Year: 2014
Notes: myrtle, nutmeg, lavender, labdanum, frankincense, vanilla, coumarin, Tolu balsam, Peru balsam, ambergris, ambroxan
Comment: Ambre Précieux Ultime is a limited edition release
Limited to 1,000 bottles, Ambre Précieux Ultime is supposedly the Eau de Parfum version of the highly revered Ambre Précieux. But while Ambre Précieux's DNA is vaguely present, this revised rendition of amber miserably fails to improve on the original. In fact, it does the exact opposite.
Allegedly retaining the same ingredients, but utilising slightly different ratios, some frankincense has also been added to the mix. While one doesn't have a problem with that, it's the addition of ambroxan (and possibly other aroma chemicals) that results in the composition smelling woefully artificial from start to finish. Yes, it's darker, dryer and more dense, but it isn't as bewitching (or natural-smelling) as the original – it's practically a deluge of synthetic accords, providing very little breathing space.
As a result, one sees it as nothing more than a cynical cash grab. Being structurally poor, lacking in longevity and periodically smelling crude, its very existence is an insult to Jean-François Laporte's legacy.
Lovely bottle, though.
Allegedly retaining the same ingredients, but utilising slightly different ratios, some frankincense has also been added to the mix. While one doesn't have a problem with that, it's the addition of ambroxan (and possibly other aroma chemicals) that results in the composition smelling woefully artificial from start to finish. Yes, it's darker, dryer and more dense, but it isn't as bewitching (or natural-smelling) as the original – it's practically a deluge of synthetic accords, providing very little breathing space.
As a result, one sees it as nothing more than a cynical cash grab. Being structurally poor, lacking in longevity and periodically smelling crude, its very existence is an insult to Jean-François Laporte's legacy.
Lovely bottle, though.
