Amber Assoluta

Amber Absolute (2007) is one of those scents that just can’t be appreciated in warm weather. (How the Indians wear it in the extreme humidity, one can only guess.) Perfumer Christophe Laudemiel’s creation for Tom Ford Private Blend betrays more than a couple of backward glances at Youth Dew Amber Nude but comes out the better constructed of the two. Deep but not terribly dark or cloyingly sweet, and with a truly memorable incense drydown, I place it alongside Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan (1993) and Annick Goutal’s Ambre scented candle.

This is perfume as if it were created by a chef at Jean Georges. Just the right blend of spice and dried herbs and a cool, salty, metallic tang that strangely reminds me of the inside of a copper kettle. My nose doesn’t hone in on the vanilla, which, previous to testing it, I’d have imagined in the fore. Instead, the spice comes in waves, tickling my nose, as if someone wearing Egoïste kept entering the room and then, seconds later, departing.

All I can think is, this would be divine on a guy.