Ambre Canelle (1949)
by Creed

Youth Dew is what immediately comes to mind when smelling this. It's like Youth Dew for men. But it predates Youth Dew by four years! Cinnamon and amber for sure, and almost is completely Youth Dewish if not for something that skews it in the masculine or unisex direction.. can't put my finger on it. Less rose, less white flowers? More spices/herbs? Can't say.

I'm quite sure my grandmother wore Youth Dew, which may be why I like this fragrance as it does suggest Youth Dew for me, and I'm sure many people's mother and grandmothers also wore Youth Dew, hence I'm sure people might cringe at trying a cologne that smells like their grandmother, but for me I don't really care, it's spices and is rather different enough from it that it can be safely worn. Really, I think you just need the right skin for it, reading the reviews on here, I think different skin compositions certainly bring out different notes, and the notes I get are really nice.

Kind of like a cashmere sweater really.

29th December, 2010.

I was so looking forward to smelling Ambre Canelle. A stately amber with cinnamon, one of my favorite notes. But alas, it did not agree with me. Ambre Canelle doesn't strike as particularly ambery, and I don't notice much of a cinnamon note, either. Mostly, I get stale soap and ambergris.

Stuffman has described my experience with it perfectly, and I will quote him:
"At first whiff, it seemed to lie somewhere in the generic continuum between Youth Dew and Chanel No. 5, full of powder with no discernible masculinity whatsoever. As the scent dried down, the most prominent note to my nose was rose, overlayed on delicate powder with traces of cinnamon."

Very soapy, and the soap clashes with the heavier spice elements in a way that just bothers me. This isn't what I signed up for.

For a masculine Creed with comforting sillage and a very nice, toasty cinnamon note, look to Baie de Genievre, which beats this stuff in every way.

6th July, 2010.

Very perfumey fragrance, I could see a mature woman wearing this and smelling nice. I could not see myself wearing it, but it is well made.

22nd May, 2010.

I can see now where Creed Baie de Genièvre came from. It is a stripping down of this rather more forceful scent. This one is more floral, more herbal, and more spice-laden than the streamlined version of 1986. The cinnamon is very prominent from the outset, and the development of the other layers of the scent is rather accelerated. It doesn't take long to catch on to the base notes. This is probably because the cinnamon leaves in the top call up the deeper cinnamon right away, and the rose, with its low odor detection threshold, is right up in one's nose at once. Very nice for cool weather or evening wear. Decent longevity; the big initial sillage tempers within half an hour or so.

20th March, 2010.

It is interesting to compare how Creed presents Ambre Cannelle at its UK and US websites (note: websites accessed on 11 Feb 10). It is described at Creed’s UK boutique as an “intensely warm and spicy fragrance, with a blend of Ambergris and Cinnamon notes”. Its notes are given as:

Top notes: Cinnamon Leaves, Juniper Berry
Heart notes: Rose, Cinnamon, Bay Leaves, Coriander
Base notes: Ambergris, Tonkin Musk

A very different presentation is given at the Creed US website. It explains that Ambre Cannelle means Ambre Cinnamon and describes Amber as “a type of resin derived from the fir tree that grows in Patagonia in Argentina”. Its notes are listed as:

Top notes: Bergamot, Berries
Heart notes: Coriander, Rose
Base notes: Vanilla, Amber and Spices

Significantly different note pyramid here (note: they left out cinnamon!). So which is it? An amber scent or an ambergris scent? I tend to think amber. It is nothing like the ambergris drydown common to Creed Millesime fragrances. But amber doesn’t dominate Ambre Cannelle. The opening is very powdery, very soapy - also warm and spicy; I would even say stuffy. There is nothing modern here. Creed’s US website describes it as “classic and powdery in composition” and it certainly has a classic old-fashioned vibe to it. If someone is looking for an amber presentation akin to Ambre Sultan or Ambre Fetiche, it is nothing like that. Ambre Cannelle tends to the feminine. (As an aside Creed used to market Ambre Cannelle as a unisex fragrance. Now it is marketed as a feminine). While the opening is a bit strong to my liking the drydown become subtle and delicate and rather pleasant. It is just not something I am inclined to wait for. Of the late 40s Creeds, I prefer Cypres-Musc and Vetiver. Perhaps Ambre Cannelle would be nice on a lady.

12nd February, 2010.

Whoah! Quite the opening here: amber, very smooth, rounded cinnamon, and lots of soap. It's an entry that grabs me right away and then leaves me impatient to see where it will go next.

The soapy sensation might recall Cypres-Musc, but here the soap is balanced by a highly suggestive accord of indolic jasmine, rose, and amber. The whole thing smells like a self-contradiction, but in the most fascinating way. The constant tension between clean and "dirty," civilized and feral, builds tremendous suspense as to just which way the balance will eventually fall.

For a time the rose takes control and molds Ambre Canelle into a very bold, yet slightly austere floral scent. Yet the yeasty, "doughy" quality in some rose essences is brought forward by the amber, eventually erasing the last traces of soap. At this point, three or more hours into its development, Ambre Canelle falls onto a luxurious amber and indole soaked cushion, upon which it stretches languidly for the remainder of its stay.

A Creed that does not smell like any other, and which stands beside Angelique Encens, Royal English Leather, and Orange Spice as an exemplar in this old line.

11th December, 2009.