Hermessence Ambre Narguile

Beauty in balance. One can observe odes to the art of discretion in most all human cultures. In Italy, there is the phenomenon of "sprezzatura": "nonchalance", or perhaps "studied carelessness", which serves to cast a glamor over the eyes in order to make something difficult appear blasé. The Japanese notions of "shibusa" and "iki" ennoble subtlety and understatement. And then there's the old adage, "Money talks. Wealth whispers." Discretion can be as powerful as force; balance more striking than any extreme; suggestion and innuendo more seductive than a bare breast. That, I think, is the thesis of Hermès as a house. From the mainstream to the Hermenessence line winds a common thread of nuance and understatement that does not please everyone. Hermès fragrances, especially the Hermenessence line, can be extremely expensive. Once the price goes beyond $300/100ml, so too goes one's appreciation of "studied nonchalance". For me, there are many fragrances in the Hermenessence line that I could nonchalantly toss into the bin (Myrrhe Églantine, for example). However, Ambre Narguilé is not such a fragrance. In fact, it has my wealth whispering quite loudly to empty out my wallet for a full bottle. Ambre Narguilé's legendary status is well deserved. It is beautiful and the ur-fragrance of this genre. The blending is masterful, as one would expect from Jean-Claude Ellena. Spices. Resins. Tobacco. Vanilla. Honey. With such rich, heavy materials, you would expect this to be a dense, thick, gooey fragrance. But it isn't. It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's rich, but not too rich. It's spicy, but not too spicy. And the beauty of it is that instead of being heavy and dense, it floats. The diaphonous, veil-like quality that is the hallmark of Ellena's work is on full display here, and it is wonderful. It perfectly captures its subject - the exotic spices, sweet tobacco smoke, honey dripping on sweets, resins burning in a brazier - but it is executed with balance, elegance, and grace. It would be easy (for a perfumer, that is), to make a loud and heavy fragrance with these notes. Oajan (a fragrance I do actually quite like, since it has a differently flair with the osmanthus), for instance, is a beastly fragrance with immense longevity, projection, and sillage. That isn't to say that Ambre Narguilé is weak - I get about 6-7 hours of longevity, with pretty strong projection and sillage for the first two hours or so. But it isn't a screamer. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of super subtle fragrances. I like strong, rich fragrances. I like huge projection and sillage and longevity. I like complexity and depth and power. But I also love the house of Hermès. I think that subtlety, too, can be poorly executed. It is "studied nonchalance", not simply "nonchalance". There are many fragrances which I find too subtle and "balanced" for their own good. Even some of Ellena's other creations, such as Voyage d'Hermès EDT, I find to be too discrete. But Ambre Narguilé is not one of those. Even though I also like Oajan and its beastliness, I will end up buying Ambre Narguilé. This is a beautiful, perfectly balanced and blended fragrance that successfully transposes something that should be heavy and powerful to something clear and airy, while losing none of its mystery and exoticism. That is why this fragrance is deservedly deemed a classic. 9.5/10

My story with perfume: It goes back to the year 2015 and I knew nothing but designer perfumes only, so this perfume was the first niche fragrance I heard in his name when I heard he was talking to someone about perfumes and he said that the best perfume he had been through was Hermes Amber Nargil. I just registered the name of the perfume in my mobile phone and kept it and searched a lot for it, but it was useless. After 3 years, I had a golden opportunity to visit the Irms boutique and try this olfactive masterpiece and some from the Irms special collection .... (fantasy) Imagine with me the genius Jean-Claude Alina in one of the beautiful gardens of Grasse , where he was preoccupied with thinking of his new fragrance, as he was around the garden looking for a glimpse that would inspire him with a creative idea. After being tired, he decided to rest and cool his mind under the shade of the oak tree in the middle of that garden.he did not know that on that tree an exceptional beehive, as its motto was always excellence to produce an exotic type of honey. From while we were spreading his tobacco bag to fill the pipe with it, his curiosity urged him to crack the trunk of the tree, perhaps bleeding gum or amber that inspires his aromatic imagination. A few moments, the sticky amber liquid from the tree came out, so he wiped some of it on his thumb and started to inhale !! . He felt some frustration, as the smell was light amber and had nothing to inspire, so he picked up the tobacco in anger and started filling the pipe quickly and lit it !! . Then the magic emerged !! . He surprised us a lot, as this is not the flavor and aroma of his usual tobacco, but rather that it is much more wonderful and more beautiful, as if he had become eating Cinnabon pie with the flavor of his old tobacco. In those moments that he was enjoying to us and the wonderful smell of the pipe, he reviewed the sequence of events and noticed that honey was mixed with tobacco and amber that stuck to his thumbs, and those moments were the birth of the idea of Making this perfume.Abstract: Perfume "Master Piece". Cinnabon lovers are strongly called upon to experience the fragrance, its excellent persistence up to 12 hours and the calm fragrance that delight the user of the fragrance for 6 hours straight. Where to buy: The biggest drawbacks of this fragrance and the Hermesense collection in general provide it exclusively and strictly in Hermes boutiques only. With the possibility of being on the eBay site, but beware of counterfeiting

