Sables Annick Goutal for men

I just love the way immortelle has been presented here - surrounded by pepper, vanilla and wood. It makes you feel you are on the dunes by the seaside on a hot day. Just gorgeous. You feel sand, sun and summer here.

Quite marvelous. Is it possible to construct a perfume using other-than-neutral alcohol as the vehicle- say, using well-aged whiskey?

This perfume is an olfactory interpretation of a fun night in with Serge Lutens, drinking a tasty wine while he cooks you a lovely curry in his house in Marrakech. It's a pretty neat concept - though I don't especially want to smell like curry-a-la-Lutens...

Sables follows a classical drydown arc: top, heart, basenotes. The real trick though is that is that it takes you from one genre to another over this progression.

Starting with immortelle dissolved in amber, Sables gives you either a strictly sweet maple syrup candy, or a sweet and savory curry with fenugreek and raisins. It’s up to your nose. I get the latter. Either way I find it principally gourmand.

Where Sables winds up, though is in the sandlewood/amber range. While the spice-like immortelle fades in the heartnotes, by drydown, there is a light, peppery sharpness that gives the amber drydown a mineral/dry inflections not miles from that of Ambre Sultan’s scent of hot stone. Sables is the only fragrance I can think of off the top of my head that isn’t categorized so much as a hybrid (eg. floriental, leather chypre…) but as a fragrance that starts in one genre (gourmand) and ends firmly in another (amber/oriental.)

A gorgeously constructed fragrance, appropriate across the multiple (and I believe there really are many) genders, but would be a smart statement of devil-may-care appreciation of prettiness on an assured straight man.

In perfumery Immortal is a dangerous element as it easily becomes overwhelming with its monolitic presence and with its "love or hate" smell. Only a very few perfumes listing this plant in the pyramid note list can be considered as completely successful (i.e. Histoires De Parfums 1740 or Eldo's Like This). Sables is surely among these.

If you ever happened to sniff a real plant of Immortal you probably realized how characteristic and unmistakeable its smell is, and Sables opening gives a tremendously realistic interpretation of the plant. An INTENSE and rich mixture of burnt sugar and fenugreek that's aromatic and almost pungent, bold with a "WTF" effect.
The perfumeur decided to push this effect to the limit creating an almost brutal and mono-note fragrance with the only addiction of an ambery note. Masculine and very distinctive yet not so easy to be appreciated. Wether you'll like this composition or not it really depends on how you like Immortal as basically is all we're talking about. Personally I'm addicted.

Note: be carefull, this stuff is insanely powerful.

Rating: 8.5/10

Magnifique. Sables est incroyable, et pour moi qui habite au bord des dunes, sur ma peau il devient très doux, comme la caresse d’une brise de nord ouest en fin d’après midi, après que le soleil a chauffé le sable et les quelques plantes littorales, très sèches,un peu fumées... J’en redemande, encore et encore... Masterpiece.
10 / 10

It does stain on clothes and smells like licorice. I can't smell the other notes. It is very strong but cheap smelling.

It's no secret that I adore Annick Goutal, however I must admit, despite my eagerness, I wondered whether or not her male fragrances would captivate me in the same way.

Fortunately, Sables is outstanding, incredibly desirable on a man and something I wouldn't mind wearing myself.

It's a little sharp at first. Sables begins with a strong burst of pepper, woods and smoke. Although masculine, I thought it was a little too much, somewhere along the lines of the ruggedly masculine yet rich and bold Yatagan by Caron.

Thankfully Sables settles into a divine, sensual blend of woods, spice, caramel and burnt golden syrup. It's almost a gourmand for men with its distinctive deliciousness.

I love how the burnt sugar accord doesn't make this fragrance feminine or too sweet. It's perfectly balanced and very sexy, something that I would never tire of smelling.

The longevity and sillage are rather impressive, with this fragrance clinging to the skin for almost a whole 12 hours or more. I highly recommend.

I found this to be quite anisic/liquorice smelling, and don't know if maybe it was immortal flower? as I don't know what this is supposed to smell like. It certainly appeared in the top notes. As I really don't like these notes, or rather they don't like me, this was one to pass on. It's the only A.G. that I have ever disliked, however.

oh my so sexy, sofisticaded, warm, very very strong stuff so you need to apply very light with conservative hands, the basenotes are trully amazing, you smell vanilla, burnt sand, so exotic stuff, a masterpiece... this is a night in the arabic desert where you smell the sand that was burnt by the sun in the morning..... Love it.... UNIQUE...

First time I walked into Bergdorf Goodman and saw the Goutal display.
Have an unopened bottle Loved it

this perfume smells wonderfull, i love it, is a masterpiece from Goutal... smells very similar to a very strong and old oil from Egypt, smells very similar to Lutens fragrance, expensive, complex, ORIGINAL and very, very exclusive.. its strong at first, but if you wait 20 minutes you will smell a trully masterpiece....

Really like it. Very warm, very spicy and leathery. Classy, conservative and sophisticated. Lasts forever, too.

Sables was "love at first sniff." The description on the card says "For lovers of sensual experiences: the smell of the sand dunes warmed by the sun" and it smells wonderful. I don't smell pepper, but the combination of sandalwood and vanilla make it warm, sensual, earthy and sweet. Like sandalwood wrapped in vanilla and thick amber honey. Easily for men and women.

Some say that Lapidus, Kouros and others like these are strong. It’s because they haven’t tried this one!
This scent it is almost suffocating at the very first moments, when it is applied.
It starts with something dry, that reminded me tobac or those type of erbs for smokers. Then, its evolution walks to the rum. And the most interesting is that it seems like if someone had caramelized some almonds for, after that, to flambé them with that rum.
A sober, well blended and rare scent. I have never smelled a perfume like that. However, it is another “love it or hate it” type of scent.
If it’s worn in excess it is capable of causing nausea to anyone around you. On the other hand, well applied, it is addicting.

This is a terrific choice for a man who isn't sure if he's into fragrance or not! It smells like an excellent pipe tobacco at first, then you get a shot of excellent Cognac...it's really stylish. Spray this on, then pull on your best black leather jacket...I fail to see how any discerning lady could fail to take notice. I bet this would work well on the right woman as well. HIGHLY recommended, and a good deal on Ebay or from Perfume Network...most of the niche dealers (dealers...christ, there I go letting my sordid druggie past slip out)have this for less than $70.00 USD. My thanks to the nice lady at Barney's New York who turned me on to this.

A slightly woody, spiced vanilla. Has slight undertones that could be maple or tobacco, but the notes aren’t truly there. There is a very very faint note that is ‘personal’, not civet but a touch like faint BO. It’s not enough to disturb. This is masculine only by the definition that it’s not floral or remotely sweet, but this isn’t a girly-girly or specifically ‘woman’ scent. Like Tabac Blonde, perhaps, it needs the right attitude. It dries down a lot like Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque, in a rich, multi-layered scent of something resinous, slightly smokey and caramel over woods. Lovely and a bit decadent.