The first time I sampled Avignon, it was sweltering high summer and I was not prepared to appreciate it. I found it too clean and thin—it initially made me think less of the wooden pews, stone walls, and soaring vault of a cathedral and more of a spotless church bathroom. Being accustomed to the woodier notes of the other fragrances in CDG’s Incense series, I was a little confused by its airy, fizzy, vanilla-cola sweetness. (Having attended catholic mass exactly once in my life, I also had next to no familiarity with church incense itself). I rated Avignon as my least favourite of the series, with the caveat that I still haven’t sampled Jaisalmer. How things have changed! Now that the chill of autumn has set in, I’ve been craving warmer, sweeter, resinous aromas and seeking out more amber and incense perfumes. I’ve grown very fond of the incense bases in CDG 2 Man and Eris’ Scorpio Rising, in which incense is blended with leathery notes—also the case in Trudon’s Revolution and CDG Zagorsk, both of which I enjoy. Trudon Mortel is a dark, spicy (but still woody) take on church incense that led me down the path of appreciating ecclesiastical frankincense and myrrh as the focus of a fragrance, and Jovoy’s Liturgie des Heures is an even purer church incense with a rich, musky, slightly boozy amber sweetness. But coming back to Avignon in this frame of mind revealed a completely new experience. In cold weather, its chilly austerity unfolds its celestial wings, clean and pure. It’s relaxing and meditative, with a fine, rarefied sweetness that develops from the sparkling elemi/aldehyde c-12 opening into a subtle, resinous vanilla. The blending of the various notes (chamomile, labdanum, ambrette, cedar, patchouli, rosewood, oakmoss) is superbly smooth and unified, like the harmony of voices in a Gregorian chant—I salute Bertrand Duchaufour’s mastery! I’ve gone from being intrigued to borderline obsessed, craving a sniff of aldehydic olibanum even on days when I feel like wearing a different fragrance. I still have a list of other church-incense frags to try (with Filippo Sorcinelli at the top), but now I get why Avignon is such a revered reference. I’m a convert. 🙏

Comme des Garcons Incense Series Avignon is a dusty antique rosewood chest locked against prying eyes until the moment it wants to be open, full of bitter frankincense saturated veils and coniferous cedar shavings and brittle scrolls scrawled with secrets unspeakable and sublime. This is an ultimate comfort scent in any season and the fragrance I reach for whenever I need inspiration of an ineffable nature