Mr. Tauer has created quite an uproar among the . . . well, easily uproarable perfume blogging crowd with the upcoming release of his Une Rose Chyprée. For the intensely nose-focused crowd, there’s always the search for something new, something exciting, something worth sniffing one’s self up into a lather about, and a new release by the independent-minded Andy Tauer is a sure-fire way to get a lather, rinse and repeat cycle in full gear.
***Note: Serge Lutens is also on the guaranteed lather list, but Nuit de Cellophane has already come and gone on the screaming Beatle-esque hype scale, so thank god Mr. Tauer has come along to keep everybody occupied for another couple of months or so. Idle perfume bloggers can be dangerous.
The good news is, if you’re the type that generally precedes the word “perfume” with the word “vintage”, then Une Rose Chyprée is going to rock you back on your heels. I swear, I’ve never smelled something so new that smells so old — it’s like a 15ml time-machine back to the days of funky animal musks, natural floral oils and genuine oak moss. The deep reverence for the classics is not my thing, personally, but the painstaking care and attention that went into the creation of Une Rose Chyprée is obvious from the first sniff.
Official fragrance notes are: rosa damascena absolute and essential oil, bay, cinnamon, bergamot, lemon, clementine, bourbon geranium, labdanum, oak moss, patchouli, vetiver and vanilla. The intro is dense, earthy and kind of ambergris musky, then as time passes, layers begin peeling away like a rocket ship jettisoning freshly emptied fuel tanks as it continues to gain altitude. About three to four hours in, the heart of the fragrance breaks free of the atmosphere and the throaty roar of the engines subside.
***Note 2: I debated about the rocket ship metaphor, but I assumed no one else was likely to be doing it, so why the h*ll not? Besides, I figured Marin would get a kick out it, and it’s always been my goal in life to kick Marin. Onward!
The mid-phase of Une Rose Chyprée is the part that I truly, unequivocally enjoy — the labdanum is deliciously smooth, the rose and cinnamon are dusky and dusty (respectively), the geranium adds a nice bit of tickle to the mix and the patchouli/vetiver combo is artfully dry, woodsy (with forest green edges) and almost smoky. Things glide blissfully along like this for hours until more layers shed and the pure, sweet vanilla at the base begins to shine through. The drydown gets purer and simpler still until it’s just one glowing vanilla tone, and then *poof* it’s gone.
Longevity is 11 to 12 hours. No kidding. I’ve read customer complaints on the Lucky Scent site where people think the price is steep for 15ml of an EDP, but this is an EDP that lasts longer than 95% of extrait formulations on the market, so no one really has any justification to grouse.
Une Rose Chyprée is the first release in Andy Tauer’s Mémorables line, and it boasts some new packaging (did someone say new packaging?). I’m happy to say that Andy hit the look right out of the ballpark. The packaging is clean and simple, yet with an almost Japanese calligraphic feel that suits the exotic throwback nature of the scent without getting all fussy about it. Photos of the bottle and wrapping below:
The people at Lucky Scent generously provided me with an advance bottle (the fragrance isn’t officially released until July 1st) so that I could photograph it and then offer my blog readers a chance to snag it for themselves in a giveaway — so if you dream at night of swimming in languid pools of vintage chypres, now’s your chance.
***Note 3: giveaway is limited to U.S. residents and/or addresses. You can enter as an international, but the mailing address needs to be within the U.S. (i.e. you can have a U.S. friend forward the package on to you).
Just leave a comment in the comment section with your name and interest in being included in the giveaway, and I’ll be announcing the winner next Friday evening, May 29th (or Saturday morning, or something like that). If you can’t get the new comment section to work for you, then you can also send me an email (my email address can be found in the About Me section).
I’ll also be giving away samples of other fragrances, as well (Puredistance, Penhaligon, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Aqaba, Yosh Han, Bois 1920, Guerlain, Six Scents, Soivohle, Aroma M and more), so there will be five winners total, maybe more if the samples hold out and enough people express an interest. The giveaway bottle of Une Rose Chyprée is the one featured in the photos, so it’s been untied, unwrapped and unboxed, but never sprayed.
Good luck! And be sure to thank the Lucky Scent crew for their generosity.
UPDATE (06/01/09):
The winners have been announced: And the Winner Is . . .
