Full Incense (2010)
by Montale

This is very close to Avignon, and that's a GOOD thing. This is what one buys an incense fragrance for. Long lasting, moderate sillage plus a pleasing fragrance to the wearer and those around him.-

Full spectrum incense with plenty of terpenic lift evoking the great piny outdoors in the opening stages. Curiously this benefits from overdosing – wear a spray too many and you are immersed in its sacramental cloud, be stingy with it and it seems thin, whiny and synthetic. The balance of citrusy treble notes (the elemi) with powdery, dusty woody sonorities rounds out the resinous and lightly smoky incense at its centre. If its churchy appeal makes me feel like sashaying in brocaded robes and chanting for the first hour or two, I must admit it becomes much of a muchness beyond that and I’m inclined to cover it up with something a bit more varied.
Needless to say, only go there if a single-minded incense perfume is what you are after. All other expectations will be dashed.

Wonderful incense juice and my favourite Montale perfume. Natural, woody and resinous. I love how calming and beautiful this smells... crisp and really fresh. Frankincense and cedar, with some patchouli and elemi. There is a certain balmy/resinous dry sweetness to it, but it stays stone cold and refreshing at the same time. Very comforting! It is very well balanced, but kind of a quiet and gentle perfume (with good lasting power, and moderate to soft sillage on my skin- not a typical Montale).

I'd seen Montale Full Incense positively reviewed so I decided to give it a shot and was even more pleased than I expected to be. It's primarily a blast of smoky incense but is mixed with a heavy dose of amber/resins. The amber/resins are intensely part of the mix with the smoky incense from the start, as this balance really exists throughout the life of the fragrance without much evolution. But the balance is quite superb, the smokiness in harmony with the sweetness, satisfying the lover of incense that wants the fragrance to remain true to its name but also satisfying someone who might be overwhelmed by a true fully incense fragrance.

I've not smelled Comme des Garcons Avignon but they're allegedly similar, as I've pretty much seen in every review. Full Incense reminds me of a couple of other different fragrances due to the sweetness and amber, and admittedly these might come off as odd comparisons on the basis of total note breakdown, but I get some of the deep sweetness of By Kilian Single Malt and the resinous sweetness of By Kilian Amber Oud. I already own Single Malt but luckily, Montale Full Incense is much more affordable at $108 for 100ml (on Beautspin) than Amber Oud, which retails for $395 for 50ml.

Performance is quite strong, as expected for a Montale fragrance, so in that respect it's consistent with much of the "aoud" line and other heavy entries (i.e. Intense Cafe).

Full Incense is another entry from Montale I'll be adding to the "buy" list.

8 out of 10

Like it says on the bottle, this is full-on incense. Dry, austere and smoky - the church that every Protestant never knew. Owes quite a bit to CDG’s Avignon but I find Full Incense more linear in a good way. Hard to pick apart notes as the cedar, elemi, patchouli and other incense notes combine into one wondrous accord. However, I would note that the elemi stands out at times. Also, there’s not an Aoud note in sight which is odd for Montale but the Aoud really wasn’t needed in this juice.

The big question is – should I get this instead of Avignon? I would say yes as a 100ml “can” can usually be found for under $100 and the accompanying pouch really lends to the Mideast mystique.

7.5/10