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Champaca Absolute Tom Ford 2009

7.6 / 10 224 Ratings

A popular perfume by Tom Ford for women and men, released in 2009. The scent is floral-woody. It was last marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Floral

Woody

Sweet

Spicy

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Cognac

Tokaji wine

Bergamot

Davana

Green notes

Heart Notes

Champaca

Orchid

Broom

Jasmine

Violet

Base Notes

Marron glacé Amber

Amber

Vanilla

Sandalwood

Ratings

Scent

7.6224 Ratings

Longevity

7.7178 Ratings

Sillage

7.0169 Ratings

Bottle

8.2183 Ratings

Value for money

6.568 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro · last update on 08/06/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Fondré Noir

Champaca Eau de Parfum

Dark Amber & Ginger Lily

Beige Eau de Parfum

Voulez-vous coucher avec Moi

Tubéreuses Castane

Reviews

16 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/07/2012

LiliumLibido
51 Reviews

LiliumLibido

Helpful Review 5

Undescribable

I find this one very, very hard to describe because the notes are so seamlessly blended together! It's not sweet. It's very soft, deep and musky, with barely a touch of saltiness around the edges. Undeniably floral, but a perfect choice for those who DON'T like florals, actually. This frag is all about texture, it's a liquid velours running through my fingers, caressing my hands.
Breathtakingly beautiful, lasts forever.

06/24/2013

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

5

umami

Opens with a moist white floral note that suggests humid doldrums. The volume hints that the perfume will be a big, mixed white floral, and it is. It's just not the expectable jasmine, orange blossom, tuberose trip. It's not 'dirty' in the sense of sweat and body odor that the above flowers tend to have, but does have an umami quality that keeps it from reading as too spic and span. This savory tone serves the same purpose as BO in tuberose and the others. It’s a basic compositional strategy in both the kitchen and the perfume lab. Use the contrasting note that highlights the sultriness of the floral, the lemon juice that brings out the sweetness of melon, the MSG that brightens your processed foods.

Champaca flower has a creamy sweetness that’s cut with a whiff of tea. In shape, it reminds me of camellia. Champaca Absolute underlines the creamy floral with ambery lushness and gives it the feel of party-girl floriental. There's a big push-pull to the top notes, as the floral tone is very expansive, but the creaminess pulls it back a bit.

The top notes are actually fairly simple, but they transition into a more complex set of heart notes that add a spiciness and give dimension to the flower. It feels a little more woody than oriental at this point. It moves from an apparent simplicity to a more nuanced complexity and is very satisfying to wear. The heart notes are fairly long-lasting, and gorgeous. Floral, spicy, woody, creamy. Very luxurious overall.

The basenotes take a bit of a turn and spiced creaminess grows more vanillic, making me think there was an attempt to end on a sandalwood note. Unfortunately earthiness and the milkiness don't mix well and the ending, for all the world, smells to me like cupcakes made with a mushroom butter cream icing. The slow transition is off-putting, giving me the feeling of smelling milk curdle.

Interesting ride, but not the ending I'd hoped for.

(A thought. There is a similarity in Champaca Absolute’s amber/magnolia accord to Givenchy’s Insense. These two perfumes have little in common otherwise. Perhaps this amber/champaca pairing could lead to other interesting perfumes.)

from scent hurdle.com

11/18/2023

9.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Javijabs
12 Reviews

Javijabs

4

Seduction In A Bottle

As a man, I confidently embrace and wear this floral fragrance, which is a rare choice for me. Without a doubt, this ranks as my all-time favorite Tom Ford fragrance. It's akin to capturing the essence of seduction in a bottle, radiating a sweet, vibrant, floral, and utterly irresistible charm that endures for well over 12 hours. Consistently, whenever I apply it, women are quick to shower me with compliments and openly express their admiration. It's genuinely disheartening to learn that it has been discontinued. I earnestly implore Tom Ford to consider reintroducing this exceptional fragrance to the market.

05/24/2025

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Flamurgj
7 Reviews

Flamurgj

4

JUST AS YOU THINK

Right off the bat, I’ve never actually smelled champaca before this. Never even knew what it was, before getting a sample of this Tom Ford perfume. So, I really didn’t know what to expect from it.

It opens up with the boozy notes, of cognac and the tokaji wine. I also had to figure out what tokaji wine was, before sampling this perfume, and it seems to be a wine grown in a region of Hungary.

Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s ever that strong, or just gets overshadowed by the cognac…which I do know the smell of quite well.

Along with the cognac, is a hint of citrus, some sweet vanilla, and the emergence of floral notes. Luckily, my nose can pretty readily pick up on jasmine and orchid, to distinguish those aromas from other scents. Here, it has helped me to single out what I deduce is the champaca.

