Comme des Garçons Zagorsk (Incense Series): fragrance review

Zagorsk by Comme des Garçons is among the less mentioned specimens in the Japanese-centrifuge brand's collection of fragrances inspired by various incenses used as burning materials around ther world. Comme des Garçons was among the first to explore the idea that people have cultural associations with burned materials. "Incense," after all, comes from the Latin verb meaning "to burn." They launched not one but five scents in their iconic Incense Series, each geographically codified to appeal to a specific sensibility and religious context. 

                               Gordana Ristic, pic borrowed from Pinterest

In the case of frankincense, which happens to be the main material of ecclesiastical incense -the kind that is burned in censers in Christian Orthodox and Catholic churches- the association with church is a given, even for the non-pious. The emanations from the church escape into the air, and the congregation has fumigated their clothes during service just enough, so that a subtle trail can be caught by a sensitive nose outside afterwards. 

 Zagorsk, composed by Evelyn Boulanger, is fittingly dedicated to the Eastern orthodox churches. I picture them on Eastern European soil as a solace from the cold, but also bearing the birch (leathery, tarry) and fir atmosphere of the outside, the coniferous tonalities that befit countries of vast forests. Plus I detect a clean clove note, embracing the cold, which is inextricably tied to my mind with Russia and Eastern Europe; those Soviet carnation scents must have been at the root of that. It's perfect for winter weather and it is alongside Vert d' Encens by Tom Ford, lamentably discontinued, a green incense that defies that cliche of heavy and cloying incenses that are so full of balsams that they cease to smell of frankincense and turn like orientalized soups of lead-ladden notes. Worth seeking out for a long-drawn sniff.