Tom Ford - Champaca Absolute

Sweet, sticky and boozy, reminding me of honey bees buzzing around syrupy nectar, I was not sure of Tom Ford’s Champaca Absolute when I first tried it. I mean, whether I liked it or not. It was the name that drew me to it. I know the Champaca flower very well (or Champa Pool as we called it in my native Maldives). I have longed for a real Champaca perfume for years.

Tom Ford describes it as, “Intricate. Mysterious. Passionate.” The website

goes on to say, “Tom Ford's love of the rare and expensive blooms, which must be gathered by the thousands to produce a single bottle of the fragrance, fueled his desire to create this floral-oriental composition. Its precious, white-flower heart is given intriguing dimension through layers of tokajii wine, cognac, vanilla bean amber and sandalwood”

The top notes of Champaca Absolute are cognac, plum wine, bergamot and dyer’s greenweed. The middle notes are champaca, orchid, violet and jasmine; and the base notes are vanilla, amber, sandalwood and marron glace. 

On the first description, I agree with Tom Ford. The perfume is intricate and passionate. Sadly, there we part company.

The champaca is a beautiful flower found in Asia that I am very familiar with, growing up in the Maldives. It has a very distinct smell that is creamy, sweet but not overpowering. My first reaction to Champaca Absolute is that it smells nothing like the real Champaca flower what so ever. While I do acknowledge this is not a soliflore I just could not find any Champaca fragrance of my childhood. So if anyone familiar with the smell of Champaca and wanting to buy a true Champaca fragrance, this perfume will be a huge disappointment.  I cannot smell any jasmine either but for that I am personally happy because I don't like jasmine in bottled perfumes although I love the real flowers. 

As I said, Champaca Absolute is sickeningly sweet, sticky, syrupy and boozy. The cognac/ plum wine notes are extremely strong. But surprisingly I didn't find it intoxicating at all. Somehow the sweet sticky smell reminds me of honey bees buzzing around for nectar in the afternoon sun. 

Having not found any real Champaca or jasmine, nevertheless, there was something extremely sweet and flowery in there, more akin to gardenia. Once the boozy top notes settle down, it is definitely floral. The floral mixes well with the sweet wine notes. 

It definitely is an evening perfume. Rather than the real tropical, champaca flowers, which we use to wear on our hair, some time, Champaca Absolute is one that I would wear for the evening. It is definitely a perfume for the evening out – with lots of friends in a high-society function that goes into the wee hours of the morning. 

The sillage is great. And it seems to last forever.

And my search for a real champaca perfume continues….