.
Post by Robert Herrmann
.
Hello Fragrant Friends!
This is Robert H. again, writing from my small island home in Washington state, exactly halfway between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. I am an inveterate fragrance lover, occasional writer, full-time business owner, world traveller, ex-Broadway singer, and happily married to an ever-suffering spouse who descends into allergic hell at the faintest whiff of perfume. Just my luck.
Calligraphy Rose by Aramis 2013
Calligraphy Rose by Trudi Loren
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Oregano, saffron, honeysuckle
Heart: Turkish rose, myrrh, styrax, lavender
Base: Labdanum, musk, ambergris, olibanum
Now it is no secret that I love rose scents (Actually a charter member of the ‘Rose-Ho’ club if such a club exists) so this had been on my radar for quite some time. Last year Calligraphy Rose could not be found for love or money, and it wasn’t until recently that it started showing up again on Amazon and various perfume websites.
Robert Herrmann
This ‘fume is an olfactory road trip back in time for me. Here is the story it tells……
September 1974. My then lover and I had flown all night (12 hours if memory serves) from San Francisco to Madrid, sat in the Madrid airport until almost dark, where we caught a small puddle-jumper to Marrakesh, arriving at about 11:00 pm local time. We were so exhausted we could hardly sit up as the rickety taxi sped up to our Riad in the Medina. After a hasty, casual check-in complete with the ubiquitous glass of mint tea, we collapsed into bed in our 2nd story room.
The next morning, waking up early I padded to the french door shutters that opened to the common breezeway, and was stunned by the instant assault on all my senses.
The smell of roses. Roses and something green, vegetal, tropical, and slightly rotting. The blinding sunlight against the vivid electric blue tiles of the courtyard below me. The splashing sound of water in the courtyard fountain, and soft voices floating up from somewhere removed. The acrid smell of the leather tanneries just a few alleys away. Jasmine, citrus, clean laundry, musk, saffron and smoke from something…incense? Cooking fires? All of that but most of all, roses. Gorgeous, dewey roses. It was like a dream, or a waking hallucination if you will.
One spray of Calligraphy Rose transported me right back to that moment. This beautiful juice opens with a balsamic burn that goes right up your nose to your brain, and on to back of your throat. Overlaid with rose. The opening is BIG, just a few sprays go a very long way. Amber and smoke creep in, along with honeysuckle and spice. Myrrh, labdanum, olibanum. So many notes so well blended, it’s difficult to pick them out as they flit and dart through your consciousness. Not unlike the colors of an oriental tapestry. One you might find in a Riad in Marrakesh.
Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Persolaise
Feeling Sexy has it for AUD$70/100ml
FragranceNet has $92/100ml before Coupon
Do you have a perfume that affects you this way?