AMBREGRIS TINCTURE
what is AMBREGRIS
Natural ingredient for perfumery overview
Genus/Species: Physeter Macrocephalus. L.,.P. Catodon
Other names: Ambra (tincture); ambregris (tincture)
Foreign names: Ambre gris (FR—🇫🇷), Grauer Amber (DE—🇩🇪), Amber gris (ESP—🇪🇸), Ambra grigia (IT—🇮🇹)
Olfactive description
Ambergris tincture has a peculiar, sweet, extremely tenacious odor with a Mineral, salty, sea like (seaweed), moss-like undertone.
Specific character: Ambery — Marine
Where to find
Occasionally washed ashore (Somaliland, Mozambique, Java, Japan and Madagascar); more often it is found in whales taken in commercial hunts.
Method of extraction
Dried or powdered ambra is never used as such. Usually it is used as a tincture (3 to 5% in 90 to 95% ethanol), extract or resinoid (prepared by concentration of the tincture). The alcoholic extract is aged in tightly sealed bottles in darkness to allow the full development of odor.
Hydrocarbon solvent extracts of Ambra have been prepared, but they do not seem to offer advantages over the alcoholic extracts beyond the fact that the hydrocarbon extracts make it possible to eliminate some of the insoluble and odorless substance in Ambra.
How or when to use it
Ambra Tincture (“ambergris” tincture) is often used in combination with at least one other “animal” material. Ambra has comparatively little diffusive power, but it has a tremendous tenacity. Musk or Civet are required to improve the “wearability” of a perfume. Consequently, Ambra Tincture is particularly recommended in the more delicate florals, e.g. muguet, sweet pea, lilac, freesia, cyclamen, white rose, etc. In the modern aldehydic “fantasy” perfume bases, the use of Ambra or a similar “bouquetting” agent is a necessity in order to “round off” the stubborn chemical notes of aliphatic aldehydes.
Ambra is never used as such in perfumes. From the powdered Ambra (e.g. powdered with an inert grinding material), Tinctures and Extracts are produced. The greater part of a good grade of Ambra is soluble in alcohol. By concentration of the tincture, the so-called Resinoid of Ambergris is obtained. In terms of the definitions, the so-called resinoid is an alcoholic extract, resembling the so-called Resin Absolutes . When concentrated 20 times, the ambergris tincture turns into a light brown, semi-solid mass, which could be called “20-fold tincture of ambergris”.
True absolutes are not commercially available or regularly produced by the supply houses. It is generally believed that ambra tinctures must mature 6 months or longer prior to their use in perfumes. Thus, it serves no purpose to concentrate much further than the above mentioned 20-fold. This concentrate will usually contain about 50% solvent. If the tincture has been prepared with heat applied, the result is actually an Infusion. This extract will contain significant amounts of fats (waxes), soluble in hot alcohol, but not in cold alcohol. This waxy matter is responsible for the semi-solid consistency of dilutions of the 20-fold tincture.
Ambra and tinctures and extracts thereof are used mainly in perfumery although the use is rare as above mentioned. It should not be thought, however, that Ambra has a limited application. On the contrary: it is possible to introduce this material in countless perfume types, and with good results. But the irregular availability, the lack of experience in selecting good from poor raw material—or tincture (if so purchased),— and the comparatively high cost of good Ambra has made it a rare item on the perfumer’s shelf. Until the very recent identification of some of the most important constituents in the odor principle of Ambra (by Firmenich & Cie.), the perfumer had to use various “ambre” bases when true Ambra products were unavailable or too expensive.
Tincture of Ambra is also used in flavors, mainly as a bouquetting additive to round off and mellow the blend of synthetic flavor materials. Fruit flavors, tobacco flavors and liqueur flavors are frequently improved with this exquisite material.
Substitutes and potential blenders
These “ambre” bases are made up from certain fractions of labdanum extracts, from sage clary oil, terpeneless cypress oil, delta-methylionone (beta-isomethylionone), cedarwood derivatives, chamomile oil moroccan, nerol, isobutyl cinnamate, undecenal, oakmoss fractions, seaweed extracts, beta-caryophyllenes, agar wood oil, etc., etc.
Countless “ambre” specialties are available; some of them are excellent.
Appearance
Ambergris usually is distinguished commercially in four different qualities, depending on the color and physical appearance (i.e., as soft black amber, waxy ash-gray amber, gray amber or white amber).
Adulteration
Ambra is obviously subject to adulteration. It is characteristic of many of these rare perfume materials that one finds their best evaluators among the suppliers, not among the perfumers. In London and in New York, certain houses that have specialized in dealing with comparatively few natural raw materials for perfumes and flavors can be proud of having on their staffs some of the world’s finest experts on Ambra. However, samples or deliveries of Ambra or preparations thereof should, in all cases be subjected to thorough olfactory examination prior to purchase or use of these delicate materials.
Chemistry
Ambergris is composed of only a few characteristic chemical components, chiefly ambrein (a tricyclic terpene alcohol ; 25-45%) and epicoprosterol (5ß-cholestan-3oc-ol; 30-40%), as well as other steroids and their products, ketones (6-8%), free and esterified acids (10-13%), and porphyrins. The odour of ambergris is probably due to oxidation products of ambrein (Lederer, 1949); its quality depends on the amounts of ambrein and epicopros- terol and their ratio (Korzh & Strigina, 1972). After separation of ambrein, volatile products have been isolated including dihydro-y-ionone (Ruzicka, Seidel & Pfeiffer, 1948), an oxide, C13H22O , a hydroxyaldehyde, C17H30O2 , and a ketone, C13H20O (Ruzicka & Seidel, 1950), and y-cyclohomogeraniol, which is the chief component of the volatile non-ketonic fraction (Seidel & Stoll, 1957).
Impact
Ambregris will be noticeable in the base note.
More:
Sources and information:
GÜNTHER OHLOFF, The Fragrance of Ambergris, Editor(s): ERNST T. THEIMER, Fragrance Chemistry, Academic Press, 1982, Pages 535-573, ISBN 9780126858501, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-685850-1.50020-6
Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, S. Arctander (1961)
Burdock, George A., Fenaroli’s handbook of flavor ingredients. - 6th ed.
Merck Index (1968)