Tambour Sacre

What a fascinating, original accord! It opens fresh and spicy, somehow both cool and warm, with a vibe that reminds me of a sunny glass atrium opening out into a sculpture garden. Then we get sweet nectarous tuberose, almost golden or orange, with a roasted coffee note beneath. It’s a weird combo but it works! Perfectly smooth from top to bottom, as though tuberose had a coffee facet already. It’s meant to evoke Ethiopia, which I wouldn’t know about; to me the coffee smells of the fresh-ground beans at the grocery co-op of my childhood, while the tuberose smells of a brilliant summer day with rich flower scents on the breeze. I love tuberose, and part of the fun is that there are so many different takes on it. Tuberose can be green and stemmy (Nuit de Bakelite), bright-pink and ultra-feminine (Fracas), sleek creamy white (Carnal Flower), or root-beer brown (Tubereuse Criminale). Tambour Sacre is a wholly original and enjoyable addition to the tuberose lineup: rich, sweet, golden, and anchored in spices and dark roasted coffee beans. I’m increasingly a fan of Cristiano Canali as well. He has a lot of range – also did Masque Milano Romanza (one of my favorite spring florals), Zoologist Bee (a delightfully skanky honey), and Zoologist Tiger (a wonderful dark smoky musk). If he has a signature quality I might say it’s balance. Sweetness or floralcy is always balanced with just the right amount of darkness or muskiness, and the results are addictive.

Clearly from the reviews this is a polarizing fragrance, but one that I personally enjoy a lot. The opening is admittedly harsh and has this hot plastic thing going on that I actually get from many Rubinis. In Tambour, I think this comes from all the contrasting notes being mashed together, but on my skin they separate in about 3 minutes and I get this citric woodiness with an indolic tuberose and a faint coffee note. This is one of the only tuberose accords I tolerate as generally that note is a no-go for me. I think this wears kind of airy and the sillage seems pleasant and not aggressive. At risk of sounding snobby, I think this is a coffee accord for people who drink single origin coffees or weird co-ferments and not your run-of-the-mill pre-ground stuff doused in milk and sugar. The presence of a coffee accord mixed with florals and citrus reminds me a lot of some of the weird and sometimes challenging coffees I've tried, which I like and therefore I don't find the accords in this fragrance that contradictory.

This is a truly powerful experience. The opening is very challenging. You get coffee that is black, bitter and burned. The sharpness is boosted by the pepper, and bergamot and green tuberose join to create an unique smell that takes some practice to enjoy. The tonka gives very slight sweetness in the background, but overall the perfume is dry with woody undertones. It is always nice to experience a coffee perfume where the coffee has not been ruined by excessive sweetness. The opening phase is quite short, and the drydown is less challenging and even quite comfortable consisting mostly of coffee and woods. Even though the coffee is strong, it is not the coffee bean explosion such as in Follow, but more like strong brewed black coffee. This perfume needs some time to appreciate, but it is mysterious and addictive.

Challenging fragrance, especially at the beginning where unsweetened coffee and a very indolic tuberose compete for attention. When you are through there, everything becomes calmer and more relaxed and a fantastic oriental journey begins. No oud and no amber, but a lot of spices, balms and resins with coffee and tuberose lying exhausted in the arms. This is finest fragrance art that lasts forever! But it take some guts to wear it.

It's not a bad thing, but sincerely i was expecting for a little bit something else and this is not just my impression. Maybe that sweetness of the coffee... but it's ok as it is! First tones are the worst from the whole creation, and after that, coffee comes to wash the pain. Notes are pure, but not strong and comes along with the cardamom accords. The base is the best, sadly i can't get no sandalwood, only a good quality tonka and some resins mixed with light tuberose. Lasts ok, but has a low projection and sillage for an extrait concentration. After all, a good fragrance but could be more better for the retail price level. To check before, not for a "blind date" :)

I tried both new and old formula at Osmotheca in Vienna and I must say the new formula is very pleasing. I can understand the reviews about the old one, even though I don't think it's that bad. The new formula is more floral and pleasant smelling. The opening on my skin is still very metallic though and the dry down is pretty musky/woody. All in all, a very interesting and artistic fragrance. Definitely not a blind buy but a solid 7.5/10 for me.

