by Musette
Before I forget – again – the winner of the Jus d’Amour sample is Minette. drop me a line at gmail. evilauntieanita (AT)
okay – now on to this bozo review:
I have a love/hate relationship with tobacco.
Chronic sinusitis and a horrible respiratory system go totally berserk at the merest hint of most all smoke and I’m to the point where I physically recoil from cigarette smoke – one whiff and my sinuses blow UP! Alas, I also haven’t had that much love or luck with the smokies in perfume, either, try as I might. I fell in love with Tea for Two upon first sniff. Bought a bottle. Second spray made me ill. Damn. That smoky, birch-tar the rest of you get from Les Heures XIII?? – you can keep it. I just can’t love the smoke, it seems. But I still love the smell of a good (unlit) cigar…and the smell of pipe tobacco is so beguiling, with that intimation of masculine urbanity that I love so well. Basil Rathbone, Fred MacMurray (he wasn’t always The Nutty Professor), Cary Grant…I always imagine them in Habit Rouge or Imperiale…but I never imagined them in rose, until I happened upon Rose Kashmirie. It didn’t happen right away – the first spritz of Rose Kashmirie brings a fresh, greenish, young rose quality to the fore that brings to mind a young virginal girl. I was expecting some variation of Rose d’Ete (which I love but don’t need another version)…then there was this hint of honey, which I always find intriguing…and I was thinking ‘oh, okay! A tart-green, honeyed rose. That’s fine”…then it went away for awhile, not doing much other than being a basic garden full of roses perfume and I was just thinking about getting a bit bored with it, wondering where all the bits and pieces that a name like Kashmirie would indicate…when it decided to walk out of the garden, up the terraced stairs and into the library.
Surprisingly, Rose Kashmirie evolved into NOT a vase of roses in a library, which is what I expected, but a cloisonne tin of rose-infused pipe tobacco (there’s a smoke shop in Chicago that has some of the loveliest pipe tobaccos, infused with beauties like orange and rose – smelling those tins is such a rich experience, like this perfume.
But it’s got me wondering if I’ve mixed something up here. After my week-long schnufflefest with RK, I went back and read several reviews (like these two ) and nobody seems to be getting what I am getting – the early blast of greeny-rose, yes…but nobody else is going into the library with Cary, Fred and Basil to sniff tobacco. So I’m wondering: is it Rose Kashmirie? Or is it me? Here are the notes, which I cribbed from The Scented Salamander (link above)
Top notes include:
Red strands of saffron from Kashmiria
Essence of Bulgarian Rose
Spicy seeds of coriander
Green peel of Sicilian bergamot
Heart notes are:
Red peonies from China
Damascene Rose absolute
Resin from myrrh or Bdellium from India
Base notes unfold with:
Woodsy oil from Nagar Motha
Black vanilla pods
Roots of Indian vetiver or Khus
Sacred sandalwood
Benzoin tears
Ambrette seeds that smell of musk
Ambergris
Now, I’m wondering…. perhaps the benzoin and rezin are translating as ‘tobacco’ – or perhaps it’s a melange of ingredients that coalesces into that lovely rose-infused tobacco drydown. Who knows? What I do know, this perfume runs the gamut, from its fresh-greeny rose opening to that lovely rose-infused tobacco drydown, it’s an interesting and complex scent. I was happy to wear it all day – for several days. For the Medfly Mind that is Musette, that is saying something!
I got mine from Barneys. You can, too. It’s not on the website (they don’t list everything) but it’s at the store.
photo: Carved rose pipe –
I had a sample of Rose Kashmirie that I loved. I made it last for months. (My skin holds scents way longer than most.) But I never would have considered it a tobacco scent. On me it was saffron, rose, a bit of vanilla, and myrrh. It was girly in a spicy, slightly exotic way, but not at all sweet. I probably would have ordered a full bottle, but by the time my sample was gone, I couldn’t find it. I then tried Praline Rose, which I detested as all carmel and way too sweet. I occasionally still long for Rose Kashmirie. . .
I love tobacco scents, although most don’t smell much like tobacco to me. One that does is the tiny bit of vintage Tabac Blond I have — oh my! Plan to weep when it’s gone. And I do love Rose Kashmiri, deeply. It’s been a little scraped (minor-ly refomulated) to my nose in the last few years but it’s still good.
You know, I have this and was not liking it as much as the sample that inspired me to buy it. But I bet I just need to think of it as a tobacco scent in order to appreciate it.
Maybe….:-?
Then again, it could be ‘your’ Drama Nuui. And there is always the next Swapmania! 😉 Life is too uncertain to forced yourself into FBottle ‘like’, imo.
xo >-)
I’ve always thought saffron’s earthiness was somewhat tobacco-like, so that may be contributing to the effect. My favorite frags with a tobacco note in them: Parfum d’Empire Eau de Gloire, Aramis Havana, Soivohle Rivertown Road, Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Cuba, Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque. All of them in my opinion bottle-worthy. You can see I like me some tobacco in my perfume. :d
Oooh! I forgot about Rivertown Road! That one is gorgeous!!! And it even has a hint of that green oakmoss thing in it!
And I love Eau de Gloire!
You are definitely my Number One SitNextToGuy!!! 😡
xo >-)
Hi, sweetie! Hmmm … roses and I usually equal instant headache, but the bit o’ honey, green and tobacco might make this one palatable, even for me.
You might like this one – you get the green rose up front, then the tobacco at the end. Not so much heavy-duty @};-
xo >-)
don’t know this one, but if you like tobacco-infused roses, please see yves rocher’s rose absolue. lovely jammy rose with lots of golden tobacco. and a great price point!
