt water interface this makes perfect olfactory sense.Think of it as a salty fresh note,maybe Floralzone?.After a few minutes a tropical note begins to creep in.This is the note of the Mayan jungle.It is the scent of a distant jungle rot with a spicy sweet green accent provided by the Cardamom.Bertrand Duchaufour used a similar note in his excellent Aurore Nomade for The Different Company.In Aurore Nomade the floral element was turned up and accented with rum and spices.Here it's much drier and airier.It's like the distant humid veneer of the jungle made drier by the incense and ozonic notes.At this point Copal Azur really does provide a remarkable realistic feeling of being on the beach in Tulum surrounded by a cloud of burning copal resin.As the perfume reaches it's middle stages it becomes slightly sweeter as the notes of Tonka bean and Amber make an entrance. The amber is meant to represent the fire that burns the sacred Copal. That sweetness is tempered by the patchouli and the Myrrh and the resinous smell of the Copal still swirls like a sweet smoke holding everything together.As Copal Azur dries down the notes meld seamlessly into each other into a resinous salty/fresh tropical blur.With a polite sillage and excellent longevity this is a must try for incense lovers and those that enjoy fresh tropical salty scents.It's a new and daring take on incense.I truly enjoyed the journey.Bravo Bertrand Duchaufour and Aedes De Venustas!