I actually made my experiment with Calice Becker's Absinthe Verte formula (see my A Taste of Heaven) quite a while ago, but I set it aside, feeling rather ambivalent about it, and maybe it cured a bit, and I did get some distance on it. Wormwood, as I mentioned, is so intense that while I was mixing up the darn brew, I kind of overdosed on it, and rather felt as if I couldn't do enough to mitigate its smell, or maybe neutralize it? I couldn't decide which was better for my concoction, although my aim was, without a doubt, to feature the Wormwood in a totally different way from the other scents and drinks I had experienced, but it's so darned pungent! I love bitter vegetables and herbs, more so as I get older, perhaps my system is too sweet and it balances me out somehow ; ) I should ask my herbalist, right? 
So here is what I did -- Becker's formula is for 1000 g of essences, which I divided by 5 to get the
ingredients down to amounts I could imagine, and I used DROPS instead
of GRAMS of course , which is how I saw Mandy Aftel mix her Maroc in a a
demo once. I started with one drop (ONE!) of Wormwood CO2 Extract in 10 ml of denatured alcohol so I could experience it on it's own, yikes! Then I mitigated it with whatever I had on hand from Calice's (I feel I know her now) formula: my own Amber mixture from the time I read Aftel's Essence and Alchemy (CB used Ambrarome), Vanilla, Oak Moss, Patchouli, Lavender, Orange Flower, Rose, Geranium, and oodles of Bergamot (her formula contains a full third of it!). What I got was still so sharp I decided to soften it with a little Clove, Benzoin, and Labdanum, and still it smelled a bit rough. What to do? I was missing a major aromatic component of her formula -- four different types of Lavender! I had added whatever I had, a paltry 10 drops whereas hers had a whopping 50% of the stuff, but this was a riff on hers after all, made at home!
Luckily I remembered that I had some Ambergris tincture from the era when wonderful Luca Turin had his blog, and a few of us went in on some of the pure Amber Gris after he extolled its virtues, divided it up and tinctured it, and it sits in my cabinet to this day. LT had done an experiment where he sprayed something nice and normal, perhaps Guerlain Vetiver on each hand, and on one he added a drop of Ambergris and the effect was utterly transformative. So I added 4 drops (in what turned out to be a 70 drop formula) and hoped for the best. By this time I had completely overdosed on the Wormwood and my nose had shut down completely, so I put it aside for further study.
Every once in a while, during the last month, I've spied the cobalt bottle containing my potion on the table, and I've dabbed it around a bit . It's bitter, not sweet like CB's, and it's undeniable herbal, is it an egregious hippie aroma? No, it's so darned heady, rather more Goth, not fuzzy and friendly, yet not nasty either. As it develops, and it actually does develop, its warmth surfaces, but it never loses that Wormwood Wallop, and yes, I do find it strangely addictive, even in this makeshift for
m, thanks to Ms Becker, or to this mysterious herb, or both.
So the Victorians had something there, perhaps Absinthe wasn't in and of itself downright dangerous, but had a narcotic quality to those who were oddly susceptible to it, and that would have been, and is, me. I've always had a weakness for sensibilities of the past tempered by the present, and my homemade juice is very evocative, probably just to me -- luckily I work at home!
Wendy, if I could make a suggestion - not having smelled the perfume you cite: tone it down a bit with the intense essences. Most of the ones you've chosen are a 4 or 5 on an intensity scale of 1-5. Amyris, copaiba balsam, maybe even some linden blossom absolute could soften the edges while adding body. You could also make tinctures of the intense stuff, much in the way you did with the wormwood - maybe a 2% oakmoss, 5% clove, benzoin, labdanum etc. Less, yes, is so often more ;-)
Posted by: Anya | October 09, 2008 at 03:08 PM
Woo-hoo! You did it!!
Somebody--Ayala / SmellyBlog?--just recently mentioned how one of her conjurings improved with age. Might be interesting to see if you are onto something with that.
Having not descended into a laboratory myself, I sure did enjoy this virtual peek over your shoulder. Now, I'll be off imagining both your formula, and the magical transformative power of a drop of amber gris....
Posted by: ScentScelf | October 09, 2008 at 03:59 PM
Anya, thanks for stopping by, and becoming my first subscriber too! Funny that all of my essences are so high on the intensity scale, that's just what I like instinctively, and More is More is my motto! But a Lite version is definitely in the offing, and I'll take your suggestions to heart. Mmmm Linden Absolute sounds wonderful, and just what I need in lieu of more Lavender. Sadly I'm such a dilettante, I probably won't get to it for ages, but you'll know when I do!
