Overture 41

Amouage classes Overture 41 among the amber woody spicy fragrances. The house opens the composition on olibanum, saffron, Calvados and cinnamon, places benzoin, centifolia rose, geranium and a sandalwood in the central tier, and sets the base on vanilla, labdanum, patchouli and leather.

Saffron, Calvados and rose

In the extrait, Annick Ménardo takes the saffron, Calvados and rose of Overture Woman to dimensions the house calls unprecedented. Calvados, an apple brandy, opens with olibanum and saffron on a spicy warmth, according to Amouage.

The centifolia rose, which the house also presents as an accord, holds the central place. Geranium and benzoin surround it, while the cinnamon of the top extends the spice of the saffron.

A redistilled sandalwood

To enrich the rose and heighten its beauty, the house uses a Sandalwood Drèches, a material it says is obtained through a precise redistillation. Amouage describes it as smooth and sophisticated, and entrusts it with the passage from flower to wood.

The base

At the base, the house describes a harmony of amber and patchouli that anchors the excesses of the upper tiers and gives the whole gravitas, authority and depth. Its list of notes names vanilla, labdanum, patchouli and leather there.

What the label declares

Denatured alcohol, fragrance, patchouli oil and water open the list. Two synthetic woods, tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes and acetyl cedrene, lead the odorous materials, ahead of vanillin, bergamot peel oil, linalool and limonene.

Further down appear geranium flower oil, rose oil, cinnamon bark oil and cinnamal, alongside ethylhexyl salicylate, a UV filter. Isoeugenol, eugenol, geraniol, citral and rose ketones complete the list, with bitter orange peel oil.