TAUER PERFUMES INCENSE ROSE: After finally surrendering to L’Air du Desert Marocain on the fourth try and actually purchasing a bottle, I thought it might be nice to give the Tauer Incense Rose a whirl across the dance floor.
What I discovered is that Incense Rose is a solid piece of work that straddles the line between old-school French perfumery and New World contemporary — complex, yet without skewing formal or overdone. I’m beginning to finally “get” the devotion that a Tauer perfume inspires in some circles, and while I can’t envision myself as an Andy Tauer groupie, I can appreciate the grab bag way he approaches the creation of a modern fragrance: a little bit of French, a slight dash of American, a splash of feminine, a drop of masculine, a flower here, a slice of lumber there, and so on.
The usual Andy Tauer cedar suspect is present here at the base, yet applied with admirable restraint and paired with a smooth ambergris that extends the lifespan of the scent itself. A bright iris root adds some buoyancy to the main players — the rose and frankincense — so that the fragrance doesn’t lean too far in a masculine direction, what with the cedarwood, patchouli and labdanum also contributing to the base.
There’s nothing at all Stuffy Foyer about this rose scent, and it smells more like dried petals and sweet smoke than a static arrangement in a vase. Incense Rose wears just as easily on men as well as women, and it can transition from day to evening at the drop of a decant into the handbag, book bag or glove compartment. Very spritz and go.
Now, if only they’d do something about that awful bottle . . .
Note to Mr. Tauer: L’Air du Desert Marocain is a truly purchase worthy fragrance, but the cheap and crappy bottle you sell it in is SO cheap and crappy that I had to photograph it from inventive angles to compensate for the permanently crooked atomizer and to disguise the discolored splotch on the peel and stick label. The bright ribbon wrapped around the box is a nice touch, but it would have looked nicer if (again) the peel and stick label on the cardboard box wasn’t scraped and scuffed across every corner. You may insist that you’re not responsible for the condition of the box and bottle once they leave your hands, but you are responsible for choosing packaging/bottling materials that too easily scratch, scrape, bend and discolor. I know you’re a small perfume house, but seriously, a little pride (and a few more pennies) in the presentation couldn’t hurt.
Below are some of the photos of the L’Air du Desert Marocain bottle. I took a whole lot more, but the atomizer was so askew that I had to ditch the majority of them. I removed the discolored blotch on the label with Photoshop:
When I showed the cheap, bent bottle to the BF, he said, “Really? That’s what they sent? And what’s that — a stick-on label? How much did this cost you?” I mumbled something about it being one hundred dollars, and he burst out laughing. “You’re kidding me, right? Tell me you’re kidding!” Somehow, I don’t think that’s the response a perfumer should be shooting for.
The BF did agree that the fragrance itself smells great, so there’s that, but he also mentioned that he would be too embarrassed by its packaging to purchase it as a gift for anyone.
M. MICALLEF AOUD GOURMET: This is exactly what aoud needed — a spoonful of gourmand to help the medicine go down. The somewhat sharp and prickly initial phase of the complex aoud scent is both rounded and warmed by a layer of creamy, nutty frosting that downplays the negatives while still allowing the best part of the aoud (the resinous, smoky drydown) to shine.
And while M. Micallef can sometimes lean a bit too heavy on the sugar and spice end of the spectrum (Note Vanillee and Note Ambree are two examples of this), if you’re the woodsy & foodie type, this particular combination of sinus-wrenching aoud and rich, buttery sweetness hits a terrific balance, with nary a wobble on the highwire — though keep in mind that it’s not a total, full-on gourmand. Aoud as the featured scent note keeps the fragrance firmly anchored in the land of incense (and is that a waft of desert rose buried in there?).
Strangely enough, Aoud Gourmet, while starting off in a vastly different space, exhibits the floral, balsamic heart of Tauer’s Incense Rose, yet amped up a notch. The two part ways once again at the drydown, where Incense Rose moves into a rose-infused incense-amber while Aoud Gourmet plumbs the dark, smoky depths of aoud itself.
With so many aouds already under their belt, and especially after the release of their Vanille Aoud, I’m a little surprised to see Micallef proffer yet another flavor-infused aoud scent, but four of the six M. Micallef boutiques are located in the United Arab Emirates (two in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi) where aoud reigns supreme, so the surprise on my part is perhaps unwarranted.
