Sables (1985)
by Annick Goutal

Essentially a maple syrup and immortelle combo, Sables is a unique creation from the '80s that was way ahead of its time. I don't find sables as sweet as others have mentioned but, overlooking the degree of sweetness, the immortelle is the key ingredient here – it tones down the sweetness, provides Sables with its unique identity and enables the scent to last on the skin for a ridiculous number of hours.

Its longevity is amazing, period. However, its weak spot lies in the lack of projection as it stays very close to the skin. Maybe this was originally how Sables was intended to be worn. Comparisons have been made to Chergui and Eau Noire, to which I can see certain parallels (more so with Eau Noire’s use of immortelle, spices and vanilla) especially with regards to their exotic origins. However, out of the three, I much prefer Chergui.

[Original submission date: 13 April 2008]

Annick Goutal Sables

In 1985 Annick Goutal wanted to design a masculine scent for her husband cellist Alain Meunier, from that inspiration arose Sables. Perfumery is rife with scents inspired by loved ones and I always find it interesting what a perfumer will choose to pay homage to that loved one. Mme. Goutal made a very interesting choice to center Sables around immortelle, also known as the everlasting flower. Immortelle is one of the most distinctive notes in perfumery as with its distinctive maple syrup and herbal smell it is rarely confused with anything else. Immortelle is also a difficult note to work with because of its strength, a perfumer can't add too much delicacy because it will get overwhelmed and so the choices of other notes have to be bold, as well. Mme Goutal chose three notes to stand up to the immortelle and they are sandalwood, vanilla, and pepper. At the top this is all immortelle as the herbal maple syrupy smell is all-enveloping and very strong. Sables is a scent one has to be very careful about overspraying because I imagine too much of this, particularly at the beginning, would put anyone off of this one. For the first 15 minutes or so immortelle is all you get but slowly but surely the sweet sandalwood starts to moderate the immortelle and in this first phase it realy does help turn down the volume from the beginning. It is when the vanilla starts to interact with the immortelle that Sables becomes special for me as the sweet and dry vanilla takes away the sweeter character of the maple syrup and accentuates the herbal nature. This gets reversed in the base as pepper has the opposite effect and accentuates the sweet while tamping down the herbaceous character. I think Sables is not a safely recommended scent for everyone as the intensity of the immortelle could be a drawback to some. If you are a perfumista who likes intense notes and scents then this is well worth a try.

Smells like breakfast gone bad. I hate to give bad reviews which aren't intelligent, but I don't feel this deserves any better.

Soo strong! You have the vivid feel of being inside a bacon smoker where someone spilled sugar. Intriguing scent. You could wear that at a book reading or a cigar club, but wait till the first wave calms down.

Whether you enjoy Sables will depend entirely upon how much you like immortelle. This is because 1) immortelle is a Godzilla note that tends to trample any accord it’s used with, and 2) Sables screams like Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. (In case you haven’t experienced it, immortelle smells like gallons of maple syrup and a side of bacon.)

Try before you buy.

Sables is unlike anything else I’ve tried and I give it credit for that. It starts out with a note suggestive of quality brandy and then on to the main feature: maple syrup over sand! It smells better than it sounds and unless you hate sweet scents, it is worth a try. Immortelle is a key note here and since trying Sables it is one I have looked for in other fragrances as well. Great longevity. I can’t see myself buying a bottle, but I could go for this perhaps 3 or 4 times a year.