Reviews of Armani Privé Ambre Soie (2004)
by Giorgio Armani

Herbal amber. Clove and cinnamon really comes out at first and gets to be ginger cedarwoods towards the end. The amber is just the stuff that binds all this together. Gourmandish and almost like a cinnamon and praline confectionery with cloves added.

I enjoy amber fragrances very much and to me, Ambre Soie is very different from any I've tried so far. On me, Ambre Soie starts off deliciously gourmand, with an almost boozy oatmeal cookie effect, complete with raisins, cinnamon and a hint of anise and clove. The spices in Ambre Soie are rendered so seemlessly, so dense and finely ground into a luxuriously silky "powder", that they create an indistinguishable mesh with the amber so as to make it impossible for me to discern one from the other. I received this during the whole discount store Armani Prive sale madness and for that reason, I occasionally overlook it, but it is really an incredibly gorgeous, luxuriously textured fragrance.

A rather sweet amber scent that strongly reminds me of Ambre Sultan but without the (sometimes annoying) herbal resinous undertones. It has pretty good longevity but fails to tackle the amber scent concept from a totally unique angle (which is, after all, what you’d expect for its hefty price tag).

There are currently many good amber scents on the market and I’m sure that one can be had for less than half the price of this.

[Original submission date: 10 April 2008]

Its a pretty nice sweet amber but there is a slight tart note maybe clove as another suggested that kinda kills it for me. I prefer SL Ambre Sultan though this isn't a bad amber.

Vegetal ambre, not sweet enough for my personal preference. (My favorite ambres are Ambre Extreme by L'Artisan and Ambre Precieux by Maitre Parfumeur Gantier.) This may be a better masculine ambre.

Armani Prive Ambre Soie

I have slowly but surely worked my way through all of the Armani Prive scents. I admire the intent to make high quality, read niche, scents under the Armani banner. On me for the most part they have been successful as I have enjoyed most of them. I have found all of them to be close wearing, long-lasting and well-constructed scents. Ambre Soie was the fourth of the Prives, created by Christine Nagel, in 2004. It definitely shares all of the genetics of its labelmates. At the top a stiff burst of ginger, clove and cinnamon start this with a spicy jolt. From there the amber begins to come in and of the three spices that start the scent only the cinnamon remains to combine really nicely with the amber. This is a sweet amber and in conjunction with the cinnamon it comes across as not too sweet and not as gourmand-like as some other ambers like Hermes Hermessence Ambre Narguile. As this moves into the base I get a nice bracing shot of cedar to add some clean lines to the amber and to finish things in a rousing style. Like all of the Prives there are better examples out there of the central note and style of these scents. Ambre Soie will not be my number one amber scent but it very likely will make my top 10.

This is my favorite of the Prive edp line. This is a unique take on amber and not at all overpowering or overly intense. It's creamy and warm and really addicting. Very nicely done on this one.

the first of the Armani Privés I tried and by a long way the best. It’s a simple-minded little stud-muffin, amber cloved up a bit with also some very dry patchouli in it that smells of dusted chocolate. It layers brilliantly with less sweet ambers like Artisan Parfumeur Ambre Extrême and this is how I wear it when I want to resemble a caramel in a tuxedo. The nose is Christine Nagel, by the way.

I'll put my cards on the table upfront. I really don't like amber! However, I will do my best to objectively report on this scent.
I find this to be very sweet, rather buttery syrup of a scent. It is amber-laden. I don't find anything remotely dry or resinous about it, it is certainly quite unlike the magnificent Bois D'Encens which is a great dry-resinous scent. The spices are just a spicy and rather vague melange rather than distinct elements. The patchouli tang is apparent. I can't see any connection to L'Eau Trois, other than that the two scents are powerful.
I can't even give this a neutral rating, but I have attempted to describe it carefully. Amber fans, give it a try.

A decent amber with a little bit of dry patchouli, but hardly the best. Too sweetened for my taste, and something about it is slightly nauseating.

I'm usually the first to foul Armani for most everything (ubiquitous AdG, overpriced, poor quality suits, etc etc etc), so wasn't I surprised to smell this one. Love him or hate him, he really did something right with this. If I could afford it, this would be my staple evening, amber-based scent. It's classy, luxurious, and (as the name suggests), very silky and smooth, and smells like a million bucks. When I first read the name, I wondered how much more could be done with Amber, given the hundreds of scents (designer and niche) that use it in abundance.

But, unlike most Armani, it holds its own and is quite unique (another that I'd put in the same universe, albeit less interesting, is Parfum d'empire Ambre Russe). Unfortunately, at twice the price of Lutens or other niche, the Prive is hard to justify except for use on special occasions, which is about the only time I pull out my small bottle. DEFINITELY worth a try; a decant if you're on a budget, a full bottle if you've got the cash to burn.

This is a positively luxurious scent. Sweet, but not overly so. Try this layered with the Bois de Encens' it will knock your socks off. P.S. I have also found that layering these two fragrance adds more silliage and lasting power.

Ambre Soie (French for "Amber Silk") is composed of amber, patchouli, cinnamon, clove and ginger. A simple scent, really, warm and spicey, with a sweet edge, Ambre Soie reminds me of Zuko Senko or Japanese Body Incense (click Zuko). The opening is rich and spicey - all of the notes announce their presence together - but there is little development from this point. This is a dry, resinous fragrance that stays close to the skin as would fit its name though the composition itself does nothing to conjure images of silk. Overall, I'm reminded of Guerlain's Heritage - if Guerlain created a Heritage light and charged 4 times the current price, this would be it. The scent does last well on my skin, still there like an echo after 6 hours and this is one of the first amber-based scents that I don't find overly-cloying or overpowering. The addition of the spices conjures images of a dry Saharan landscape, and Indian market or a Japanese temple depending on your mind's associations.

Now, I've read that price was no limit and that supposedly natural essences were blended with synthetic ones in an attempt to capture perfectly the smells of Northern Africa that so enchanted Armani. For fans of scents like Dyptique's L'Eau Trois or Comme des Garcons' Eau de Parfum, this scent will be warmly recieved. This is nothing like L'Artisan's Ambre Extreme or MPG's Ambre Precieux - both sweet, full-bodied, powdery ambers. For those who find these types of ambers too much, Armani Ambre Soie will also be a welcome surprise.