Note: Aoud Gourmet has not yet been officially released. I received this as an advance sample from Lucky Scent, and even the M. Micallef website, while it shows Aoud Gourmet listed as a scent, does not offer any information beyond the name of the fragrance and a photo of the bottle. There will likely be more information available soon.
{ 10 comments }
Poor Andy – he is such a sweetheart, and he does all the packaging at home. He and his BF fold and assemble each one of those packages. I know it’s not much to look at, but I think it’s such a low-budget operation he can’t afford anything better right now. At least the perfume is great!
I can’t wear Incense Rose due to the myrrh, but I do love the Incense Extreme.
I really didn’t want to rag on the packaging like that, but it showed up looking so skewed and sad that I felt something should be said. I like his Incense Rose and L’Air du Desert Marocain, but seeing the condition of the bottle of Marocain when it arrived makes me never want to order any of his products as a gift for friends/relatives.
There is such a great selection of non-mainstream fragrances to choose from that I feel I now have the luxury of boiling it down to the packaging when deciding yay or nay on a purchase. It’s not like $100.00 for 50ml is a bargain.
The Party in Manhattan also opted for a sticker label, which I thought showed a bit of chutzpah considering how much they charge per bottle. The overall packaging, however, at least made an attempt at flair.
I’ll have to revisit the Tauer Incense Extreme. I remember not liking it much when I first tested it, but maybe it just requires a little bit more time, like the Marocain.
The Tauer bottles seem to cop a lot of flack, yet I find their retro minimalism infinitely more appealing than the chunky, clunky tackiness of that Party in Manhattan thing. I think there’s a nice concept behind the Tauer packaging, albeit done on a low budget, whereas with the Party in Manhattan bottle, I half expect that if I squint my eyes I’ll find very small print at the top of the label reading: “If you like Eternity, you’ll love…”
Then again, I’ve only seen both in photos, maybe it’s a different story in the flesh. Or maybe at the end of the day it’s your photo shop skills with the Tauer that are truly deserving of praise.
The concept of the Tauer bottles is great — I love the colors and the retro-70′s design, but it’s not the concept I’m criticizing. The execution of the concept is what sinks the Tauer bottle, in my opinion.
The bottle and atomizer are so incredibly low-rent that the atomizer doesn’t even screw on properly — instead, it leans like a frickin’ Tower of Pisa (Ha! Tauer of Pisa!). The splotchy label, scuffed up box and industrial-grey paper padding didn’t help matters, any.
I’m sure that not everyone has experienced the same problems with their bottles from Tauer, but as I stated before, it’s put me off on ordering anything further from his company.
Fortunately, I love the fragrance itself and will likely wear it more often than Party in Manhattan.
And I can understand where you’re coming from regarding the packaging for The Party in Manhattan. It’s pretty over the top, but it’s meant to reflect the 30′s more than the 70′s, and I think it does a fairly decent job in that respect. The cap for the bottle is solid and surprisingly heavy. It could probably double as a defensive weapon if my aim holds true.
Hi, my question is a little off track but everytime I visit your site I notice how good your photos are. The Tauer bottle looks absolutely beautiful.
What kind of camera do you use?
Sun — thanks for the comment on the photos. I use a Canon Powershot G10. It’s a little bigger and bulkier than a pocket camera, but it’s still small, lightweight and very easy to use.
Are you home? I have a package ready to go if you are.
You don’t find The Party to be really wearable? My recollection is that you liked it quite a lot – is it a style thing, or does it not hold up to repeated experiments as well as you would like?
Oh, The Party is entirely wearable, just more formal and “elegant” than L’Air du Desert Marocain, so I would wear it less, on a daily basis, than the Marocain (no point in swanning about the frozen foods aisle smelling like a 1930′s chypre . . . pearls before swine, and all that).
For parties, nights out, special occasions, however, The Party in Manhattan will certainly be a go-to bottle.
And yes, I’m home! It’s good to be home. Fire away!
I think maybe you just got a really bad bottle – all of mine while not luxurious, are at least screwed on properly and not beat up.
Good, that’s what I was hoping to hear. Well, not so much that I just got a screwed up bottle, but that other people have had better experiences with the line.