Guerlain Tonka Imperiale was released in 2010 as part of the L'Art et la Matiere collection. A gourmand oriental created by Thierry Wasser, it is composed around the tonka bean. - with its emphasis on vanilla and almond, with a lovely hay notes floating around, exudes a creamy sweetness and is historically one of Guerlain's often used ingredients.
Guerlain Tonka Imperiale has notes of rosemary, almond, tobacco, honey, facets of hay and balsamic, tonka bean, vanilla, Guerlinade accord. Tonka Imperiale is an eau de parfum.
Review of Guerlain Tonka Imperiale
From Now Smell This - "it veers off in other directions shortly: a bit of citrus, something strongly herbal and aromatic (that only registers as rosemary because I know it's listed in the notes), then loads of bitter almond, then dry hay + dry tobacco. By the 15 minute mark, it's foody and sweet; Sylvaine Delacourte of Guerlain describes it as "between gingerbread and chocolate", and to that I'd add amaretti cookies drizzled with honey. If that sounds overwhelming, I'll add that the richness of the opening does not last — it feels nearly transparent on skin, and the bitter and spicy elements counter the sugar nicely. It has less of a "vanilla comfort scent" feel than Spiritueuse Double Vanille, and after hitting a high point on the sugar scale at around 40 minutes, it slowly gets drier and woodier as it continues to develop."
From Bois de Jasmin - "Yet, I found that on skin Tonka Impériale is an absolute delight—it forms a beautiful, intimate aura of leather, almond praline and tobacco."
From Perfume Posse - "they are edges I can live with, it lets me breathe into the parts that I’m not sure I like, while savoring that rich, mesmerizing almost roasted dessert. Maybe it’s the rosemary that throws me? Just as I’m sinking into this sinful, tasteful gourmand, it buzzes my nose a little, and gives a discordance that isn’t jarring, but makes me think about what I’m smelling again. Enough that I can never get quite easy with it."