Amore Caffe – Mancera

Mancera

Release Date – 2023

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Amore Caffè by Mancera is a rich, unapologetically sweet fragrance built around syrup, coffee, and a warm ambergris base.

This little gourmand fell into my eager hands via a free sample tucked into a larger order, as seems to be a recurring theme in these reviews. While I wasn’t familiar with the house, I was familiar with the general reputation of French perfume – très bon.

A quick gloss over the sample card reassured me that Mancera meant business. The Art Deco design and gold motif promised good things, and I was sure I could already pick up on a hint of sweet-something.

I was ready for my first spray.

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First Impressions

Within seconds of pressing the atomiser, I was met with a rich, inky cloud of syrupy oud threaded through with coffee.

The first few seconds of a fragrance are usually quite decisive for me; I tend to latch onto one word, and that word then shapes my entire impression of what follows. With Amore Caffè, that word was imagined in bold. That word was gourmand.

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The Boozy Opening

Alcohol in perfume has always been a sticky one for me. If I see “champagne” or “rum” in a line-up of notes, I usually decide against sampling the fragrance altogether.

I’ve never really enjoyed the smell of alcohol, so I’ve never felt particularly compelled to seek it out in my perfume.

And whenever I have stumbled upon it in fragrance, it has struck me as quite sharp or piercing. So, as you can imagine, I was slightly wary when that first spray brought with it something red-nosed and boozy.

Black coffee and amaretto arrived together in the top notes. Far from being constringent, the amaretto struck me as sweet and marzipan-forward, candied in its own herbs and spices. Not quite the dreaded alcoholic bite I feared, after all!

Here, its depth was more velvety than jarring. It played nicely alongside its fellow notes, allowing equal shine rather than trying to dominate the field.

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And For Dessert?

Once the liquid top notes had mingled and married, they were then rounded out by more solid, edible heart notes: ice cream and speculoos. This subtle shift moved the fragrance from drink to dessert – first the coffee and liqueur, then the ice cream and biscuits.

We aren’t told what flavour the ice cream is, but I would wager vanilla – thick, custard-like and dotted with black seeds from the pod.

To further reinforce Amore‘s dessert-like character, the base notes consist of brown sugar, vanilla, and ambergris.

I can’t help but think that if the base had just strayed ever so slightly away from pure culinary notes, it might have leaned a little more in my direction.

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The Bill, Please

Amore Caffe is undeniably well-balanced, but as someone who tends to prefer materials over food in fragrance, I suspect I might find this a little overbearing with frequent wear.

All in all, this feels like a very well-blended testament to Mancera’s quality as a house. It smells expensive in the way some perfumes simply do.

To me, it carries the same kind of allure and depth as Baccarat Rouge: slightly indulgent and sweet, while wholly aware of its own presence.

Even if this isn’t something I would wear every day, I can absolutely appreciate the craftsmanship behind it.

6 and a half sniffs out of ten.

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