Essenza di un'Isola : Altrove
Acqua dell'Elba (2016)

This house is a small, artisan perfumery and home scent-producing company from Elba Island in Tuscany. The brand says that its scents in the Essenza di un'Isola line represent specific Tuscan Mediterranean island themes and Altrove ("elsewhere" in Italian) is said to represent Montecristo. This is a location freighted with historical and literary significance, and many perfume houses have taken on the task of olfactory representation of its gravitas. But like poems about dalliances with eagles: I'm not even sure we ever needed more than one.

The brand is at least modest and implies Altrove has a quite material objective: perform the masculine, "unspoilt [sic] beauty" of the island through a resinous, leathery, flowery, berry-y and incense-inflected portrait not of a treasure hunting Bourbon Gatsby, not of stinking, cave-dwelling Benedictines, not of Napoleonic emissaries, but only of the redolent maquis itself. I can't say if it hits its target, as I've never been to the island in question.

What is does smell like is a slightly more ethereal, definitely less aggressive and strong version of L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme (2004), Nightscape by Ulrich Lang (2009), Diptyque's Tempo (2018), and/or Montale's Vetiver Patchouli (2019). These are all slightly divergent from one another, but they share citrus tops, slightly floral/jasmine hearts with most having vegetal iris or comparable materials (mate and violet leaf for Tempo, for instance), and very smooth and pleasant, slightly cocoa powdered patchouli bases. Altrove does all this, just a bit more breezily: it will give you good depth and dynamism that won't cling to you all day. The incense is slightly noticeable in a distinctive way, but not so much you can't slot it in as a less pushy version of any of the perfumes I've listed above.

For a perfume that doesn't even list patchouli as an input, this is one: smooth, almost mentholic earthiness that plays a bit vegetal, a bit berry-sweet, and just a bit incense-powdery. Where L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme is LIDGE without the "E," this is maybe LIDG without the "G." And yes, say it out loud and you end on a "duh"... I like what this evokes: Altrove is kind of just a cognitively and emotionally empty schwa hanging in the Mediterranean breeze. Sounds a bit empty-headed when we're caught like that, but we've all been there, waiting for the next vacuous vacation non-thought to ooze to the surface.

Not terrible if you don't want to pay for the better quality and staying power of the other perfumes in this class listed, but also entirely forgettable.

Just tested Essenza di Un'isola Acqua from this italian "house" and I have to say this ranks right up with the 2/3 best aquatics tested by me so far on skin. Perfect balance between "salty" and "creamy/soapy citric" with an amazing green balsamic vibe (and soft breezy floral nuances). Musky, softly musky and salty balmy musky. Really a dreamy and summery scent like a sort of aquatic Must the Cartier Pour Homme's little relative from the southern Mediterranean lands. This juice smells like a never ending bath up in a terrace's pool in front of the sea (the sea iodine under the nose). I smell "minty" myrtle and pine, perfectly complementing salt, citrus, seaweeds and floral/ozonic elements. The aroma of a "bright" june-sunset while waiting the upcoming summer there in the little island (the heart filled with joy and optimism). A juice which tenaciously I recommend to all the ozonics-freaks of this wonderful world.