Jamaican Ambergris

The perfume world goes bonkers over ambergris because of what an amazing exalting fixative it is. That’s the sole purpose people pay $45,000+ per kilo for decent raw ambergris, and why you see news headlines when some fisherman comes across a fragrant ‘rock’ worth millions of dollars.

In perfumery, it’s not about smelling the amber itself, but rather how the ambergris transmutes other ingredients and then ties the scent pyramid together and naturally boosts the brew’s projection.

Holding raw ambergris in your hand, crushing it so that it forms a sticky paste, infusing it – the neat smell of pure ambergris… that’s not a marketable product.

There’s not nearly enough raw ambergris in the world to supply even an average-sized duty-free shop with pure tinctures or raw pieces. Compare that to all the duty free shops of the world and all the boatloads of perfumes they contain.

That’s why so few have actually smelled a proper whiff of ambergris. Worse, most ‘amber’ fragrances have nothing at all to do with ambergris. As you may know, ‘amber’ as a scent category refers to labdanum-like smells, while most of the ‘amber’ compounds used in mainstream perfumes are synthetic.

Enter Jamaican Ambergris.

This ghalia showcases the smell of raw ambergris and how it transforms its co-stars. And check out this cast: 

Abuyog Sinking
SQ Aoudh al Azraq (Blue Oud)
SQ Grey Amber
Jambu Oleoresin
Jasmine Sambac
Georgian Rose
Plumeria
Bourbon Vanilla
Haitian Vetiver
Massoia Bark
Peru Balsam
Oakmoss

The cornerstone of Jamaican Ambergris is the exquisite grey ambergris stowed away in our Royal patron’s personal collection for decades. These stones, plus an extra precious batch of the Sultan’s own amber-infused Oud……

Perfumers would like to have their ambergris tinctures be at least a few months old. If the infusion sat for a year – great!

Now, imagine what would happen if your ambergris went into an attar at the dawn of the Reagan administration, sat in the dark for forty years in royal treasury…… and you turn that attar into a star feature of your perfume.

The oceanic, sandy ambergris veneer is present all the time. If you jump right into smelling a fresh spritz, you’ll probably smell only ambergris; it’s that dense. A split second later, the rest of the aromatics catch up and the show kicks off.

I love what ambergris does to jasmine. In perfumery, jasmine is often quite a dense heart note, beautiful but not one that jumps at you. But here it’s like the spotlight brings the jasmine to life, invigorated by the oaky, sagey sweetness of jambu resin, frangipani and vanilla.

I must say, this is a hard fragrance to note-pick. The scent is tightly wound, and while the ambergris element is palpable, the composition is so unusual you’re experiencing a unique scent afresh. 

While replete with the Sultan’s rare ambergris, this is also an oud attar like no other.

Which other attar contains super-king Filipino oud?

I chose an extra special sinking-grade distillation, because of how this oceanic, lush blue beauty goes right into character next to the ambergris. Abuyog Sinking adds the deep blue blast of resin, toned by the sandy dry beach tone of olde grey amber. 

A delicacy of a pure oud hovering over your hand with an aura of ambergris glowing around it, and waves of jambu frangi-jasmine sweetness oozing all over. All with a splash of fine Georgian rose otto to add its diffusive lift and lend an air of elegance to Jamaican Ambergris’ boozy Caribbean, rum-sweet profile.

*In addition to the ambergris that was originally steeped that is already part of the composition, your bottle will include the Sultan’s actual ambergris.

Featured Testimonials…

The easiest way to describe the attar is probably to say that it’s the base smell of Jamaican ambergris but I think it’s quite different from the spray.

 

The fruity and floral notes are way more prominent and it’s not as sharp and piercing like the spray, it reminds me a bit of a passion fruit cocktail. The oud is more pronounced in the attar version and it feels like the attar is quite darker than the spray which is not a bad thing and adds a slight incense vibe to this tropical and creamy scent.

 

What about the ambergris? I’ve almost forgot to adress it… the ambergris in this one is strong, not overwhelmingly strong but very present and quite a bit different than it is in the perfume.

 

You have a nice layer of crushed ambergris in your attar bottle and I can say with confidence that this black layer on the bottom of the bottle keeps on infusing the attar more and more with time.

 

The longevity and silage of the attar is very heavy , it’s really really strong!

Wearing the attar on its own is already a full fleshed experience but once you start layering it with the perfume you’ll get a next level experience.

—Chris A / Germany