Ambre Précieux (1988)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

This review is under revision.

Elegant, golden, creamy. This is how I can best describe this precious elixir from MPG! One of my favorite offerings by this fragrance house. With my chemistry, it is what I always hoped Guerlain's Shalimar could be! Lovely.

A strikingly unusual fragrance. The opening features lavender — not the creamy floral lavender of so many fragrances, but the herbal aromatic lavender of so few fragrances — the lavender I love. This great lavender is combined with a floral for body, amber and vanilla for sweet, wood for a base, and spice for...spice. These create such an excellent accord that is very difficult to categorize or describe. I think what I like about it is that it is aromatic but not green, full but not rich, sweet but not sweet, and sophisticated but not in the least stuffy. In the middle notes, the fragrance loses most of its aromatics and takes on some spices — particularly nutmeg, to my nose. The amber and the vanilla stay prominent, but they never seem to make the scent too sweet. The drydown retains the amber to a lesser potency and provides a satisfying and sensibly sweet close-to-the-skin experience. As Marlen says, the amber in Amber Précieux is excellent for those who often find amber cloying or too sweet. I now have a new favorite amber fragrance — Ambre Précieux has replaced Ambre Sultan for top honors in the amber category. Ambre Précieux offers compelling and original olfactory wonders, but it also is so wonderfully wearable.

Ambre Précieux is probably the most balanced amber scent I know. Sweet spices, soft woods, and a judicious touch of vanilla make a scent that’s sweet and sensuous, but not syrupy. This is richer, deeper, and sexier than Ambre Extreme or Montale’s Blue Amber, but less sharp and aggressive than Ambre Sultan. It also lacks the latter scent’s peculiar, jarring top notes. Ambre Précieux is warm, luxurious and satisfying, at once individual but inoffensive, and it’s easy to see why it’s so many reviewers’ favorite amber fragrance.

This is a beautifully constructed fragrance and this is coming from someone who isn't the biggest fan of "soli-amber" (is that pun on soliflore legal to say?) scents. It's very complex but not "busy"; the vanilla and woods work so well with the amber accord. It is neither too bland (L'Artisan's Ambre and Ambre Extreme) nor is it stifling/cloying (which is the effect the crowded herbal pyramid of SL Ambre Sultan gives me)

I tested Ambre Sultan (Serge Lutens), Ambre Extreme (L'Artisan), and Ambre Precieux together. Ambre Sultan is abominable, but Ambre Extreme and Ambre Precieux are both very fine, and very similar. They have comparable longevity (very good). Precieux is a little sweeter, but not as nuanced.