SULTAN PASHA PERFUMES
QUINTESSENTIALLY AMBER

2025

citrus notes
aldehydes
spicy notes
rose
amber

labdanum
benzoin
styrax
musk

patchouli
ambergris
Vetiver
sandalwood
vanilla

‘Over the years, Sultan has explored in great depth the various facets of the complex amber genre. With Quintessentially Amber, he decided to create a kaleidoscopic amber using all of the elements of this genre, but in a harmonious way: warm, resinous, creamy, spicy, sweet, salty, camphoric and incensy.’ – Sultan Pasha

Thanks to my friend Perfumeaholic, who met up with Sultan, I’m able to sample his long-awaited sprayable perfumes (and one of his upcoming attars). After spraying the 4 of them on paper, Quintessentially Amber was one of the stand outs for me, so it went on skin first, alongside Irisoir.

Quintessentially Amber sets out to touch on all facets of amber and that becomes clear early on. I figured (as I usually reference other fragrances anyway) it would make sense to place it alongside several ‘quintessential’ ambers of recent years for this review.

From the first moment, I’m hit with spices, sweetness, creaminess, and perhaps most ‘surprisingly’, or oustandingly, saltiness. I would say the general direction of the opening reminded me most of a fragrance like Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir, but the Sultan Pasha is more resinous and smooth from the get go; it doesn’t pack as much of a spicy punch and generally is less ‘in-your-face’. It does give me the same Autumn and Holiday cozy vibes and same level of sweet-but-not-gourmand-amber.

The contradiction of the brightness and saltiness, with the more familiar sweet vanillic side of amber works really well. As said above, not quite as spicy as many ambers, and not as smoky or heavy either. It’s not as bright and sharp as Parfum D’Empire Ambre Russe though, but goes more in the balsamic, incense direction overall.

This is especially true as it starts to drydown. The saltiness goes completely and on my skin, Quintessentially Amber grows much earthier for a bit, with a prominent, slightly muddy labdanum and I was definitely reminded of Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur or the vanillic Guerlinade accord in Guerlain Shalimar, during this phase of the wear.

Ultimately, the sweetness wins and it’s… not lactonic, but creamy, smooth and balmy. A little hint of band-aid, but it’s no YSL Babycat or Papilon Anubis. It sits somewhere in between all those aforementioned ambers; which makes sense given the goal to highlight the different sides of it.

One of the more rounded, complete and smoothly wearing ambers on the market. A lot of familiarity throughout, making it probably the most conventional smelling of the Sultan Pasha Perfumes and not a fragrance that instantly excited me the way a more eccentric or unique style could achieve. But that by no means says Quintessentially Amber is boring or redundant; it’s a refined balance that few ambers manage to hold on to and it perfectly does what it set out to do. Strong thumbs up.