Lutens Ambre Sultan and Tom Ford Amber for Men: anyone know both?

highdudgeon, don't waste your money on Tom Ford's overhyped shite. If you're looking for another great amber scent, investigate the ones by Montale and MPG.

If you want something voluptuous, resinous and smoky, look no further. Buy Ambre Sultan.

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I have smelled both.

Amber Absolute by Tom Ford shares many similarities to Ambre Sultan, but actually comes off more (due to the incense note) as one of the CdG Incense Series hybrid with amber. It has that musty, churchy (dried wax and dust) vibe that I experience in Messe de Minuit by Etro also. AA is a little more linear than I would like also. I remember commenting when I sampled it that owning Ambre Sultan made owning AA obsolete. I still feel this way.

I have a sample of Amber Absolute and just received a sample of Ambre Sultan. I actually wrote to the Perfumed Court to make sure there wasn't a mistake because on first inhale of Ambre Sultan, I thought it was Amber Absolute, and not as complex as I'd recalled it being when I tried it in Barney's. Now I've had the chance to wear them side by side a number of times, and I still like Amber Absolute by a small but signficant margin more. Amber Absolute is much richer, thicker in "texture" countered by a very pointed incense and wood combo that I love, whereas, to me, Ambre Sultan is very literally amber, it has a beautiful opening, and it dries down a bit dusty and powdery and a TINY TINY bit salty... Amber absolute retains this very dense syrup quality that sticks to you like glue in the best way because the wood and incense keeps it from becoming a sticky mess... I'll share again my favorite blog review of Amber Absolute (in my opinion it is LIGHT YEARS from "shite" , with all due respect)...

http://boisdejasmin.typepad.com/_/20...rd_amber_.html

Whether you agree or not, it's a great review. I happen to agree And she mentions Ambre Sultan, too. Since you wanted to hear from those who've smelled both, this might help! I think you should try both. THEY ARE BOTH STUNNING!

EDIT: I have been giving this very question so much thought lately so forgive the enthusiasm, but there is a big difference here, though many similarities as well. There's something about the WEARING that's hard to put my finger on. But Amber Absolute makes me feel a strange dark gloomy sensation, even a little darker than melancholic, perhaps leaning toward darkness that makes you do bad things (yeah yeah, it's weird but I'm just saying) whereas Ambre Sultan seems more like an amber fragrance that is about its ingredients, it's poised and perfectly balanced. Amber Absolute is afraid you'll open the door to the basement and find "things" whereas to me, Ambre Sultan, though in no way a cheerful perfume, lets you in and says, "make yourself at home, mi casa es su casa" hahaha... Don't make fun, that's just the way I see itttt!!!

I've got both and have been using them alot end of last year in the cold winter in shanghai... After the initial blast of simillarity which stayed with me the first month of use I have to say that :
Firstly, I love both and they are really QUITE different animals (more for the person wearing than the person occasionally smelling them)
Tom Ford's Amber Absolute is built up of some of the most TENACIOUS ingredients I've yet to encounter... the heavy, resinous amber is laced with smoke, wood and incense and i suspect a heavy base of castoreum... it's an impressive and tough aura to live up to... because it's so so thick...!
IF you as wearer can take the insistent Wagnerian beauty then its for you!
Serge Lutens Amber Sultan is altogether a more poetic adventure... It's aura doesn't force one definite impression on you and it changes over time as you continue using it over a few weeks.... There is also a sense that you don't ALWAYS have to be dressed up in mink to wear the SL... (whereas with the TF the scent spells LUXURY, RICHESSE and more...)
It took me a whole 2 months to realise and enjoy the fact that these two accurate renditions of AMBER encase you in such different capsules of enjoyment....

Zenman, I have to say, I couldn't have said that better myself. Fantastic comparison.

Perfect nthny and zenman, couldn't have put it better myself. Both are on my 'To Buy' list, with Amber Absolute being higher.

Have you tried Tuscan Leather or Moss Breches, maybe even Tobacco Vanille (I didn't care for it, but lots like it). I think they're some of the best scents created recently, unlike Amber Absolute which I thought was the worst scent in the Private Blend line.

It's a linear Amber scent molded equally with the african incense. It's a very dominating note which makes the scent come off very stuffy to the nose, old and attic smelling. The overall vibe I get is, and I'm sorry to say, old ladies perfume. I'm thinking mid 50's Parisian women who likes wearing head to toe vintage attire, and thrift shopping.

The SL is better and sweet, but I don't remember how it smells. It's been some time, but I don't think I found it bottle worthy and generally don't care for most SL scents.

I never tried Tom Ford's amber and perhaps I should along with SMN Amber. I like SL Ambre Sultan but it seems to swell up in the heat and gets cloying. The cloying effect causes a headache. Anyone else have this issue?

I've tried them all and found them to be lacking. I have yet to come across a Tom Ford creation that inspires me. If it wasn't for all the marketing spiel and the EDT/EDP 'cock-up' with Tom Ford Extreme, my words would have been a lot more 'diplomatic'. Like Bond No. 9, this house is full of s**t.

I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me here, just expressing my opinions. I may love perfumes but no perfume house is going to take me for a mug...

Just asking because I didn't know if you tried them all or not. I didn't find AA all that great either. I tried the entire line myself, minus 4 of them, and found only Tuscan Leather & Moss Breches exciting.