Amber Rose
AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

I'm not especially an amber fan. There are a few I like a great deal, but as a category I find they tend to be too vanillic and sweet, resting all too often on what I call a "Werther's caramel accord." As a consequence, I haven't ordered any of AbdesSalaam's amber series, save for mignon of Amber Oud that, as of this writing, I'm ashamed to confess I have not yet tried—an error that will soon be corrected.

Salaam included a sample of Amber Rose in a recent order, so I set aside my misgivings about the genre to try it. Now, Amber Rose joins the short list of exceptional ambers that have won my heart. It is to cookie-cutter ambers—including some costly niche ones—as vicuña is to acrylic. The lushly dimensional amber base is married to a rich, dark rose (especially in the opening) and anchored by earthy castoreum. I don't know what else is in here, and I almost feel like knowing might spoil the magic. Whatever it is, the resultant fragrance intoxicates like some sort fine, floral champagne cognac, aged to perfection.

Is Amber Rose really "me?" I haven't decided. But I can tell you, whoever else it is, I want to be them at least on occasion.

Not a lot to add to the previous great rbaker's description. One of my absolute favorite from La via del Profumo, the aroma of Topkapi Palace, a really gorgeous exotic/oriental take on the spicy/musky rose-theme, a quite magnificent (super delicate) refined accord of Rose Damascene, subtle spicy notes, resinous musks and warm/dreamy animalic amber (powdery and balmy) in typical arabic style. The muskiness is soft, spicy, heliotropic, soapy-poudre, elegant, delightful. Resins, rose-essence and spicy balsams structure the rosey work of super airy-fairy "Attar" refinement. A fragrance for Sultans and Ottoman Imperators, a juice for enigmatic turkish women, a waxy-floral-spicy potion exuding an epic and oriental ambience of Mosques, Minarets and mosaics of the Padishah's salons.

The start is a rich rose, a darkish Damascene; I use the term 'darkish' for there are bright components it is too, so it is not a brooding note; it has elegance and brightness to it too.

Over time the rich and velvety character of this rose is delveloping nonetheless. An additional crispness is provided by castoreum, but this is not an extra add-on to mellow or counteract the rose, but it merges with, or better sub-merges into the rose absolutely seamlessly. At times a whiff of wood, with just a touch of a nigh oud-like very gentle spiciness, makes a brief appearance.


From the drydown on the other main player is evident: a gorgeous, sweetish, rich and gleaming amber. This amber lacks any sharpness, it is of glistening smoothness and, again, seamlessly integrates with the other parties in this olfactory performance.

I get strong sillage, excellent projection and a stupendous fourteen hours of longevity on my skin.

A delightful, intense and warm winter composition, beautifully blended, but towards the end a bit linear and less scintillating. The supreme quality of the ingredients, especially that of the delicious natural rose, is beyond doubt. 3.75/5