Damber Wabsolute

Pasting my review for Amber Absolute here. Damber Wabsolute is mentioned at the bottom. For those who care, Amber Absolute is back in store at Tom Ford boutiques. A 250ml Flacon along with a 50ml atomiser for £1500. And it’s the last reformulated version. Arabian wood and another one that I forget is back in the same format. I have smelt the original formula many years ago. And I’ve smelt the latter releases too. I was able to get a decant of this latest release. It is a shadow of its former self. Amber Absolute OG formula is one of the top Ambers. You can see the inspiration from Ambre Sultan. But whereas that goes into a more herbal and green direction, AA focuses on incense and frankincense. It is bone dry, Smokey and powdery, with a touch of vanilla in the base. This is what gives it a milled incense quality, with a heavy dose of frankincense . Straight out of a church. Dawn by Fredric Malle has a similar vibe in this sense. The way I picture it was if you to get a piece of amber resin and light it on fire like an incense that is probably what it would smell like, either AA or AS. Obviously this is all made up as amber doesn’t really have a smell on its own. But I’m talking about the amber accord we’ve now come to accept. These scents are challenging. They are not mainstream so I can see why they were reformulated to make them more palatable to mainstream tastes. They are very smokey and dry. Now take that same piece of resin. This time melt it until it’s gooey and syrupy. Then you have Grand Soire. Warmer, smoother and with the vanilla amped up a lot. What if you could take the best parts of AA (the smokey incense) and GS (the sweeter vanilla base) or layer them together. Then you would get D&G velvet amber sun. And imo this is the best of the four. It is the most balanced and the most captivating to my nose. It also has a resinous oud added in. Thanks to @we are legion below I ordered Soma’s Damber Wabsolute. It’s so good I ordered more bottles. It is indistinguishable from the original 2007 formula. Get this instead. Scent, project and performance are miles better than the mildly scented water TF wants to charge astronomical amounts for.

I own a full 100ml bottle of AA (along with several 35ml decants) and also have 4 bottles of the older rectangular DW, plus an older round version, from back when prices were far more reasonable compared to today’s Insider's pricing. The colour was quite light compared to AA decants that I had but 3+ years after, the colour had matured to dark amber and looking sexy :) In the first 3-5 minutes, DW comes across a little harsher and sharper than AA but it quickly settles into something very similar. The dry‐down is effectively identical to AA, while the older AA in particular is noticeably smoother throughout. I haven’t tried the newest DW bottle yet but given that I already own 5 older bottles and AA, adding the current DW version feels largely redundant. This is about as close as you can get to AA if you’re looking for a high‐quality amber fragrance. That said, wear with caution, DW truly shines in very cold weather, with sub‐zero temperatures being ideal.

If you want a bottle of Amber Absolute, this is it. I've sought AA for a long time and have three decants (two of the original release and one of the 2015 release), but the stratospheric prices on ebay have been too much for me to get a bottle. I don't have to worry about that anymore, nor do I have to be afraid to wear it, lest I drain my decants - this *is* Amber Absolute. Its opening is just as wild and it settles into the same lovely swirl of incense, amber, vanilla, and spices. It lasts a very long time, and projection is strong. As others have said, this and Insider's version of Japon Noir are *so* important for keeping these discontinued fragrances alive. I plan to try their interpretation of Moss Breches, Italian Cypress, and Plum Japonais as well. I hope they continue to resurrect old Tom Ford fragrances, such as Sahara Noir, TF for Men Extreme, and the original Tobacco Oud formulation (2013-early 2014 bottles).

As the name suggests, Damber Wabsolute is a recreation of the long discontinued Amber Absolute by Tom Ford - and what a beauty this is. A true embodiment of everything you could ever want from a dark and brooding amber scent, this fragrance is incredibly commanding and alluring. Despite having a strong presence of an Amber accord, I feel this scent is dominated by two signature notes - a rich, leathery and slightly bitter labdanum, contrasted by a dry, smoky frankincense. This scent actually has a lot of similarities to Roja’s PDLN1, however this heads in a more incense-forward direction. Recently I was able to try Tom Ford’s Amber Absolute in Harrods - the Reserve Collection re-release. I’m not sure how it compares to the original stuff but I think Damber does a better job of this scent profile than the re-release of Amber Absolute. I adore this fragrance, it’s one of my biggest staples for the winter.

After already owning and adoring their Tokyo Black (TF Japon Noir) I thought I’d give this a try having no experience with the original. Wow...lost for words The opening is smoky, vanillic with a slight boozy accord that I don’t know if it’s intentional but fits perfectly in the blend. The sweetness becomes muted over time but never disappears and the incense and the wood really starts coming through. This is an old church pew style incense that seriously warms the soul. At no point does it feel dusty or off putting, it’s gentlemanly without seeming old. Performance is astounding, I spray on clothes only so YMMV on skin, cannot comment. The scent is somewhat linear after that initial opening is lifted but holy hell is it a beautiful bubble. Just get it if you like warm incense and resinous woods. You won’t be disappointed...it’s stupid good irrespective of the phenomenal price.