Peruvian Ambrette

This is a top 5 player in the men's fragrance landscape of the 2010 decade. I agree with previous comments that it plays in the top league and it is crazy that it is discontinued and not more hunted by frag fans... Who usually like oud fragrances will love this fragrance I totally get why ambrette seed oil is used as a substitute for animal musk, and there's an oud ghost in this perfume. I find some similarity with the drydown of LM Black Oud. In spite of those qualities, this is the only frag of the Zegna Essenze line that on top of being discontinued (together with Haitian Vetiver), has a lot of leftover stock (unlike Haitian Vetiver) and is thus now hard discounted (now ~$50 online instead of ~$160 originally for 2.5oz), the reason why I could afford it. Get it while you can! This fragrance is a real gem. Especially at the current price. (That said, performance is below average (moderate/soft projection, 4 hours total longevity), and should have been better for a fragrance initially priced at $160...). I currently have 30-ish perfumes, and I can tell you that this one has entered my top 3 at the first spray. I love it! 30+, formal office meetings and nights out, fall/winter PS: this frag is discontinued, check "Strength" of the new Elements of Man line that unites musk with an oud background! Edit: I now own 200+ fragrances, and can tell you that this one is still in my top 10%.

Oh lordy this is nice! The opening is such a powdery, musky, amber which is so smooth and warm it really does envelop the senses telling you that this is a real special piece of work. PA has a wonderfully natural amber and not an overly musky ambrette accord because as it settles down it becomes all about precious woods. I'm pretty sure I detect oud in here but nothing like the Indonesian Oud in the same Zegna collection, this is a smooth subtle wood. That combination of lightly spicy cashmere and darker Guaiac wood give Peruvian Ambrette a sublime drydown quite like a creamy sandalwood vibe, not dissimilar to Armani Prive Oud Royal. So....a stunning woody scent to add to an already excellent line from Zegna. Truly, these fragrances cover every olfactory angle and do so with a simplicity and remarkable clarity. I think £108 (although still expensive) is quite good value for 125ml's of impressive fragrance. Longevity and performance are good but it's not the strongest juice in the world the drydown stayed close to my skin giving me a warm, woodsy glow. I love this...Will definitely consider adding it to my collection.

I am currently using my second bottle of this fragrance. It is a perfect office fragrance that has uniqueness and elegance. It is not complex nor evolve in such ways but well blended overall. Earthy, mineral like, clean musk, bitter, and smooth with iris. It actually has orris(iris root) in this and it is nothing like dior homme that has lipstick or makeup bag vibe, no! It helps the fragrance to be softer, enjoyable, and crowd pleaser. This is a perfect James Bond 007 type of a fragrance. Clean cut, expensive suit, masculine, gentleman over 35, mysterious, sexy! However, if you are heavily into complex amouage, zoologist, oud leather luxurious fragrances, you will find this one boring and linear. Lastly, performance was moderate on my first bottle but my current bottle is much better somehow. It lasts about 8 hours with 2 hours of solid projection.

Discontinued - fairly rare but you can still find on secondary market. Ambrette is a pricey material with very low oil yield. Cultivation in Peru is very small and considered to be top notch. Imagine this: you distilled alcohol from ambrette iris, and orris root (which is also incredibly expensive and takes 3 years to mature with specific harvest times), and you aged this ambrette iris/orris moonshine in guaiac barrels. Now pour this unsweetened brew over suede, and you have this stunner. This ambrette was extracted via solvents which means it doesn't carry a sweet or powdery nuances. It's boozy (like congac), earthy, nutty, medicinal and grainy. I think it's a reference fragrance for a top quality ambrette absolute. Incredible. ×××××××××××××××××××××××××× Scent 99/100 ××××××××××××××××××××××××××

in the opening i can smell very heavy ambrette. ambrette note is all over the juice then orris note is quickly coming up to make it moist/wet. i love this part. it's remind me Chanel N019 Poudre in dry down.very strong and long lasting woody note, even after shower, i can smell the woody note. sound like weird or too strong but actually not. it was composing with balance. the only wood base perfume i love the most in my entire collection. furthermore, it is because no civet and incense. (civet and incense are combining together will make the perfume too earthy, dirty and poopy vibe....and i hate poppy note)

Elegant fine suede, ambrette smoke, minerals, and a bit of spice. Iris just shows up later to soften things up, on a bed of sleek cashmere woods. It's a unique scent, that comes across as daring, artistic, and sophisticated. Like the rest of the Essenze line, Peruvian Ambrette is really well put together, well blended, and smooth. The suede and smoke combo is similar to the kind found in Resin Sacra. I love this one a lot more due to its darker undertones.

