Amber Wood Monotheme 2013

Incense and amber, what else do we need for happiness? They work wonderful together, melt smoothly, without complications or extra decoration of subsidiary notes.

AMBER WOOD is old, dark, shady and beautiful. It is not too sweet, rather woody-smoky, encouraging, upholder scent. However incense is indicated in head, it lasts till the beginning of base, but later amber is stronger.
Black Label – it fits for luxury products, I really appreciate the dignity that is eradiated by AMBER WOOD in general.

Despite its name, Amber Wood is much more dark and dry than it may seem. I would have called it “Leather Wood”, or even “Leather Oud”: it opens with a really bitter and dark leather accord with smoky woods (birch, vetiver, and something even more nutty-rubbery, like synthetic oud), and almost nothing else except a faint, yet perceivably warm resinous base accord, and a note which reminds me of violet, with a dirty aftertaste of earthy patchouli. A salty (and quite “niche”, if you ask me) hint of ambroxan evokes the “ambergris” smell and “rounds” the blend with a musky-grey touch. On the drydown, vetiver takes a prominent place with leather, labdanum and other woody debris. Basically I would place this somewhere between some mainstream violet-leather-smoky scents (like Jil Sander Man), a couple of vintage dark fougères (like Arrogance pour Homme EdP, mostly for leather and patchouli), and finally, as for Rose Oud by this same brand, a lot of Montale scents – especially their “dark” range (Dark Oud, Black Oud and so on). It’s much, much similar to them in fact, overall syntheticness included. Don’t expect any masterpiece, but it’s fine, actually not bad at all: it’s bitter, dark, smoky, dirty and much “black”, perhaps a tad tacky and clumsily trendy, with surely an overall barely decent quality; but it works. For all lovers of dark leather/oud scents, an extremely cheap and affordable alternative (this cost me 12 euro for 100 ml, worth having just for fun). The same opinion I expressed for Rose Oud applies here too: if it was a niche scent (and believe me, it could totally be) with a niche price, I would have rated it with a 5 on 10, or even less, because for me the price and the market positioning are part of the product, and must be taken into account. While here, you can’t really argue on the price, which is more than honest – and that is enough for me to respect Amber Wood (but anyway, it smells nice too).

6,5-7/10

...even when the Enterprise was on course to the edge of a black hole.
And one reaches the edge of such a thing with this fragrance as well. "Event horizon" is what astronomers call it. Once there and then sucked in, there is no turning back.
Time always runs slower, until it finally comes to a complete standstill.
No one has ever been inside such a black hole, and no one can even remotely imagine it.
But with "Black Label - Amber Wood" by Monotheme, I have at least caught a glimpse of it. Dark-woody and birch-tarry, inky like a moonless night.
Soon I will drift into the vast cosmos with notes of vetiver and incense.
I move further and further away from the blue planet, passing the sun with hot saffron, and after what feels like an eternity, I find myself 1,000,000 light-years away from our solar system in dark rockrose, the "supermassive black hole" pulsating before me.
Should I dive in?......
Time has long since stopped.
FASCINATING!!!!!

Amber Wood is a finely balanced, somewhat straightforward… well, what is it then? Amber scent? Wood scent? Amber may - in whatever form - make its appearance. However, we are primarily dealing with a very, very special wood. More on that later, because upon application, smoke and birch tar initially reign. Nevertheless, Amber Wood does not overwhelm. The two powerhouses are quickly disciplined by a balsamic note in the background. This may be due to labdanum, as well as possibly a diffuse amber note. Nonetheless, the scent can certainly be described as quite edgy.

But now to the gradually emerging wood note, which from late morning stands at eye level with the smoke-birch tar faction: Wow. I am reminded of the smell of ancient furniture and paintings in a museum. And not in a bright yet soulless exhibition room, where the exhibits have been given a purely art-historical context by a highly educated curator, so that even the last visitor is at best addressed via intellect. No, it is the smell of a place where people lived. Perhaps a residential house, like one of those tiny, unpretentious museums found along the North Sea coast: Former seafarers' houses with creaking wood, small and cozy cubbies. Or that firnish scent that fills desolate, venerable castles, where galleries of ancestors have been looking down gloomily for centuries, as if incessant discontent over the living walking on the parquet floors gnaws at them.

Until the afternoon, I am accompanied by a beautifully complementary interplay from both directions, which emphasizes similarities rather than highlighting differences. The scent remains well perceptible for about seven to eight hours; for another one to two, I have to make a bit of an effort.

Conclusion: Those looking for a typical amber scent are at the wrong address with Amber Wood. For fans of strong, dark yet elegant wood notes or for anyone seeking a universally wearable counterpart close to the style of, for example, Bois d’Ascese or Mona di Orio's Cuir, it is a top test tip.

Many thanks to Ergoproxy for the sample.