Caramel TonkaWoody Gourmand Parfum Elixir

Caramel Tonka by NÛR is a gourmand, woody, spicy unisex perfume elixir created by Jean-Bernard Albani. It is not an alcohol-based perfume but an ultra-concentrated oil—which explains its 3 ml size.

Elixirs conceived as materials

NÛR is a French artisanal haute parfumerie house that produces neither eau de parfums nor classic alcohol-based extracts, but elixirs: concentrated oils in the tradition of attars. It defines them as materials rather than compositions—deep vanillas, milky sandalwood, resinous ambers, roasted tonka bean, vibrant roses, musks, dark ouds. The name of an elixir announces its material, and often its origin: never an imaginary place or an emotion. Its co-founder Jean-Bernard Albani, a self-taught perfumer, states that he shapes each maceration by hand and personally selects every raw material.

The materials

Four materials, and a caramel that is not what you might expect. The house works it in a dark and deep version, which it explicitly places far from candy caramel. The Brazilian tonka bean absolute, rich in coumarin, gives it its almond warmth and structure. The fine cacao adds depth and a texture that the house describes as grainy. Patchouli rounds off the composition and anchors the whole on a woody base.

The house's approach

NÛR offers two interpretations of the Brazilian tonka bean. Tonka 75 contrasts it with a second tonka bean, that of Venezuela, and makes the difference between the two terroirs the very subject of the perfume. Caramel Tonka does the opposite: tonka serves as the framework for a gourmand, and it is the dark caramel and cacao that take center stage. It is the same material and the same coumarin, used here as a means rather than a subject.

For whom, how to wear it?

An elixir is not sprayed: it is applied in small touches, to the hollow of the wrist, behind the ear, at the base of the neck. One drop is enough. Without alcohol to project it, the perfume stays close to the skin: you do not smell it enter a room, you discover it as you get closer. It is an autumn and winter perfume, for day or night. NÛR Caramel Tonka will appeal to those who love dense gourmands and are tired of sweet caramels.