06 Incense Rose

Brilliant! This was not love at first sniff, the opening is very rich, my first impression was of a thick potpourri, dried flowers, resins, woods, herbs, I could not connect with it. This is actually quite common with some of my favorites, as they are not designed like department store fragrances, to rope you in on first sniff only to be disappointed later, and even some very pricey niche brands employ this model. Tauer is a master of resins and spices.The reward of this fragrance is in the drydown, as everything starts mingling into a sum greater than its parts, and parts there are many. The initial impression is a very true resin accord, and I mean like fresh resin coming off the tree. It is extremely close to eucalyptus resin. Bitter orange peel. Floral notes make themselves known, not concisely rose, but deeply colored flowers, perhaps a hint of carnation, violet. A warm musk holds down the base, a very fine example, if not one of the best I've ever smelled, of how animal notes can be used deftly to amplify richness. The drydown takes time, maybe a couple of hours. The results are fabulous. The composition shifts from deep, dark, rich plant material to a lighter, sweeter affair, the rose takes shape and is not a caricature of rose, but very much the smell of a fresh red rose. A lovely soft orris develops into a light powder that perfectly matches the fatty, salty touch of ambergris for a clean saponified effect. A hint of zesty vetiver keeps it tangy, picking up where the initial citrus notes left off. The resins become warm and slightly sweet, and the cardamom give it a gourmand appeal of rice pudding. I haven't seen it mentioned, but the drydown is very much like my memory of the Old Spice from back in the day, sans the aldehydes. Could go feminine or masculine. This is a real journey for the wearer, and I have grown into the opening, which is more interesting than appealing, but the drydown is superb and lasts a long time.

Lovely opening, really top end perfumery, heaps of cardamom oil, a fresh rose accord with sweet citrus inflections. Underneath a big naturalistic looming incense note similar to incense extreme. Surprisingly in both Tauer incense offerings, not much smokiness, focusing more so on the clean and expansive resinous qualities of frankincense, complemented by some myrrh in the base. There certainly is castoreum in this composition, which to me has always reminded me of the smell of bitters. In this case it feels perfectly dialed in, almost like the center of gravity of the rose accord, reminiscent of the carnal aspects of a deep red rose. I believe the myrrh is used here to bring warmth and darkness to the formula, adding a certain resinous density.

A cold kulfi smoke, without anything milky or sugary or directly edible-- just the vapor, which is rich enough to make one wonder if it is possible to live on scent. Veils warm skin nicely without losing its icy-powdery-vapory texture, soft but assertive. Not conventionally churchy, unless the church is a walk-in freezer packed with rose cardamom desserts that are forbidden to consume. I can "see" where the notes fit into the scent composition (the twangy, phenolic Texas cedar + cardamom combine to give the impression of smoke without heat, for example, or the orris lending an inedible sweetness), but the notes morph into something more than their sum. Transubstantiative while also approachable and, well, delicious. Mystic kulfi!

First and foremost is incense. Clear, pure, incense of the best variety. Dry rose and dry vetiver makes it feel like the hot middle earner desert, with a breeze and shade nearby. It's like a more robust L'Artisan CDVS with emphasis on rose. The blend, quality of notes and execution is masterful. It smells like something sacred, reserved for holy days and very special occasions. Because I find it absolutely irresistible I don't follow this protocol, I enjoy it for myself while at home. It's the kind of scent I like to sit with and appreciate its calm, rested beauty. I cant imagine wearing it out with jeans and sneakers. Attention to detail and a bit of glamour would do Incense Rose well.

A bit “candied” on initial spray because of the clementine, but settles nicely into that Tauer dna that I’ve come to obsess over. I get the clementine a lot harder than the rose for the first while, but ultimately it ends up delivering on its namesakes. I don’t get the animalics that others have touched on. To me, it’s a soft, subltly smokey, sweet candy like rose with a delicate incense base, and a touch of soapiness. Very nice. Smooth. Subtle. My girlfriend says this scent “smells like Aspen”. So if I were to paraphrase, I think she means “boughie fresh air, with a bit of a fireplace.” Not upset at the buy, but I think it would be smart to sample before purchasing.