The word amber and all its variants tend to throw people for a loop anymore. Let’s sort it out…
Amber, ambergris, grey amber, or due to any of the other mysterious accords you might see on note lists – liquid amber, smoked amber, etc – your confusion on this matter is extremely understandable.
Depending on where you’ve looked for answers, it can make the question of what each of these things is even more confusing. But if you’ve ever wondered, you’re now, officially, at the right place. So let’s get into it.
First off, amber and ambergris are not the same, nor should they be used interchangeably. Ambergris is just French for “grey amber,” though the “amber” portion would be “ambre.” And if you’re using the French pronunciation, the word would indeed end like “-gree,” but the Anglicized ending, a phonetic “-gris,” is also widely used.
Ambergris is a pretty gross natural material that is a secretion from some species of sperm whales’ digestive tract. Initially, it’s a gross, viscous material with a strong fecal smell. But that’s not how it stays.
Once it’s excreted, it floats on the water’s surface, basking in the sun and drying out. As it floats, it takes on the smell of the sea, the salt air, the sparkling ozone, and ends up forming a hard, rock-like mass. By the time it reaches this state, its aroma is resinous, animaliac, sensuously musky, but with sparkling overtones. Perfumer Mandy Aftel said of it, “It reflects light with its smell. It’s like an olfactory gemstone”. It’s also the most expensive material in perfumery, nicknamed “floating gold,” as it can fetch a good $40,000 per kilogram. Hence, we have synthetic recreations of the smell, most notably, Ambroxan.
Now, amber is also a real thing – tree resin that has been fossilized, and has often been found containing well-preserved, fascinating, and ancient things, including even dinosaur and bird feathers up to 80 million years old.
To tincture or burn actual amber isn’t exactly pleasant. It would smell tar-like, excessively smoky, and woody-dry, and even an actual extract/oil involves a complex extraction process – not really the most promising material.
“Amber”, truly, is a fantasy note, which is why it can smell so different and have all of the artistic descriptors and variations that it does. The core amber accord, however, is a blend of sweet, complex resins – labdanum, benzoin, and vanilla – to make the signature sexy, sweet, woody richness that says amber in whatever direction the perfumer chooses to twist it.
So, remember, not all amber is alike. And our advice, as with everything, is to sniff it all.
