Ambar del Sur
Carner Barcelona (2018)

A sunny, almost beachy interpretation of amber that emphasizes the vanilla/tonka without going into dessertville. Ambar del Sur deserves no awards for originality or acclaim for delicate nuance, so it's undeniably a bit of an also-ran.

Still, it's wearable and refreshing in a way that most ambers aren't (amber scents do skew pretty stodgy), and that's enough to give it a thumbs-up in my book. This will get more weartime from me than many of the usual suspects because of that more aromatic, Mediterranean tilt.

Fragrantica member Tamlin describes Ambar del Sur as, "a spicy amber scent that almost reminds me of a salty broth seasoned with dry herbs. There's something a little bit weird about it...something that's almost a bit sour and funky." That comes close to my experience, though on top of a garden variety sweet vanilla and tonka. I think the salty/weird/sour/funky aspect is a bergamot-glazed synthetic ambergris with some attempt to make it more realistic than the usual ambroxan bomb. Combined with the "amber accord" in the heart and the vanilla/tonka base, you've got amber and ambergris together for a sort of oceanic oriental, though arguably not as interesting as that might sound.

I'm not fond of either aquatics or vanillic ambers, so this isn't my thing. I had hopes that the sandalwood, cistus, and myrrh would outweigh the vanilla and tonka, but not to my nose. I'm also not having any of the performance/longevity issues some wearers report, more's the pity.

If you like modernist ambers, this might work well for you. My sample will go in the "out" box