Embers

Embers features the following notes: Calabrian Bergamot, Rose Damascena, 25year old Government-certified Mysore Sandalwood, more recently distilled, certified Sandalwood, and TRNP signature amber base.

“An intense burning passion for Mysore sandalwood was my motivation for creating Embers, and in 2010 I blended the first batch (350ml), purely for my own hedonistic enjoyment. I gave much of it away to friends and family who would smell it on me and … you know.

And so I made more. A whole litre!  And it too went.

By then, I’d started to sell my perfumes and the first 5 litre batch of Embers was made in the Summer of 2011, and was ready to wear in February 2012. I have learned over the years that something quite magical happens in the maturation of Embers during the Queensland Summer (it heats up from mid-November to a long, slow cool down in late March), where it is typically very hot and hellishly humid, like being in a sweat lodge or sauna day and night. This is the best brewing time for all of my amber fragrances, but I first learned this from Embers. If I make it in any other season, it just behaves very differently, and never quite blooms as it should. So another batch followed in 2015 and then again in 2019. All of which were released in the following year after their long hot Summer brewing.

I was feeling very uncomfortable about the scarcity of real Mysore sandalwood and the dwindling, carefully guarded stock from India. I decided to offer my sincere gratitude to the great spirit of Santalum Album, and put a full stop to the making of Embers. I decided to create a new sandalwood fragrance called Sacred Ground, using an amazingly creamy, sweet and sustainable source of plantation-grown Australian sandalwood… but more on that later.

The Embers swansong has been brewing since August and was all set for release, when I was contacted by an attar maker in India, offering me some precious supplies of 25 year old, Government-certified, pure Mysore sandalwood. It was very expensive, as you can imagine, and I bought 150ml. I added 100ml of that precious vintage juice into the final batch of Embers, along with the 600ml of certified, recently-distilled Mysore sandalwood already included. (The other 50ml of the vintage sandalwood went into a stunning pure attar blend of Indian Zeeba).

This final batch contains the highest percentage of Mysore Sandalwood of all previous batches, and it is more expensive, as a reflection of this feature, however Luckyscent continue to stock Embers 2012 and Embers 2020.

This fragrance has demonstrated that it ages very well and will last many years if kept out of direct sunlight. Over time, the amber accord will yield more and more to the enduring presence of the Mysore, and the rich, creamy woody facets will further expand. * At the very last moment, just as we were preparing to bottle and ship Embers 21 to the US, I decided to add another 150ml of Sandalwood to the brew, to ensure that the fragrance would last longer on application whilst its still so young. As it ages, its wearing will require very little and a bottle will last many years. The current concentration can easily be considered pure parfum strength.

Can I tell the difference, when I smell it now with the vintage Mysore added? Yes I can, but even more than that, I really feel it. The effect of it is a sensation of deep calm and focused tranquility that arises moments after spraying it, and I just take a very deep breath and release the tension I didn’t even know I was holding in my body. It truly feels to me like a bottle of sublime peace.” — A note by the nose