I wish I had a dollar for every time a fragrance salesperson has offered me a sniff of a new rose-based perfume while saying, in an apologetic, slightly lowered voice, “I’m not usually a rose person, but I really like this one.” He or she will go on to justify this unexpected liking for the fragrance by explaining, “It’s a really modern/fresh/youthful take on rose, not what you would expect.” Unfortunately, the scent in question often turns out to be exactly what I expected: a faint, synthetic-smelling rose note diluted and obscured with so much bright citrus and sheer musk that the result is, indeed, a fragrance for non-rose-lovers.
Andy Tauer makes no such apologies or justifications with Tauer Perfumes‘ Scent no. 10, Une Rose Vermeille. It is not a soliflore, but the fragrance’s overall impression is definitely the “scarlet rose” of its name, enriched by the other elements rather than masked by them — it is, as the perfumer himself says, “a true homage to rose.” The composition includes top notes of lemon, bergamot, and lavender; a heart of rose, violet, and raspberry; and a base of vanilla, sandalwood, tonka bean, and ambergris.
The opening of Une Rose Vermeille is a characteristically Taueresque twist of greenish, herbaceous notes…
