The Shrine Where Sin Is a Prayer

[Lycanthrope]

THE SHRINE WHERE SIN IS A PRAYER
I have passed from the outermost portal
To the shrine where a sin is a prayer;
What care though the service be mortal?
O our Lady of Torture, what care?
All thine the last wine that I pour is,
The last in the chalice we drain,
O fierce and luxurious Dolores,
Our Lady of Pain.

Deep purple Syrah, calamus, myrrh smoke, hyssop, opoponax, bitter clove, burgundy pitch, opium poppy, and violet leaf.

Yikes, this is an evil, rich deep wine scent, with lots of smoky evil.

It starts off quite sharp, with the tang of bitter grapes, and then the clove and opoponax run away to make everything crackle with a deep blackness. There is a touch of dried, dead flowers and sleepy opium.

My house is a tomb! Yikes!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Syrah is a kind of grape and calmus is sweet flag. I’m not that familiar with either so this review is a touch tentative. The strongest notes appear to be syrah and pitch. The calamus, opoponax, opium, and violet leaf are strong seconds. The myrrh smoke is soft and clever. The clove is sharp and plays in fascinating ways with the violet leaf, syrah, and hyssop. The hyssop is understated, more an accent than a scent on it’s own. The scent is fundamentally grape dominant with incense as a scent impression.

[strahlend]

Starts out a bit too grape-y for my taste and reminds me that I overlooked Syrah in the notes (how?)

 

However, this scent quickly morphs into a very sensuous, spiced, musky, softly clove and wine kind of scent.

 

It clearly reminds me of my earlier days going dancing, drinking wine and smoking cloves in incensy rooms. After a while it mellows out to a sweet round resin. It is distinct. This particular combination of notes functions like a time machine for me, so it's harder than usual to be objective. I'll just say that it is absolutely fantastic and if any of this rings a bell for you, take the leap and try it. Incredible!

[Caper]

This definitely starts off with wine, but it settles nicely into a rich and decadent incensey scent. I love the lab's wine note (Moon of Horses and Haloa are two notable favorites) and this is a nice way to have the scent without everyone at work thinking I'm drinking. I keep the wine scents for home, but having my bedroom smell like this is wonderful.

[Poenari]

I love the wine notes that Beth uses. This one is not as grapey as some, it's a dry red, with strong incense on the drydown. It's also not boozy- I could spray this in my car and not worry about being arrested for drinking if I was pulled over. This is a beautiful scent, and like each of the other OLOP Atmo sprays this year, I would love to wear this one as a perfume, so I spray it on my clothes and scarves to have it waft around me!

[zankoku_zen]

Dry red wine, clove, and myrrh smoke. There is something almost sour to this blend on the drydown. Not boozey at all. Very complex and mature.