Ambre de Noir

Ambre de Noire by Maksim Perfume takes you on a delightful journey to a vibrant Eastern bazaar, where the warm scents of spicy herbs, rich woods, and tropical flowers come together in a beautiful blend. The top notes welcome you with the unique touch of saffron and fresh herbal notes, making for an intriguing start that piques your interest in what’s to come. As you delve deeper, the heart of the fragrance reveals a lovely mix of exotic Indian Shamama, refined magnolia, and creamy frangipani from sunny Thai gardens. There’s also a hint of smoky, earthy tobacco that adds a warm, sweet woodiness, giving the scent an enchanting Oriental vibe. At the base, you’ll find a luxurious amber accord, where Irish ambergris not only shines as a rare gem but also helps tie everything together beautifully. Creamy sandalwood and the lovely, powdery sweetness of tonka beans smooth out the scent, while a touch of Bourbon vanilla offers a velvety finish with a hint of smokiness. The end result is a rich, layered fragrance where every ingredient shines and harmonizes perfectly with the rest. I guess this one would be my favorite from the second collection.

After a slightly animalic opening, Ambre de Noir settles into a calming, sweet amber that has floral and powdery facets. Despite the name, it is not too dark and inscrutable, but actually a fairly light and enjoyable interpretation of amber/ambergris. Lasts long on skin, but projection is limited to the first couple of hours only.

The name says it. Believe it. Black Amber. Maksim Perfumes were already dark and warm rooms made of old exotic woods, but Ambre de Noir turns the lights out completely. Want to know how to make green notes smell black? Ask Maxim Bortnikov. Somehow the mix of herbal greens and woody-floral saffron at the top smells like they have just begun to turn in a compost bin. The rest of the perfume seems to be a bit of a ruse, like it might actually be Bortnikov copying shamama, or chamama as it’s sometimes spelled. And just like that famed Indian attar, it’s a morass. Basil, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, anise, nutmeg, peppercorns, frangipani, orange blossom, jasmine, rose, incenses, labdanum, cypriol, sandalwood, agarwood, musks, benzoin, patchouli, vanilla, and who knows what else are frequently shoved into shamama. I’ve heard it said that some shamama formulas - all passed down orally, not written, if you can imagine - can have hundreds of raw materials. It’s a kitchen sink attar, and Ambre de Noir is a kitchen sink perfume. It is spicy, green-esque, woody, floral-esque, rich, resinous, and earthy vanillic to the point of smelling black - not brown. As a kitchen sink perfume it is quite good, even though you never really know what you’re smelling save for the obvious sandalwood and tonka that are the skin scent twelve hours later. And as for the blackness... is it possible for blackness to smell bright? Is there such a thing as vivid black? The most curious part to Ambre de Noir is the personality it has, in that it is not the “strong and silent” type we normally get from Maksim perfumes. This perfume has an energy that keeps me going back for sniff after sniff. Like the black void of space, there is hyper energy coursing through it we simply cannot see. If anything, Ambre de Noir probably slots into the tobacco genre, but it’s hard to say. It is for these reasons, that I’m not sure what I’m smelling and more so what Ambre de Noir is trying to say to me, that I find it to be one of the less interesting perfumes in the brand’s range. However, as with all of them, it’s still worth quite a bit of your time and many sniffs.

Also in a similar vein to Amber Balsam and Musk Couture, but this is the most distinct of the three as it becomes much softer, sweeter and even a bit fruity as it dries down. At first Ambre de Noir also has that "vintage" Bortnikoff smell but it subsides heavily in about an hour and then it becomes a much easier scent, not as mature as the aforementioned ones, and definitely more likeable. This could very well be the "safest" fragrance in Maksim's line and the best entry point for the brand in my opinion. I honestly like this a lot, much more than Amber Balsam and Musk Couture, but the performance is just terrible. Sillage and projection are almost nonexistent after 5 minutes but this does last a long time on skin, easily 8+ hours.

Decadent and truly noirish take on amber in this warm woody aromatic scent. The brief opening is saffron and herbal greenish notes before going into a tobacco and floral heart. The perfume settles into a powdery ambery base comprised of ambergris, an amber accord (patchouli, labdanum, ambrette), tonka bean, sandalwood and vanilla. The slight masculine leaning scent has moderate to strong sillage and lasts forever. An unusual well blended heady scent that alternates between sweet and dark. Enjoy!