Ambra 1984

Ambra is a companion to Musc Royale that explores the magic of traditional fixatives. Here, we zoom in on ambergris.

For ages, sandalwood has been the go-to carrier for infusing musk and amber, and so I’m not going to tamper with tradition. What I will do, is make sure you get the finest attar imaginable.

To this end, I infused a selection of vintage sandalwood oils—predominantly, and most notably, all that I had of an extremely limited batch of 39-year-old Mysore Sandalwood (circa 1984). With such a rarity, I’m sure you can imagine the anxiety involved in deciding how best to use the little you have. But as I now watch the golden yellow drink crushed and ground white Caribbean amber, I’ve got no regrets.

I chose these vintage carriers, not only to honor the infusion as completely one could but specifically because of their olfactory properties. Some santals simply work better than others, even if another might be higher quality. The trick is to balance the perfect pitch of creaminess and buttery white with the amber’s animalic bite. In Ambra 1984, you get unmatched quality, rarity, and compatibility.

The sandalwood couldn’t get any better. Not by itself. So, here’s where the exalting ambergris comes in. As funky as ambergris can be in raw form, as sticky-as-glue as it gets when crushed, it transforms the santal fusion into the most delectable, velvet-smooth olfactory feast you could hope to indulge in.

And that’s it. Vintage sandalwood and Moby Dick’s best-kept secret. No more, no less.

Above: Squid beaks embedded in the ambergris.

(To find out more about the exalting fixatives, check out Musc Royale.)