Terre Inca by ID Parfums

I’d never heard of LA ROUTE DES EPICES before, yet the name immediately conjured Rajasthani palaces and caravans under the sun. I stumbled upon this TERRE INCA, a hidden gem in our perfumeries, thanks to globalisation. Although the description calls it a spiced woody scent, I perceive it more as an aromatic oriental where the two blend without boundaries. The fragrance is enchanting, neither annoying nor confusing. It frustrates me when perfumes list notes that don’t smell that way; the declared citrus notes (lemon, bergamot) feel to me like a contained red pepper, as both are bright and sometimes the brain confuses them. In the heart, the cocoa and coffee are so veiled they smell like that generic ‘chococino’ which tastes of neither, just as mayonnaise tastes of neither egg nor oil. In the base, I only detect patchouli, not cedar or vetiver. Forget the top, heart and base stages; most perfumes are a straight line. This smells of omnipresent pipe tobacco, undeclared, with a delicate red pepper that others might perceive as a spicy citrus. That hint of cocoa and coffee leaves a taste of freshly made Belgian waffles, yet it is neither gourmand nor fruity. It is Ottoman sweetness and palace intoxication. I do detect the earthy patchouli, and above all pipe tobacco blended with ambroxan (or amber), which smells of old books and pipe smoke in an ancient library. Add a honeyed sweetness and a soft, maternal, ritualistic benzene evaporation, like my distant Córdoba. Above all, it is tobacco and ambroxan, with flashes of rose, sandalwood and vanilla that accentuate the spiciness without excess. The more I learn about perfumes, the more I doubt my own judgments; just as citrus can be red pepper, the declared coffee and cocoa can be tobacco and ambroxan. For me, pipe tobacco always smells of coffee, cocoa, rum and wood. That is why I explain my sensations, however wordy. It is unisex, with little sillage but lasts hours on the skin without overwhelming anyone. It suits any season, though it prefers the fresh. Any human can wear it if they like. It does not smell of ‘Tierras Incas’; that is just my head. Enough about pepper, citrus, ambroxan, cocoa, coffee and tobacco to avoid further dizziness from my ramblings on Incan lands or Ceylonese delights.