This just smells like soap to me. I barely get the coffee. Is coffee soap a thing? Not unpleasant at all. I do get more of the funkiness in the dry down, though.

On me, this opening full of citrus, cardamom and coffee is reminiscent of denim aftershave, mornings and the 80s with the addition of a post-gym amber booster from the 90s. I have to separate them well from the heart notes to savor a nice tuberose and acacia Sweet. Here the tuberose comes out with a smoky, slightly burnt attitude that recalls Baruti's Voyance which I appreciate. The indigestible thing is the strong contour and the amber woody base which makes everything edgy and annoying. Imagine a Bvlgari Blv mixed with Baruti's Voyance and Acqua di Parma's recent cheap marine ambers. All with the attitude of a...young tomboy... Step.

I really do not like this, it very accurately captures the scent of morning coffee breath. Stale coffee and some weird mouth funk.

An overwhelming, headachy opening, with any supposed coffee drowned in a sickly floral wash. An immediate aversion gives way to a hope that things will improve in the dry down. They don't. It is as if someone is trying to conceal the smell of vomit with a screechy floral disinfectant. The floral notes continue to predominate, which is fine if you are a spring bride, but this male reviewer could not imagine wearing this fragrance on an everyday basis without bringing out an allergic reaction in people around him. The perfumer's blurb at the top of the page is a classic of its kind (aka complete nonsense), but it belies the muddy tone of this particular 'Sacred Drum' : this isn't so much the charm of the Queen of Sheba as the brashness of a miscast soubrette. Dreadful!

I tried that one a year ago. I disliked it, but got a sample anyways. After the second wearing, I gave away the sample. I don't find it as much challenging as I find it cheap smelling. There is some screechy amberwoods in that thing that even some basic commercial brand would hesitate to throw in. It's rare that I really say that a fragrance is really 'bad', as I'd rather say that it doesn't fit my tastes. But here, for me, this is a textbook example of bad creative direction. Also: I can see where the comparison with Irreverent come from, but be assured that HdP's fragrance is really at a much higher level of blending.

I've never used the hate button (and never even thought I'd have to), but here we are. This is literally vomit-inducing. It smells like someone threw up their cardamom coffee. Truly rancid. Run!

Here, the coffee is at war with every other note and unfortunately, ends up winning eventually. Coffee breath and floral air freshener. Brutal.

I find this to be truly hostile. The decision to combine what orange and coffee together is utterly criminal. I am reminded of throw up burps, coffee and cigarettes breath, tongue plaque, and a myriad of other unfortunate associations. I found it too challenging to even get past the first 15 or so heinous minutes of this. It feels stale, desperate, wan even. I persevered though. This bitter, over-roasted, burnt coffee dries into a bevy of flowers drenched in sticky, tacky resins that is marginally more tolerable until an hour later, when it feels more palatable. I just can't get with this sort of stuff though. I've sampled and have learned to love a lot of experimental fragrances, but it seems in my case, cognitive dissonance may very well be better suited for other forms of art, visual or aural, but certainly not for the olfactory realm. Icky poo.

This was not a scent I enjoyed... From the start, the metal is BRUTAL -- it just did not sit well with me. It was WAAA too much -- it actually made me feel a little nauseous. So, it wasn't bitter, it wasn't screechy, it was just metallic. Then, there was a revolting onion accord that sprung up -- well, it smelt worse than that, probably closer to bile, actually... The whole body of the scent was quite tough to stomach, it was just too much for me -- I found myself feeling queasy throughout the day, and if I'm being honest with myself, I wish I never put it on. That's just me -- your experience will likely be different...

Scent - brown urinous opening which transitioned into smoked tuberose drenched in molasses. Season/Time of Day - I prefer to use this one in the colder months, during the day. Projection - I didn't get noticed, I didn't get a compliment. Longevity - I get 15hrs consistently.

I have to agree with the reviews below, this stuff is a big no go. I can’t even describe the smell, stale coffee and some weird mouth funk as noted below is accurate.

First I have to say I love Fundamental. I was expecting to enjoy Tambour Sacre. I have one word - NASTY Not even close to wearable.

Whoever voted yes for this being similar to voyance by baruti, you should really reconsider your hobbies.

Smells like airconditioned coffee, I like it