Vento nel Vento
Bois 1920 (2013)

Ah! This is divine. One of my favorite types of perfume. This is the fourth Bois 1920 I've tried. So far, this House never disappoints.

The only notes I don't detect are peony and sandalwood. Perhaps because they are so well blended. Slight powdery feel on top. Sharp, dry incense-y accord, in the middle. A smattering of skank. Slight candy-ish smell in the middle also. The base is delightfully resinous with an almost vanilla-like accord.

The first few times I wore this it reminded me a lot of Relativamente Rosso. The more I studied and lived in it, the more I discovered the differences. True love...

One of the most satisfying fragrances I've worn in a while. Like Dior's Mitzah, Tom Ford's Amber Absolute, the recent Contre Bombarde 32, and Bois 1920's own Real Patchouly, Vento nel Vento blurs the lines between amber, incense, spices, and woods, making it rather difficult to pin down. Which is exactly what I like about it.

Listen, this is not ground-breaking stuff. But it is a good kitchen-sink of a thing that's absolutely perfect for when you feel like wearing something oriental-ish without condemning yourself to a full day of enough straight-up amber to put you in a sugar coma or, worse, a monastic incense that feels like a hair shirt by dinnertime. This gives you everything rolled into one – amber, resin, smoke, spice, sugar, patchouli – boom! And you're done.

The opening is all about balmy, dark frankincense paired and smoky labdanum resin, lifted by a thyme or rosemary note that makes me want to bite my arm. The herb is phenolic, like smoke rising off a tar pit, making me think of the burning thyme note at the top of Interlude Man. I don't get any of the listed peony or pink pepper notes, thank God. I bat those things away like flies on my burger.

Although it is not sweet at this point, the smoke and herbs are balanced out by a smooth, round element that I can't define exactly but adds a toothsome, edible quality. Perhaps it is the lemony cream of the elemi resin. But it almost reads like soft black licorice vines, the mild ones perched precisely between sweet and salty and whose major selling point is their satisfying yield as you bite into them. Vento nel Vento gives good chew.

The slightly tarry, smoky labdanum stretches out into the heart, and as the thyme and frankincense taper off, it is joined by a smooth amber and patchouli. It's at this stage that I'm most reminded of Mitzah and Real Patchouly, because they share something of this honeyed, labdanum-driven amber accord, its golden clarity given depth by the bittersweet, earthy patchouli.

There is a small touch of oud in the heart, enough to give it an interesting sourness that smacks of wood chips and herbs soaked in water before distilling. The oud note is very subtle and natural-smelling here – no harsh, synthetic off notes at all. Indeed, one of the things I appreciate the most about Vento ne Vento is just how natural it smells to me.

Another thing I appreciate is its round, creamy feel. Often incensey ambers or ambery incenses ruin the effect by having one element stick out too much, such as a too-sharp herbal note or an overload of vanilla. In Vento nel Vento, the whole is perfectly round, smooth, and integrated. It is complex, but so perfectly blended that no one note catches at your skin like a forgotten clothes pin.

Vento nel Vento starts off with immense volume (sillage) but does a surprisingly gentle fade-out so that it becomes very quiet after 3-4 hours. In the base, a beautifully salty-sweet ambergris note starts to glow from underneath the pool of creamy sandalwood, contributing a musky, salted caramel glaze to the finish. It is subtle – not so much the smell of ambergris tincture itself with its usual marine and earthy funk, rather the effect of white ambergris, which has little scent of its own. White ambergris, the finest grade, acts instead as a magnifying glass held up to the other notes in the composition. Here, it adds a sensual, skin-like glow that animates the resins, amber, and sandalwood like blowing onto hot coals.

For what it's worth, every time I've worn my sample of Vento nel Vento, it has garnered the most compliments I have ever received outside of Bottega Veneta EDP. Not only from my family, but from complete strangers on the street, staff at my daughter's nursery, and even a policeman! Go buy it if you have the money – it's a limited edition of only 1,920 bottles, so when it's gone, it's gone.

Upfront you get a Real Patchouly Relativamente Rosso kind of a feel from what I think is cinnamon-the spices (Frankincense) and the Pink Pepper. The Real Patchouly/Relativamente Rosso vibe leaves and after some time the Patchouiy, Sandalwood, Oud, and Ambergris comes through quite vividly with great projection. As the fragrance dries down, you are presented with the additive of Benzoin and Labdanum which gives off this sweet smoky menthol vibe that's very nice.

Overall, a nice fragrance; if you combine 1920 Extreme with Real Patchouly and a dab of Vetiver Ambrato you will get this powdery sweet, smoky menthol, peppery spiced fragrance-Vento nel vento. Nothing to get extremely excited about, but a great fragrance nonetheless!!!!

Incense very similar to Armani's Bois d'Encens but less creamy/mouldy and more woody/peppery. Very little performance and next to no projection, 2 hours max before weak skin scent.