Ex Nihilo — Gold Immortals Extrait de Parfum
Essence
Gold Immortals Extrait de Parfum is the richer 2023 version of Ex Nihilo’s Gold Immortals. Jordi Fernandez keeps the pear, bergamot and floral heart of the original, then makes the base deeper with amber, tonka bean and vanilla. It smells golden, creamy and polished: a pear-amber floral with more lasting power than outward volume.
Scent Profile
The opening is bergamot and ripe pear. Pear is the immediate signature, juicy and delicate rather than candied, with bergamot adding a short fresh lift. The heart is peony and lysylang. Peony gives a sheer floral haze, while lysylang adds creamy yellow-floral warmth that can feel heady, honeyed and faintly spicy. The pear stays present, becoming syrupier as it merges with the florals. The drydown is amber, tonka bean and vanilla. This is the Extrait’s defining move: compared with the Eau de Parfum, the base is denser, sweeter and more ambery. It trades some sparkle and projection for a close, warm, golden finish.
Performance
Performance is long-lasting but controlled. The Extrait outlasts the Eau de Parfum for many wearers, yet it projects less and sits closer to skin. Expect moderate projection, an intimate-to-moderate trail and a long vanilla-amber drydown. It is smoother than it is loud.
Wearing Context
Gold Immortals Extrait is best in fall, winter, evenings, dates and polished social settings. It is unisex, though the pear, floral warmth and vanilla amber often read feminine-leaning. It works when the goal is creamy luxury warmth, not sporty freshness or a strictly office-neutral scent. Apply lightly in heat.
Comparisons & DNA
The direct comparison is Gold Immortals Eau de Parfum. The EDP is brighter, muskier and more projective; the Extrait is sweeter, warmer, more vanilla-ambered and longer lasting. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 is the broad reference because both sit in an airy sweet-amber luxury lane, though the resemblance is more mood than exact structure. Oud Satin Mood and Gentle Fluidity Gold are also useful amber-floral reference points. Brompton Immortals shares the Immortals name and lysylang thread, but it is heavier, spicier and more rose-patchouli oriented.
Reception
Reception is warm among wearers who like sweet pear, polished amber and creamy floral warmth. Praise centers on the expensive feel, the pear note, the addictive vanilla-amber drydown and the longevity upgrade over the Eau de Parfum. Criticism centers on price, quieter projection than the EDP, occasional synthetic or metallic facets, and the feeling that the profile can be too generic for the money. The choice between EDP and Extrait depends on whether you prefer sparkle and projection or depth and longevity.
Versions & Reformulation
Gold Immortals exists in two concentrations from the same perfumer. The 2020 Eau de Parfum is musk-based, brighter, more projective and slightly shorter-lived. The 2023 Extrait de Parfum deepens the base with vanilla and amber, gaining longevity and density while losing some projection. These are parallel versions rather than documented reformulations, and both remain current.
Acquisition Notes
Gold Immortals Extrait sits in the luxury niche price tier and is sold through Ex Nihilo and authorized luxury retailers. Sampling is important because the Extrait is expensive, sweeter than the EDP and more intimate in projection. Use official or authorized stockists when authenticity matters.
Notable Facts & Lore
- Ex Nihilo frames Gold Immortals around an “Infinite Floriental” idea.
- The Extrait belongs to the house’s Quintessence collection.
- Its key change from the EDP is the move from white-musk brightness toward vanilla-amber depth.
- The Immortals naming connects it to Brompton Immortals, another Jordi Fernandez composition built around lysylang.