The composition comes across as warm and somewhat dark, at first, while the booze settles in. Then, it becomes a lovely yellowish floral perfume, with vanilla, and soaked in a sea of amber. The cognac hangs around, but it is never as potent, as it once was.

The good news is that, there is some nuttiness that peaks through more once the cognac has started to fade out. It’s noticeable at times after the opening, but that richness sits in the amber aroma quite nicely.

To my nose, the dry down really develops a creaminess, which I find very appealing. That’s going to happen with these floral notes, when blended with vanilla, and sandalwood. Here though, it is impeccable.

Finally, the two main notes left are the champaca and sandalwood. Champaca Absolute has a drier feeling, at this point, woody yet sweet. Calming and lovely.

02/16/2016

8Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Leimbacher
2879 Reviews

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Leimbacher

Top Review 20

The Great GatsBiene

I don't know if it's the design, the name, the price, its aura, or its (already) impressive life/perfumeography - but I celebrate almost everything Tom Ford does. Call it crazy or brand-obsessed, misled or talented at recognizing other talent - whether it's the regular collection, suits, or Private Blends, he often enchants me, literally. With this energy, the good man often manages to squeeze a few extra euros out of my pocket, through a, to put it nicely, cheeky pricing strategy. When it comes to clothing, I simply don't earn enough (yet) to splurge, so I usually remain a window shopper.

Back to his fragrances: today, the rather hidden, but to my knowledge still not discontinued, Champaca Absolute was in the testing lineup. Declared unisex, it would need a bit more than a pink shirt, metrosexuality & cocktails in hand to wear this moist-floral little fruit as a man. Clearly feminine, but a dream in white-pink. Sparkling champagne soap, underlined by a dark cognac fresh from a barrel of the finest wood, wrapped in all the flowers I usually don't like. Except for a kind of ylang-ylang that even J'Adore lovers would find surprising, I hate jasmine, osmanthus, or lily. Here, they are so sexy, charming & noble that my mouth waters. If a woman crosses my path wearing this scent around her neck, I hope I'm drunk enough to approach her. Because if she's already playing in a different financial league than I am, I at least want to talk to her about her extremely good perfume taste... ;)

Bottle: pink or transparent silver would have been better - but the usual black gold is also elegant.
Sillage: classic case: started strong, faded strongly. But pleasantly later for bold wearers.
Longevity: 8 hours stands for TF quality.

Conclusion: in the midfield of the TF Private Collection, it is still a nose length ahead of most of the rest. A nose length that always has to be held high. But may this dreamy pink cognac garden pond!

More reviews

Statements

28 short views on the fragrance

Flamurgj

9 months ago

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

1

The cognac, nuttiness, and sweet fruit aspects of this fragrance are highlights for me. The white floral transition is cool too, but ....

Eggi37

3 years ago

7.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

21

15

Exotic floral champaca as the main player
Has a fresh-green side
Feels like a floral cream on the skin
Vacation vibes

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Yatagan

7 years ago

7.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

16

2

Opulent bouquet of flowers with exotic blooms, as if freshly picked from the rainforest and then reshaped in a lab: erotic and feminine!

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Smoetn

3 years ago

7.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

14

6

Tropical, exotic, floral-sweet, boozy. A rather complex scent that's hard to describe. Well made, but not for me.

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Michelangela

5 years ago

9.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

11

Elegant green opening that disappears into nothing, then unexpectedly intoxicates with exotic floral notes gliding on soft wood. Wonderful.

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Serafina

9 years ago

9Scent

12

Noble floral scent, far from the mainstream. Subtle yet present. The woody-warm base gives it a unique character.

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RahatLoukoum

2 years ago

9.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

8

tropical champaca flowers with a rather alcoholic cognac note. Unique.

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Eniii

4 years ago

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

8

Extremely unique! I can't even describe this scent...tropical, exotic, and boozy? I'm excited to see how it develops on warm days.

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MsPerfume

5 years ago

9.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

8

From 'Yeah, pretty okay' to a hint of bathroom cleaner to WOW*-*
What a great scent. Exotic - floral, spicy, feminine. I love it!

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ParfumAholic

8 years ago

7.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

8

Opulent white floral arrangements, champagne from expensive glasses & fine wooden furniture, that's how I envision the perfect scent scene.

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Flavorite 12 years ago

Perfumes & Brands

Tom Ford's Champaca Absolute

I really love champaca flowers, but in Champaca Absolute they seem trampled to death by the heaviness of the orchids. I do wear this, but VERY sparingly. It's definitely a heavy hitter and I'm glad I didn't go ahead...

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Champaca Absolute Tom Ford 2009

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