Ambre Narguile reminds me of gingerbread or chai tea. Full of cinnamon, cloves, and warmth. It's sweet, but not syrupy sweet. The spices smell sophisticated and elevated. Ambre Narguile teeters on the edge of gourmand, both having an edible quality while also being too complex to be purely gourmand. There is a powerful amber note blended beautifully with the spices; a bit resinous, golden, and enveloping. This is the type of fragrance that smells better in the air than up close, and better on skin than on paper, leaving a wonderful cloud around the skin. I don't typically believe in seasonal fragrances, but the spices and warmth of Ambre Narguile really do feel wintery and festive. The best way I can describe this fragrance is that it smells like the amber Grand Soir mixed with a touch of the sweet gourmand qualities of Angels' Share, some festive spices (particularly a strong serving of cinnamon), and a tiny bit of sweetened, dried ginger - all without being overpowering. Ambre Narguile does have powerful sillage, permeating quickly, powerfully, and across the entire room. This is a true room filler, but it's powerful without being cloying. The sweetness is balanced, not thick or gooey, allowing for an almost airy quality despite the warmth. Next to Guerlain's Spiritueuse Double Vanille, this is one of the most impressive fragrances I've sampled in a long time. The Angels' Share comparisons make sense to me, but the two fragrances are very clearly distinct. Ambre Narguile is more festive and layered, spicier, not at all boozy, less thick, and with a more clearly defined amber accord. I also think Ambre Narguile is less versatile and more clearly seasonal. To be clear, I'm not saying Ambre Narguile is perfect: in the background, likely due to the spices, there is a noticeable bitterness that I could do without (this can only really be detected up close). This fragrance is also admittedly missing the brightness, the intoxicating, addictive quality that, to me, defines Angels' Share - a nondescript quality at the core of the fragrance that makes it so wearable, enjoyable, and compelling. Granted, I'm comparing Ambre Narguile to my all-time favorite fragrance, which may be unfair, but it's a common comparison. The real issue, for me, is that I can't really imagine myself wearing this. I appreciate the beauty of this fragrance, but I wouldn't want to walk around smelling like it.

If you'd have told me back in 2015 that you have this lovely, quite sweet amber gourmand with boozy and spicy notes I would have assumed it wouldn't interest me, but this fragrance is a rule unto itself. Ambre Narguile is a sweet study on how to make an amber fragrance. There are sweet spices in there, some toasted sesame, homey honey, dark rum, sticky toffee and a heavy base of the gourmand triumvirate: vanilla, benzoin and tonka bean with musk. It is notable that there is no Ambroxin in this but I feel like there is some Iso E Super. It isn't cloying and the overriding impression isn't one of sweetness but of wealth and refinement. The tobacco, spice and the amber in this stops it from feeling like a dessert sundae. I make an emotional connection to this fragrance that is difficult to explain. To me, it evokes a long lost life of premium class flat beds, loneliness, plush hotel suites, wine lists, dedicated check-in, hushed lounges with chilled Veuve and matching designer luggage. It evokes hardcoring almost 300,000 air miles in one year back in 2014/5 and of being nearly-constantly jet lagged. That version of me is long gone now. These days it is transfer connections, middle seats in economy, loneliness, (very) budget hotels, paying for bottles of water and getting lonely dinners at 7/11 or Burger King. But Ambre Narguile still resides in my hand luggage. The old days will never return but the smell lingers. What does it smell of? It smells of the only constant between then and now: Loneliness. Of splendid, intrepid, lovely loneliness in luxury back in the day and budget, boring loneliness these days. Three Word Summary: Beautiful Gourmand Solitude. Layering suggestion: Amber Intrigue by Tom Ford pushes this a little further away from gourmand territory. Outfit suggestion: Tapered grey trousers with elasticated waist so you don't need to wear a belt whilst flying. White tee with a cashmere blend grey cardigan to remove or put on as necessary. Oakley HSTN in grey/transparent frames. Hoka Transport II sneakers and Oris Aquis GMT on the wrist. Don't forget your AirPods! Scent - 10/10 Drydown - 8/10 Sillage - 7/10 Bottle/packaging - 9/10 Performance - 8/10 42/50

One of my favorite perfumes during Autumn. Hermes Ambre Narguilé. I am not a big fan of Ellena's aesthetic, but here, his style fits so well with the theme of the perfume - a warm spicy-Oriental with smoky, hookah-like facets and a perfectly dosed amount of gourmand and sweet touches. I say Ellena was the perfect nose for the job because he succeeded in painting this composition in his pastel-like style to create an Oriental that wears like a warm veil without ever becoming heavy or cloying. It is sweet but not childish, appealing yet not commercial, heavy and light at the same time. I could wear it all year round, even in Summer. The blending is flawless, with all the accords coming together as one. A hookah bar where cherry-flavored shisha saturates the atmosphere, and roasted nuts dipped in honey are served on the tables next to glasses of rum. I never understood the apple pie association with this perfume. Perhaps it is because of the heavy cinnamon accord. Indeed, the latter is a major player in this composition, a brilliant display of cinnamon. Instead of apples, however, I get a heavy sour cherry-like facet, which I always attributed to the tonka bean. I even got asked what that cherry-like smell was while wearing Ambre Narguilé. "Ambre" is in the name but don't expect a heavy amber accord. On the contrary, the fossil feels like it has been melted and diluted to offer a light-wearing experience while retaining its characteristic warmth. It has been one of my favorite Oriental compositions for many years, and even though it has been copied to death, I never came across a dupe to match its sheer splendor and balance. There is only one Jean Claude Ellena and only one Ambre Narguilé. The rest are mere pretenders. IG:@memory.of.scents