Peruvian Ambrette is a stunning fragrance! Zegna has to have this as one of their most underrated fragrances. Not many times in fragrances is ambrette such a focus as it is in this composition. A dry and arid feel of ambrette/guaiac wood/leather is presented, with a deep and dark complexity. My absolute favorite from the Essenze line. Layer this with Dior Homme Parfum and you will smell like the definition of a modern Casanova.

Peruvian Ambrette by Ermenegildo Zegna is very underrated fragrance from the Essenze Collection. This is very high quality ambrette seed fragrance with woody and orris root nuances.I also get some suede note as it was mentioned in the review below. Pretty good longevity with moderate projection. Too bad it wasn't a hit once it was released as it has been discontinued shortly after its launch.

A very nice fresh suede like fragrance with a unique musk and fresh earthy vibe. I got this at a amazing price and the quality is amazing ! This is for the 25 plus crowd, but is a very versatile and a mature sensual fragrance. A modern charmer this is without the sweetness or ambroxan other scents rely on. A masterpiece in my opinion 5 to 7 hours longevity, fair projection, good silage

To me, this is a mix of Armani/Prive Oud Royal and Dior Homme Intense. Seriously, picture those two together. You have smoky woods, spices, mixed with musk and thick orris root powder. Its divine. Very sexy, alluring yet professional, it dances between the dark and light...a true discontinued gem from Zegna. Essenze line is a true gem, trust me.

I can smell some similarity with dior oud ispahan but light n easy version. This perfume is of good quality and smells expensive anyway. The drydown is so comfortable n lasting 4-5 hours. Those who dont like this perfume probably are not familiar with oud. The real oud essence will cost you $2000 for just 5ml. And u may faint when u smell it.

It's goooooooooddddd!!!! Good good good gooooood!!!!.... I know, I know.... I'm not adding anything here (compared to my previous review) that can help anyone to understand this fragrance, but I had to externalize my feelings... Guys... $50/2.5oz online... rush while you can!! PS: have I forgotten to say that it smells soooo goooood?

Just tried a sample a nice SA gave me: It does have some resemblance to Acqua di Parma Oud with a strong leather note in the beginning. Good (not great) sillage and projection, I still can feel it after 8h, but a bit too close to skin.

Lovely woody perfume. Don’t notice any orris or suede. Very earthy and this makes one feels like being in the wilderness. Edit. After over an hour, orris showed up but not too prominent.

very cashmere forward, but has a spicy undertone (probably the pepper). super long lasting, so i find that, for this price, its quite a good deal for a european house. simply divine.

strong boozy wood in the opening, then its shift to delicate powdery musky scent in the middle, in the end i smell tiny spicy peppery and freshness

Very elegant and classy. I feel like I belong to some very exclusive group of people when I wear this fragrance!

It is a unique perfume, it has earthy woody smell in a mysterious way. I like to wear it with leather jacket.

The opening has Versace oud noir vibe, the dry down has a very nice suede feel. I love it!

Criminally underrated fragrance and I can see why, the opening is not the best in the world it is strong and medicinal boozy wood at the first spray and will knock your socks off but 5-10 minutes in it start opening up into an incredibly complex mix of "furry" textures that are woody, dry, spicy, clean, slightly vegetal and mildly animalic, sometimes "plastic", sometimes leather, sometimes buttery, kind of sexy and very dark and then leading to much cleaner soapy musk (and back again). An extremely complex scent when you bury your nose in that you will smell slightly differently each time but from a foot away it overall smells dry woods and light clean musk. This can be had from discounters currently for a mere fraction of what it once cost. If you like slightly more daring and complex very dark masculine scents, go pick a bottle up. If I had to pick something similar I have smelled myself I would say this smells like if a house like Prada decided to remix Amouage's Interlude Man, by taking some of the dry chocolaty incense out and introducing some clean musk.