Musky, slightly sweet – and maybe a hint of Cognac in there…? That’s what you’ll get when you smell ambrette, an aromatic medicinal plant (musk mallow) which is native to India and used particularly in Ayurvedic medicine. (The shoots, leaves and seeds are also used in cooking, while ambrette flowers are sometimes used to add scent and flavour to tobacco). It was for a time the perfumer’s choice for replacing animal musks, although it’s gentler and not as sharp. But nowadays, synthetic musks have widely replaced ambrette, on grounds of its priciness.
Smell ambrette in:
Penhaligon’s Tralala
