Know that amber is a fantasy note in perfumery, and is in fact a glorious accord that generally consists of benzoin, vanilla, and labdanum. It’s what is added to this fundamental accord that defines the character of amber fragrances. Moreover, ambergris (grey amber) adds a warm and salty ambery spine to many compositions, so popular and effective that it spawned many powerful amber molecules used in perfumery today. In Histoires de Parfums’ Ambre 114, perfumer Gerald Ghislain acknowledges this fact and builds a complex amber accord with 114 ingredients – it is undoubtedly a complex simplicity, an image of parts fulfilling a sumptuous whole, until it starts to overflow, true to the indulgent fantasy of amber. Ghislain is never profligate, as this composition is a melting meld of thyme, nutmeg, sandalwood, rose, patchouli, tonka bean, and so much more. Ambre 114 demonstrates that precious amber needn’t be dissected, but felt as it works along warm sensual skin.
Camel by Zoologist invites us to gaze deep into the absolute core of its glowing resins and gums. It works the fantasy of amber once more, contextualising it as it sits underneath a desert sun. It is a story of sunburnt sand and the heat absorbed by the land and concentrated in sweet fruits, humid florals, and the driest woods possible. It is the opulence of a dream, tales told in the night, it is an amber in its right place. The desert theme is repeated once more in Au Coeur du Desert (Tauer), which relies on an amber-wood composition dominated by rich and velvety aged patchouli. It is the dark and leathery heart of the Maghreb. This is Tauer’s famous olfactory artwork – a landscape oil painting perfectly rendered in scent – zoomed-in to reveal the richness and all the detail of its patina. Out from its balsamic surface comes coriander seed, cumin, and the gently soaring notes of petitgrain and jasmine.
Brutus (Orto Parisi) is compositionally very interesting. On the one hand, Brutus is singularly a patchouli dominant composition, but on the other hand it relies on very serious aromatic molecules in the background to truly bring out the drama in its central patchouli note. It celebrates its innately powerful earthiness and robustness with its unmistakable and addictive camphoraceous feeling, offset with a dark and bittersweet chocolate nuance. The patchouli in Brutus is touched up with the dry sawdust and funky animal effect of the nimberol molecule, freshened with a juicy citrus top, trailing into green notes redolent of muguet, jasmine (hedione), and iris-violet. This not only reinforces the unctuous green tones of patchouli, but also its characteristic earthy funkiness occasionally calling to mind wet woods and animal. Brutus transforms its central patchouli note into that of a sturdy wood, alloyed with powerful woody synthetics with shadowy and dark sandalwood and cedar aromas.
1969 (Histoires de Parfums) in contrast studies patchouli and brings it to the unmistakable light of the smiling sun, expressing not its woody side, but its affinity for spicy-floral-fruity notes. Married with rose, it is a textbook expression of a rose-patchouli accord. It makes upright a sweet nectar of soft and velvety peach that bursts in the opening and is sustained along 1969’s progression. The warmth of patchouli is repeated with coffee, white chocolate, as well as cardamom and clove – its disposition is friendly and generous, and what is often dense and compressed breathes amongst a great plenitude of space. Concluding this set is Northern Cardinal from Zoologist, which is unmistakably a masculine chypre where patchouli is front and centre. It has a retro feeling, moving from citric, fresh, and sharp citrus, herbal, and spicy notes in the top, descending deeper and deeper into a balsamic and mossy heart, enlivened with rose and geranium. This features many layers of green, and patchouli’s captivating bitterness vibrates between the earth and the sky, like the wings of this fragrance’s namesake bird. It is nostalgic and tempers the intensity of the patchouli note masterfully.
