Encore du Temps
Meo Fusciuni (2022)

I find it hard to get past my belief that the owner and perfumer of this house has some megalomaniacal Jesus complex (see also Filippo Sorcinelli, another one that gives me the heebie-jeebies), so one again, I will test myself to separate the art from the artist.

Encore du Temps obviously uses a lot of osmanthus absolute. I mean, a lot, or as much as Imprezzabile could get away with. I love the material so much, but it is so distinct as to be a perfume unto itself: apricot-fruity, sour-floral, tea-like, with a leathery backbone. I mostly smell it in the first stage, some citrus and what I perceive as Magnolan to give it some body. Magnolan, produced by Symrise, is magnolia-like as one would expect, but is also somewhat geranium-like and is used to flesh out citrus and florals. It does make the osmanthus absolute feel more sheer, as it does tend to feel rather dense (which is deliciously showcased in Diptyque Kimonanthe). Here, it seems to be suspended as to seem on tenterhooks, nervously clinging on to some surface, but it's a surface with no real shape or purpose. It's a bit perplexing.

I wait for it to go somewhere, to advance to a new movement, but it just ends up feeling like some incomplete study on osmanthus absolute. This is quite the contrast to the lofty, almost belaboring narrative as provided by Meo Fusciuni, expounding upon desire, urgency, journeys, the claim that Encore du Temps "celebrates the absence of time as a subtraction of obscurity, as an amazing beauty linked to the present, a suspension of the soul that allows to be happy." With all due respect, please spare me. I am trying to understand this wayward osmanthus absolute floating spiritlessly in Magnolan. I don't "get it." Please help me.

Hours later, it's mostly sandalwood vagueness, and I am left feeling like the osmanthus absolute (and what I believe could be some champaca absolute as well) could've been put to much better use. That this was nominated for an Art and Olfaction award leaves me incredulous.

Joyous tropical floral suffused with light, the natural fruitiness of champaca and lemon-tinged magnolia playing against a lively fresh jasmine impression. I’m reminded of the passing whiff of a string of jasmine worn in someone’s hair that encourages one to take a deeper breath so as to capture as much of it as possible before the moment is gone. Encore du Temps doesn’t go down the heady route of such florals, offering instead a fleet-footed, dancing impression that lingers about the wearer’s person. Subtle hints of green tea and mate ground it ever so gently, without hindering the flittering, flying impression.
Of course, at this price point, one wonders if cheaper variants on this theme – aerial white floral – may not serve just as well. Nonetheless, for fans this one is worth checking out – it may just have the edge.