Perfume Review – Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens

This Exciting Fragrance Captures the Essence of Woman

Oct 23, 2009

Amber is one of the most difficult scents to define. Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido have created a rich, spicy interpretation that is unique in its creaminess.

Top perfumer Christopher Sheldrake created Ambre Sultan with Serge Lutens in 1993. It was conceived when Lutens found a piece of amber in Marrakech. He was so taken with it that he vowed one day to create an amber fragrance. The result is the niche house's bestseller. It is a strongly female fragrance, and its creators obviously adore women.

Ambre Sultan is a rich, resinous amber with animalic undertones. The top note (scent given off after initial application) is dominated by spice, particularly coriander and oregano. One is immediately taken to a Moroccan souk. This soon settles to vanilla scented amber. With time the amber deepens to a rich sensuality, with other notes coming through, most notably sandalwood and patchouli.

It is distinctive for its creaminess, which brings to mind warm skin perspiring in the heat of the summer sun. Much has been made of Ambre Sultan's resemblance to the most intimately feminine scent, and it is certainly a perfume of arousal.

According to fragrance expert Roja Dove, quoted by journalist Hannah Betts in her award-winning article Let Us Spray, this is part of a wider trend - 'When the Aids epidemic hit, we wanted all the sex washed away, but perfume is returning to its semier side.'

The subject of what constitutes an amber fragrance is the subject of much debate. It originally referred to ambergris, a very rare natural substance that can be found in the sea or washed up on shore. Despite coming from the digestive tract of the sperm whale (where it sooths teh intestine after eating difficult food), it is prized for its rich, musky, animalic scent. Modern ambergris tends to be synthetic.

Amber also refers to vegetal amber/amber resin. According to amber specialists Eden Botanicals, amber is 'a semi-solid mass of tree resins or gums mixed with essential oils, beeswax and fragrant plant powders. It is not simply a resin that is tapped from a mysterious tree growing somewhere in the Himalayas!'

Amber perfumes often include benzoin, labdanum and vanilla to create a scent inspired by ambergris, and other essential oils determine the level of depth and sweetness. It is perhaps advisable to head to a perfume counter and sniff several to get a clear idea. Amber fragrances tend to come in the oriental category.

Serge Lutens is a polymath whose talents include art, photography, film direction, jewellery and interior design. He is a highly respected perfumer who is now based in Morocco, the country that awakened his affinity with fragrance in 1968. Japan, which he first visited in 1970, is also a huge influence and his first perfume for Shiseido was Nombre Noir in 1981. In 1992 Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido was set up to showcase his olfactory talents.

Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido has also produced Arabie, an amber based perfume enriched by figs and spices. Lovers of Ambre Sultan may also appreciate the deep, rich Amber Absolute by Christopher Laudemiel for Tom Ford Private Blend. Creed's Ambre Cannelle is a spicy ambergris.

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