Amber for the Sultan: This is not an oriental fragrance, but an Arabic one, and – typical of Lutens – it defies categorisation.
I once acquired a scented wax at a bazaar, placed it in a wooden box, and forgot about it for a long time. But this amber only became worthy of a sultan when I reworked the composition with labdanum, a resin that sticks to your fingers like tar; then I added a note that no one could have imagined at the time: vanilla. Why? Because vanilla is also sticky, it stuck – in my memory." Serge Lutens
The idea for ‘Ambre sultan’ came to Serge Lutens when he smelled a piece of amber he had been given on his first trip to Marrakesh in 1968. He had kept it in a box made of grained thuja wood for several years. Over time, the two scents blended together...
