Comme des Garcons certainly know their incense and heady meditative woods. I was really looking forward to this having become a real fan of hinoki wood recently after familiarizing myself with the note. It's a soft woody/citrus type smell which is really gorgeous. Hinoki is what I expected in that it's a perfect note to build this kind of accord upon. Superbly woody, with the freshness of cedar, pine, cypress and my favourite... frankincense. Stunning, clean and hits the mark to me evoking the oriental vibes of a Buddhist temple crossed with and a Scandinavian forrest. Longevity (which is okay) and projection are not that great (in fact poor) but still Highly recommended.
CdG Monocle Hinoki is mildly terpenic, peppery cypress, stiff black waxy leather, and that creepy sterile electrical spark ozone-y aroma that you smell on the jet bridge gangway when you’re waiting in line to board an airplane. This is overall a deeply anxiety-inducing fragrance, conjuring imaginary but highly plausible scenarios wherein I have a connecting flight in Atlanta and that I have only 13 minutes to make it to the gate and the gate is all the way at the other end of the terminal. I don't need this stress in my life!