In 1983 the Sultan of Oman decreed from the steps of his Palace in Muscat that there was to be a new fragrance house. It was to be of renown and it would be called Amouage (combining Arabic Amwaj meaning ‘waves’ and French Amour meaning ‘love’ denoting Oman's geographical place in the world).
Guy Robert (1933 – 2012) who created Caleche and Equipage for Hermès, Dioressence for Dior and Gucci Pour Homme was appointed its first perfumer. Notably Robert's uncle was Henri Robert the acclaimed Chanel perfumer who undertook some of his nephew's training.
While the words of the Sultan's decree are lost to time, we can imagine he might have enjoined: ”no cost is too great; no oil too precious” when instructing Monsieur Robert to craft the founding scent — aptly, to be named Gold.
Herein I present the formula for the men's version (from GCMS analysis combined with olfactory evaluation) and, with considerable poetic licence, my imaginings of the thinking behind the scent.
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This scent is fundamentally a unisex floral aldehyde (despite being the masculine version of the perfume). The florals are a rich fond of classic Ylang-ylang, Rose and Jasmine with a hint of lilac and neroli. Typical of its time, it anchors the florals with civet and a small dose of musk ketone and exaltolide.
The rich range of naturals belies the aforementioned command to spare no expense but nevertheless it doesn't extend far beyond the budgets typical of luxury houses. This is expensive, but it is by no means Joy or Chanel No 5 (original formula) expensive!
The Flowers
The primary floral in Amouage Gold is rose crafted in the manner we expect for the 1980s with a big dose of a synthetic rose (in this case Rose Imperiale, a fine Rose de Mai type base) backed up by a fairly decent amount of Bulgarian rose absolute. A rather delightful accent of Taif Rose (a precious rose from Saudi Arabia) is included and we also see the usual suspects of Geraniol and Citronellol which add a touch of extra fresh floralcy to the scent.
Lilac joins the rose fond in the form an elegant base (A07, dating way back to Chiris, the antique Grasse perfume house where a young François Coty took lessons and a still-somewhat-youthful Ernest Beaux designed No 5 for Madame Chanel). Lilac A07 is a rather rich and very well balanced lilac containing a considerable amount of natural Indian Jasmine and French rose. It is almost like it was designed for this scent!
The jasmine in the Lilac links perfectly with the Jasmin 1109 base of Roure Bertrand. It was so much loved by Bernard Chant that he took the formula with him when he moved to IFF. Jasmine absolute is added in addition to the base and hexyl cinnamic aldehyde smooths it all out and adds a lovely creaminess. Very notable is the absence of hedione. There is not one drop used here. Were you to desire a modern derivative of this scent, I would heartily recommend replacing this aroma chemical with my own Paradise Molecule.
A light touch of iris is present with Methyl Ionone Gamma Coeur and Irisone alpha, and neroli in the form of a replacer base adds a touch of freshness; if you were inclined to increase the cost of the scent, you could use Neroli oil instead. I recommend Moroccan but Tunisian would also work well. A drop of Orris Absolute (80% Irones) would be a jewel in the crown if you have a Sultan's budget.
The Crux of the Matter
Bitter myrrh (both resin and oil) and sweet myrrh (opoponax) add a caramelic shade and the traditional oriental staples of labdanum and benzoin back it all up. Coumarin and a vanilla absolute base almost mould these resins into an ambreine accord (of the opoponax variety).
Top Notes
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