Cathedral
by Neil Morris Fragrances

“You are walking alone through a grand cathedral. It is dark and intimate with the residue of a thousand incense burnings. A single shaft of light penetrates the darkness.” So NM.

Well, I think a better description would be, “You settle into your richly-oiled leather chair at the gentleman’s club. You catch the sweet and strong scent of women’s powder make-up. Must speak to Jeeves; deuced laxity in allowing women into the club…”

Two questions: where is the incense? Where is the smoke?
On me, this is a very sweet leather-oriented scent. I’d call it a floral leather. What this has to do with a cathedral I can’t imagine. At times, the flowers and leather give a honeyed note or something like clover. People who like sweet scents might appreciate this one. I found the sweetness became so irritating that I had to wash it off.

This fragrance is less like a Cathedral incense fragrance and more like the actual interior of a cathedral. It smells warmly of oak, cedar, smoke, leather, and labdanum. I like the fragrance quite a bit but more for its nicely polished wood and leather feel. But, it pales in comparison to Avignon, or Black Tourmaline for a smoke incense mood incense. I am conflicted on this fragrance. I like how it smells, but it doesn't go with the name.

Not my cup of tea -- not at all.

I had been expecting a dark and mysterious incense fragrance in the vein of Black Cashmere, or perhaps a bright and cheery incense along the lines of Villoresi's Incensi.

What I got instead here was a real clunker -- a very heavy and (IMHO) poorly constructed beast made mostly of labdanum and smoke. I could occasionally smell the ylang ylang, yes, but it came through smelling very like the charred remnants of a florist's shop after a blazing fire had whipped through.

This, I reckon, is what's left in the bottom of the censer after Mass is over. Thumbs down, indeed.