Amber Absolute (2007)
by Tom Ford

Tom Ford Amber Absolute

Notes: Frankincense, Amber, Woody Notes, Vanilla, Labdanum (from osmoz.com)

I love amber. I love amber. Did I mention I love amber? Amber Absolute is an amber lover's amber. Its primary ingredient is the woody, smoky, peppery, leathery, balsamic note labdanum. It is sweetened by vanilla which also lends its wood, hay and tobacco nature to the composition. It is made resinous with frankincense and benzoin, the frankincense adding a gorgeous smoky incense note that never smells metallic or funky. Amber Absolute is not overly complicated, but it is extremely rich, with a good balance of dry, tannic and sweet. It is amber in its most classic form. The quality of ingredients here is excellent, along the lines of Profumum Ambra Aurea, and equally satisfying. I love amber.

A direct, to-the-point amber powerhouse. The top notes come on quite strong, lightly spicy, but not herbal to my nose, lending a gourmand quality to an amber already with a distinct caramel edge.

Despite being almost entirely focused on amber through its development, it isn't a one-note fragrance, and has a slow but recognizable development as it loses its edge and becomes gentle and vanillic.

Your feelings on this will depend almost entirely on how you feel about the amber genre. It's not complex, but it's high quality.

Amber Absolute: well, for those who say Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan doesnt have amber..should smell this one for reference. It's opening accords reminds one of mid-base notes of Ambre sultan minus the extreme spicy notes of AS. within 10 minutes it morphs into another scent we adore so much, which is Parfums d'Empire's Ambre Russe; ofcourse minus the leather and herbal accords....so, what that leaves us with is a smoldering accord of glowing amber so powerful, it has the capacity to create an aura and sense of warmth by merely smelling it. no wonder it's called amber "absolute". this is a straight ahead, no-nonsense, smoldering amber based scent. a definite must have for someone who admires Ambre Sultan and Ambre Russe. is it worth ahaving all these three scents in one wardrobe...? depends. i do have amber sultan..so, i dont need this one. but, for thsoe who have Ambre Russe, this one is different enough to be in the same WD. just for our info, this has more in common with Ambre Sultan than with Ambre Russe.

Maple syrup? No, wait. That's Miracle Homme. What we have here is an odd duck of an amber with a funky herbal/wood harsh note that makes one wonder if it was intended to make it 'dirty' in the sense that MKK is a'dirty' musk. Or perhaps it's just meant to erase any accusations of being cloying? I don't know but this is sugar sweet and --Naw, not dark. Not amber noire, just amber . . . funky. On the brighter side, no one can accuse this one of having low sillage or poor longevity.
I'll pass.

I was in Las Vegas and sampled this fragrance on a spray card at Neiman-M. At first I didn't find it that exciting but when I got back to my hotel I kept getting the card out and smelling it again. Later, I went back to N-M and sprayed some on my arm for a test-drive while I browsed around the Fashion Show Mall. The longer I had it on, the more I liked itand I eventually bought a bottle before I left town. I always wear a sample/test spray of a cologne for a whole day before I decide to buy it - some of them start out OK and then take an ugly turn a few hours later. Plus, things that smell good on other people can absolutely reek on me.

To me, Amber Absolute is the perfect blend of vanilla and incense - and by incense I mean proper Japanese insence, not that cheap hippie-crap with a bamboo stick in it that you get at the truck stop or the swap meet. The incense components aren't too strong and the vanilla components aren't overpowering - they balance each other and blend together so well that you have to really breath deep and focus to be able to pick each one out.

So far everyone I've asked has said they really like it on me - the most common response when I ask them to have a sniff of my forearm is 'OMG what is that!? I love it!' You know when they actually grab your arm and keep it under their nose that they aren't just being polite. The scent doesn't change much after you put it on and it lasts for several hours before gradually fading away to just a hint of vanilla. Although the Private Blends are ridculously overpriced, the lady at N-M did give me 4 samples of other Private Blend scents when I bought this one. They were generous 1/4-ounce samples in little glass bottles with lids - not those stingy plastic vials with two drops of cologne in them that you usually get.

Extremely thick, syrupy, powerful, and rich. Herbal like Ambre Sultan, but much sweeter with a hint of smokiness from the incense.

What's special about this one is the sillage. It's a sillage monster alright. The good thing is that the sillage is indeed pleasant: resinous and sweet and to my surprise, without being too cloying.