SOTD: Givenchy Gentleman Society Ambrée

🔥

Good morning gents!

Latest sample going poof, Givenchy Gentleman Society Ambrée.

Tried this one quite some time ago, not long after it came out I believe. This is a 2025 release, and a pretty good one at that. I was gifted a sample of it at a retailer about a month and a half ago, but didn't wear it as it was still warm. Now that things are finally cooling off, it's time to go through these.

Notewrothy notes are on top notes nutmeg and juniper berries, in the middle notes are orris, sandalwood and vetiver, and in the base notes tobacco, vanilla and peru balsam.

Opening on this fragrance is very nice, earthy and sweetish, warm, but not overly so, which is why I initially liked it quite a bit. Not going to say the fragrance remains linear, because I feel that would not be right, but the top notes I feel never fully leave, just move further to the background as it dries down, starting at about 30-40 minutes.

When it comes to the middle notes, this is where I find myself in a "not sure" state. The orris pops up (not a fan of iris or orris in general), and the creaminess of the sandalwood very nicely takes center stage (love sandalwood). But there's something, I can maybe describe it as how the orris and vetiver blend there, that doesn't give me good vibes. I get something like a bittersweet scent.

On the drydown, things finally settle, and become nice again. First off, I had kind of no experience with a peru balsam note, so had to reach out to fragrantica for that: "An intense woody coniferous aromatic ambery fragrance." Fair enough, makes total sense with how the fragrances dries down. Beautiful vanilla and an ambery profile take over, very enjoyable. Although it's evidently there, I don't pick up on the tobacco as prominently as I would've thought.

Performance is rather good. It ends up as a skin scent at about 5 hours, but that lingers there for quite a considerable amount of time, 2-3 hours more perhaps. SIllage is good.

I initially lilked it quite a bit, even considered wishlisting it. But after the 3-4 wears I could get out of the sample, I found I got bored by it very quickly. This rarely happens to me with a fragrance I like. Must be that strange mid.

Conclusion:

Do I like it? In general yes, but that weirdness in the mid.

Did I enjoy the decant? I did.

Full bottle worthy, for me? That mid weirdness may be just me. If I take that out, it's a very nice fragrance, no doubt. But something about it bored me rather quickly. Thus personally, I would not get a full bottle. I do recommend it sampling at least!

12 comments