Vetyver Incenso was launched in 2012 by Italian niche line Farmacia SS Annunziata dal 1561, in Florence, Italy.

Farmacia SS Annunziata dal 1561 is an apothecary that dates back to the 15th century when it was housed in the Benedictine monastery of St. Nicholas. Today the Azzerlini family owns and manages the pharmacy, making cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances. Vetiver Incenso was launched in 2012 in two concentrations, EDP and parfum.  I prefer the parfum concentratrion.

It opens fresh and effervescent from lemon, grapefruit and bergamot, warmed with a note of spicy, juicy ginger. It’s an enticing combination that leads to a heart of pink pepper, juniper, vetiver and frankincense. Pink pepper isn’t spicy; it’s rosy and adds a floral dimension to the juice. Aromatic juniper gives it a heady whiff of gin, along with a woodiness that is amplified by vetiver before a note of aromatic incense weaves through it all. It all sits on a base of cedar, patchouli, ambergris and oak moss - it smells balsmy, woody, sweet and foresty.

The drydown is soft, resinous and woody.  It’s complex, smooth and refined – not rooty or dirty and has an elegant virility that sends sparks of joy to all the important parts of my brain.

Notes: lemon, grapefruit, bergamot, ginger, pink pepper, juniper, vetiver, frankincense, cedar, patchouli, ambergris and oak moss.