Burberry's new Goddess Amber Vanilla EDP Intense costs $192 and contains a vanilla note that perfumer Amandine Clerc-Marie created by roasting vanilla beans in a small machine in Grasse, similar to a coffee roaster. The roasting process produced caramelized notes, a subtle coffee-like quality and a little saltiness. "It was like a new vanilla," said Clerc-Marie, principal perfumer at dsm-firmenich and the nose behind the Goddess line since the original Goddess Eau de Parfum ($185) launched in 2023.

The fragrance, the fourth in the Goddess line, opens with lavender and maple syrup, followed by vanilla at the heart and amber at the base. Clerc-Marie said she wanted to build on the line's signature trio of vanillas and lavender, making the vanilla "more textured" and "more addictive."

How do you roast a vanilla note?

Through repetition. "We made many, many trials," Clerc-Marie said. The roasting experiments in Grasse paid off with a vanilla that reads richer, toastier and woodier than standard dessert-style interpretations — relevant for consumers who like the note but do not want to smell like frosting.

The maple syrup accord is the other headline ingredient. In the finished fragrance it delivers what Clerc-Marie described as a golden warmth, slight saltiness and a nectar-like texture — not the sweetness of a pancake topping.

Why contrast drives the composition?

Sweetness alone does not carry the formula. Contrast, Clerc-Marie said, "is the most important idea for me in a perfume." The approach has defined Goddess from the start: traditionally masculine lavender paired with vanilla, which she considers feminine and comforting. In Amber Vanilla, fresh lavender, bright ginger and deeper notes of woods and amber keep the sweetness in check. "My job is never to create a dessert," she said.

Who wrote the fragrance's story?

For the first time in her career, Clerc-Marie shaped the narrative behind a scent, not only its formula. She and the Burberry team developed the fragrance and its story together, discussing what the ingredients could evoke as she worked. "I wanted to create a fragrance that felt like stepping into your own power," she said. For Amber Vanilla, that concept translated into a golden aura — warm, luminous and deeply comforting.

The launch extends a line that has anchored Burberry's fragrance business since 2023. The fragrance comes in three sizes: 1 fl. oz, 1.6 fl oz and 3.3 fl. oz. With its roasted-vanilla technique and maple syrup opening, Goddess Amber Vanilla EDP Intense signals that gourmand accords at the prestige level are moving further from dessert clichés and toward texture, contrast and ingredient processing — a shift other houses crafting sweet fragrances will likely have to answer.