Amber Chocolate is a lush gourmand amber that should come with a sticker that reads “for grown-ups only”. Put aside any thoughts you might have of the kind of yummy vanilla-and-berries smell surrounding young girls like a nuclear cloud – this is seriously dark and sexy stuff. A molten dark chocolate note gets buffed out into an almondy haze of tonka bean, hints of hay and roast hazelnut flirting with the cacao to give it a slightly bitter, non-edible edge that sets it apart from other gourmands. The fact that this delicious scent is all-natural and artisanal means that it’s a guilt-free indulgence.
Despite the almost comically simple name, Amber Chocolate is not a simple affair. There’s a naughty musk or patchouli here that gives the texture a resinous, grainy aftertaste, like gianduja rolled up in a veiny Cuban tobacco leaf. We think it’s the real vanilla absolute that’s been used in Amber Chocolate. Woody and resolutely non-sweet, it lends a boozy depth that reads in some lights as brandy or amaretto. Amber Chocolate’s bitter cacao juxtaposes the golden sweetness of amber so effectively that even the amber-averse might be tempted. But honestly, if you ever loved or bought a bottle of Bruno Fazzolari’s Ummagumma, Slumberhouse Ore, or Guerlain’s Gourmand Coquin, then this boozy chocolate amber is 100% for you.
