Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido, 1993

I am normally not a big amber fan - heavy amber fragrances tend to nauseate me and give me a migraine. Having said that, to this day I'm not sure why I like Ambre Sultan so much. It is a gorgeous amber/incense fragrance that would smell equally as good on a man or woman. The amber is sweet and smooth and I find myself really enjoying the wafts of it that hit my nose throughout the day. Rather than running and scrubbing the amber off my arm like I normally do with other fragrances, I find myself really attracted to the Ambre Sultan. It is a bit pricey but I think it is worth worth the cost. Sillage: 9/10 Longevity: 9/10 Price: 7/10

The opulent coppery gold of the liquid doesn't prepare you for the jagged herbs of the opening. This is like pushing through a thicket of sage and marjoram and thyme on a hot morning. Then the amber appears, huge and almost stark: not sweet or cuddly amber but a salty, unpolished gem washed up on a beach. A thread of incense eventually appears and adds an extra dimension. This is a truly amazing fragrance.

The top note is characterised by a beautiful amber impression, that is deep, rich, intense, and less sweet than many of it's counterparts; a truly wonderful note.  After about a hour, however, it collapses on my skin and says very close to it, a mere shadow of its glorious debut.  Overall longevity of about four hours, and the positive rating is based mainly on the top note. 

A very nice take on amber by Lutens here. Ambre Sultan opens with a ton of herbs and spice. At first I was afraid the spice might be a tad too much, but things soon get under control a few minutes into the scent's development. As the spices recede, the amber emerges to mingle with them in just the right proportions of spice to amber. The dry-down adds a bit of sandalwood to sweeten things a bit, but Amber Sultan never makes the mistake of a lot of other amber scents in being *too* sweet. Even in the dry-down remnants of the spice remains to keep things interesting. Projection is above average, as is longevity. Ambre Sultan is maybe not my absolute favorite amber scent, but it must be in the top three or four I have tried to date and is highly recommended and full bottle worthy, IMO. 4 stars out of 5.

Ambre Sultan starts off with a very weird smelling oregano note which is kind of off-pudding to say the least. Reminds me of Italian food and seems likes it's out of place especially with an amber fragrance. Dry herbs mixed with amber /vanilla/ bezoin usually don't mix. Do you sprinkle oregano and other dry herbs on vanilla ice cream? Don't think so. Anyway, after the stench of greeness finally dies down, a semisweet amber comes up through the ashes. The scent has a very pleasant and tolerable sweetness without becoming cloying or headache inducing. Downsides: very poor longevity, sillage, and projection. Lasts about 3 hours on my skin, with projection being a mere 30 minutes or less. Verdict:BUY/TRY/PASS . I say TRY.I think there are better smelling ambers on the market that smell better and last a lot longer. Not bad, but it's far from great.

Amazing. One of the first scents that I became obsessed with, even fantasized about. I remember smelling it when it first was released back in the early 90s. Couldn't afford it or get it (this was before it was available in the states). Mysterious, sensuous, just more of everything compared to so many fragrances on the market at that time - and really the beginning of the niche category in a true sense. Its a heady amber with spice, yes like an exotic bazaar but so much more. Yes some of the Lutens are unwearable but this is not one of them. I finally purchased it more than a decade later on a trip to NY. Worth the wait. It is not for the faint of heart or the shy, retiring type. It is a scent of style and confidence, and extreme sensuality.

Ambre Sultan has captured EXACTLY what it was going for - a bone-dry amber fragrance that brings to mind a middle-eastern bazaar. Resinous with loads of sandalwood and coriander, this really pushes the boundaries of what western perfumes do with amber accords. Surprisingly, this fragrance works extremely well in the heat (as it also does in cooler weather) and makes a nice change to the generic aquatics that are mostly used in stiflingly hot weather. To me this scent is just a little linear to make it a must-buy, but if you truly appreciate the amber accords that are so often ruined by fragrance houses, you'd do well to sniff this out.

This stuff is strong. At the beginning it smells like something strongly medicinal but about 3 hours later it transforms into a beautiful incense fragrance. But that's too much waiting for what I like.

Amazing, innovative and unique smell. Lots of dry spices in the opening, then dries down to a beautiful sweet amber. If you survive the first 30 minutes, you'll LOVE this fragrance.

Amber, dry, less incense than spice. Nice but not for me.