L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense

L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense, Issey Miyake's 2007 flanker composed by Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, keeps the citrus opening of the original but trades the fresh drydown for spice and amber. Wearers describe it as spicy and citrus in equal measure, most add amber, and a quarter mention woody, floral or resinous sides.

It opens with sweet orange, mandarin, bergamot and yuzu, a rounder, sweeter citrus than the sharp original. The heart turns quickly to warm spice: cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom give a baked, aromatic heat, saffron a slightly leathery, metallic warmth, and lotus a cool, watery floral touch that nods to the first version. The base is resinous and dry, with benzoin and amber giving a balsamic sweetness, incense a faint smoke, papyrus a dry, papery woodiness and ambergris a salty, skin-like glow.

Half of wearers find the longevity moderate, with a good share calling it long lasting, and sillage is moderate for most. It is voted equally for autumn and spring and evenly between day and night, suggesting a versatile, warm scent for the shoulder seasons.

L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense — for men fragrance by Issey Miyake (released 2007). Top notes: Yuzu, Bergamot, Sweet Orange, Mandarin Orange. Heart notes: Nutmeg, Lotus, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Saffron. Base notes: Incense, Papyrus, Ambergris, Benzoin, Amber. — Parfica open fragrance database