Tales of Amber Goldfield & Banks 2025

Immediately after spraying, you smell sweet, floral cinnamon and very mild oud notes, but within the next minute the iris and ambery notes come to the front and remains linear the rest of the wear.

Sometimes a fragrance has "amber" or "oud" in the name but the note either isn't there or is only featured waaaay in the background. This is not one of those. The amber is the feature, and it is prominent and salty, accompanied by a moderately strong iris/orris that is more waxy than powdery. Below that, very mild, sweet (and not at all spicy) cinnamon, sweet florals I can't really place, and just a touch of oud. I know the notes say orange blossom, but I think it's mild enough that it's mainly there to give the cinnamon a more a nectar-adjacent quality.

I see this gets compared to Dior Homme or Gentleman Givenchy. While all three prominently feature iris, the Givenchy and Dior are more like each other than either is like Tales of Amber. I don't say this to critique any of these, but Tales of Amber is just a different olfactory experience from the former.

This is a light, linear, salty, femme-leaning daily unisex with just enough sweetness to be perceived but not stand out or distract from the amber and iris. While this isn't to my taste (iris is a polarizing scent for me) it's high quality, exceptionally blended, and has great longevity that projects just the right amount. Even though I personally dislike it, I won't be bothered if someone else is wearing it, and I would recommend trying it if any of these descriptions appeal to you.

The most recent release from Goldfield & Banks is Tales of Amber, which I first smelled at a launch event at Perfumology some weeks ago, an easygoing but classy blend that smells like a spicy, resinous, orris-laden blend that seemingly reminds some of Dior Homme or Dior Homme Parfum, but which I regard as both easier to wear and more comforting than either, something that stands out positively but can easily be sprayed a bit to excess with comfort. Additional supporting notes that add freshness, sweetness, and color are orange blossom, cinnamon, and (the resins) labdanum & oud. It manages to be sharp but not too heady, provocative but not overbearing, plentiful but not a distractive powerhouse, very good performance but not among the strongest of the house, from what I recall.

Its retail pricing is among the highest of the brand (as with most of the extrait collection, which is a higher price point than the EDPs that comprise the majority of the house’s catalogue) at $319 for 100ml, with a travel size of $63 for 10ml, sold in the US at great boutiques like Perfumology. As always, the travel size is a very nice option to try before buying a bigger size, particularly since there is not a more medium-sized (i.e. 30, 50, 75ml) available. This is among the most wearable and versatile fragrances in a very wearable and versatile house, so I could see it being an example that someone could wear abundantly to warrant a 100ml size.

Overall, I’m really impressed with this and it might be my very favorite of the line to date.

8 out of 10

Pour Moi l'une des meilleures sorties parfums de cette année
Bravo suzy le helley pour avoir créé ce chef d'œuvre olfactif
Une pure merveille
Dès son ouverture on a un parfum magnifique
Qui laisse son empreinte,que ce soit sur soi ou pour le plaisir de ceux que l'on croise.
Bravo suzy, magnifique

"Opens salty, a bit musky, and waxy. Over time it has a slightly sweet scent and is ultimately a very way profile overall.

This scent is very light, not overly rich. Airy overall and again kind of waxy of you get right in it and faintly vanilla. Not so much a powdery iris in this case. Was hoping for a bit more of a rich/dense and radiant amber perfume."

This one was a big turnaround for me. At first attempt, I got a screeching iris accord totally out of solution. Left a note to self “confusing scent tbh. not terrible not great.” Upon a second attempt, I got smooth salty cinnamon resting on a resinous base that never becomes overly vanilla or gourmand. The ambergris dry-down is addictive. On the Other Review Site, I see comps to Althair, which makes little sense to me. (I get that much more with Silky Woods Exilir, which I got in the same test kit). If we must comp a PdM, I maybe get some Oajan here. But I like it better than Oajan, on account of it being way less sweet and more woody, salty, spicy. Compliments, though admittedly from family, not strangers. I ordered the 10ml to have around this fall and winter, but a full bottle may have to follow.