Sorry to say that my OB tincture has been recycled, as it didn't "deliver" enough in three distillations (is that the right term?). I'm to much of a quick and dirty perfectionist to continue with it, not an ideal personality for a pro perfumer I know, but luckily I am a Hobbyist! I am the same way with my baking, luckily I get good results anyway!
My roasted coffee tincture worked out well immediately, now what to do with it? Perhaps it would like some Wormwood?
Posted by: Qwendy | October 09, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Scentself, nice to see you, you ARE my most loyal reader!
I think that Mandy Aftel talks about letting scents meld for a while in her book, it makes sense, no? The idea that Le Labo makes all of their scents up for you "fresh" seems counterintuitive to me, although many of their essences seem to be synthetic, so their protocol probably makes less of a difference.
Here is the exact quote from LT's blog Perfume Notes, dated almost three years ago, those were the days!
"OK, simple experiment: back of right hand, Yardley's lavender, 2 spritzes. Left hand, Yardley's lavender 2 spritzes +1 spritz ambergris. Result: the left hand still smells like lavender, but much stronger, more complex and in 3-D. Like switching from little speakers to big electrostatics. Small wonder people value the stuff !
Posted by: LT | November 30, 2005 at 05:35 PM"
Posted by: Qwendy | October 09, 2008 at 11:32 PM
It's amazing what ambergris can do to perfume and it's one of those rare essences that smell astoundingly wonderful by itself (at least I think so myself). It's great that you have done it and congrats on your perstistance! And bypassing Lite is always commentable in this day and age.
(and btw, you've been tagged:
http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/2008/10/tag-you-are-it.html)
Best! :-)
Posted by: perfumeshrine | October 14, 2008 at 06:15 AM
Helg, how nice, I've never been tagged before! And Dain too, I must head over there, didn't know she had a new blog (to me anyway) I must update my links someday, I'm such a slothful blogger -- I'll do my tag post tomorrow!
Yes, Lite is generally anathema to me too, but I have noticed how changing the intensity of perfume concoctions brings out and tamps down certain elements, and I'm just plain curious about how my primitive stuff fares.
Ambergris on its own, I remember hating it, let's see........................yep, it's WAY too fecal for me, yow!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Posted by: Qwendy | October 14, 2008 at 09:58 AM
wendy, great to see you this weekend and spend some sniffing time together. hey, you did the absinthe, awesome! i have some suggestions, feel free to come by the studio after your journeys and we can do some experiments together with the plethora of aromatics here.
YES maturing makes a HUGE difference, especially with the formula you've created.
Posted by: Roxana | October 14, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Roxana, thanks so much for the generous offer, I'll have to take you up on it after my trip, OK? And I can't wait to try your Absinthe, maybe it's time to resurrect it!
Posted by: Qwendy | October 15, 2008 at 10:31 PM
I'm fascinated by the process and would love to come and play- if only to sniff..
Posted by: tmp00 | October 17, 2008 at 10:36 PM
you're tagged. Sorry
Posted by: tmp00 | October 21, 2008 at 08:42 AM
Wendy, I'm the third one to tag you, now you've really got to do this!
Posted by: carmencanada | October 26, 2008 at 03:23 PM
Hey, if you're having folks over to play in the absinthe laboratory...aw, well, I can't go that far. But tell us about it!! :)
Posted by: ScentScelf | October 27, 2008 at 04:36 PM
I'm going to give this a try once I get my vacation leave. As a perfume hobbyist, I never really gone that far. I only follow strictly what is on the recipe book and use the essences that are available in the market. This gives me an idea to have my own experiment.
Bobby
Make Homemade Fragrances
Posted by: Bobby | October 28, 2008 at 06:21 AM
H, T & D, I promise I'll do my tagged blog this week, before I leave for 6 weeks!
Scentself, I'll be sure to report on any other sniffers, but don't expect too much from my homemade brew, I'm probably the only one who likes it, everyone else has much more sophisticated noses I suspect!
Bobby, I'm curious to hear how you do with the proper ingredients, please report back!
Posted by: Qwendy | October 28, 2008 at 08:22 AM
What a wonderful experiment! Ambergris tincture with another note...I must try this. And how awesome that LT gave you your tincture. There's something to keep for posterity...
Posted by: Perfumaniac | January 12, 2010 at 10:04 AM