I guess I'm confused when people describe ambergris as "sweet." It's many things to me, but one it isn't is sweet. I now have 3 "absolutes" (tinctures I reduced down and which then turned to solid waxy plugs in the test tubes) and one bottle of a strong tincture in alcohol. I also infused a little in fractionated coconut oil. Each of these has a different aroma. The palest of the absolutes, which is white, started out with a smell that only reminded me of isopropyl alcohol (not the ethanol in the perfumers' alcohol), but as it has aged, it has acquired an aroma that I can only equate with radiance--as though it captured the light. A medium brown absolute has a gentle smell of castoreum, but more gentle and complex. The third one is a little bit a combination of the two, but is starting to develop an amber note. The tincture, which is only a month old, still smells only of isopropanol but it has turned yellow from amber after sitting in the light. I'm hoping the tincture develops a radiance like the white ambergris. I want to age each for 2 years to see if I can come up with more amber aromas.