You owe me an email. see the first paragraph.
xo >-)
This sounds very sniff-worthy! I like smoky fragrances and pipe tobacco-y notes but I found Espionage to be very very dry and more reminiscent of ‘Winston Churchill’ stale cigars than a fresh say Cuban one. I couldn’t pick out any scotch notes on me but I imagine it would have smelled great on my husband!
One you may like to try, but only if you can abide a bit of cherry, is Dunhill Desire for Men (red juice in a hip-flask bottle). To me it smells like Captain Black pipe tobacco and coffee beans. Ultimately too sweet for me but i bought it for my father and it was much much drier on him- he smelled wonderful! And with none of the sinus-singing smoke notes.
Shall I share my deep dark fume secret? I used to smoke Marlboros and wear Angel…. There I said it and I am so so sorry to anyone who shared my airspace. I kicked the habit years ago and pregnancy cured me of Angel so it is now safe to sit beside me!
😮
Marlboros and Angel!
😡 Dunhill:
I like a bit of cherry – but just a bit. That does sound good!
xo >-)
I have never smelled Rose Kasmiri but you have made me want to try it. I own the lovely Ecume de Rose, which is an ideal summery Rose.
Another rose with tobacco that doesn’t get mentioned very often on the blogs is the Histoires de Parfums 1876 ( Mata Hari), tobacco does not feature in the listed notes but I do get it, esp. in the heart notes and drydown.
I love me some birchtar. The more the better, thank god I got a bottle of Eau du Fier when it was still sold in Paris.
Ecume is beautiful! March and I are Evil @};- twins and so many people give rose short shrift (until they get into the attars, when all bets are then OFF! 😉 – Rosine got binked a lot in SF because they weren’t considered ‘edgy’ enough. But I would venture to say that creating edgy is way easier than crafting a well-made, interesting perfume from a note that is considered, by so many, to be pedestrian. Rosine does this – and does it well.
xo >-)
Nagarmotha, vetiver, benzoin and vanilla could definitely create a sweet tobacco-like impression. My memory of this perfume was that of a soft amber drydown with some earthy facets. But this is a small outfit and I’m sure batches differ somewhat. I’m sure you’re not hallucinating! It’s a gorgeous perfume, my favorite of the line.
I am so glad you weighed in on this. Floyd knows you know your roses. And your frankincense. And a whole buncho other notes and how they come together. YOU should be writing this post, not me! ;))
(and if I’d been asked to choose which one of the Rosines would be your favorite, this would’ve been the one. It’s got that nuanced vibe that is reminiscent of your own work)@};-
xo >-)
I am so glad you title your photographs…i was squinting trying to figure out what the person was making…thought it was a fondant rose. What a gorgeous pipe. I love fumerie turque, habinata…and in general most smokey frags as long as the birch tar smell does not overpower everything else.
Habanita! That’s what I was thinking of. #:-s Thanks!
I love that sweet, slightly smoky tobacco accord in Habanita. But it doesn’t smell ‘just’ of tobacco, which makes it interesting, like Rose Kashmirie.
xo >-)
Hmmmmmm…… perhaps that is why we haven’t gotten together lately. I probably smell too much of cigarettes.
Well, anyway, I do like smoke in perfume, and Tea For Two is tops. It’s a shame it’s being discontinued, as rumor has it. I’m not sure of which smoke shop you speak, but if you ever go into Iwan Ries, sometimes there will be a couple of customers there smoking what must be very expensive cigars which smell absolutely wonderful. Makes me want to give cigars a try…. alas, I inhale, a bad habit to break. I tried pipes… and loved the smell of a cold pipe, but found the lit tobacco a bit much. And again with the inhaling.
I’ve kind of ignored Les Parfums de Rosine over the years. Rose d’Homme didn’t thrill me, I figured most of the offerings were girly, and really, how much variation can you have with rose anyhow? Well, I, too, was at Barneys recently, and talk got to Tea For Two, and then to lapsang souchong tea. I was kindly directed to Rose Praline (which, no, doesn’t smell of American pralines, thank god. Are pecans used anywhere for perfume notes? That would be something.). Although not as lapsang souchong heavy as Tea For Two, I ended up going home with a bottle, along with a largish (10 ml?) sampling of Secrets de Rose, which I ended up giving to my sister. Anyway, my interest in Les Parfums de Rosine has increased.
Now your post has me wanting to try another.
Oh, noes, sweetheart!:o we haven’t gotten together because I dash in at 11a, and am back at the train station at 5p. And that’s only been once since I last saw you. I LUUURVE you, cigs and all!
I dissed Rosines early on but with a little bit of time and trial I found interesting nuances in their scents. Rose so often gets short shrift, I think, but the Rosines are interesting examples of what can be done with variations on the rose note.
and we won’t get into what the Middle East can do with a rose, lest I run this comment into next week! 😉
xo >-)
Wow I haven’t smelled this but reading your review/conundrum makes me want to. Although I have to say, these pretentiously worded write ups and lists of notes are such a turn off for me. It’s not JUST sandalwood…it’s sacred sandalwood. And those red peonies, they’re not your garden variety…unless your garden is in China.
Sorry I’m totally off track. Pretentiousness in general just bugs me. Is it supposed to actually make you want to buy their product?
For me wearing tabacco scents has been like drinking scotch…or smoking cigars. I have to apply lightly and take time to savor the notes in order to appreciate it. Speaking of tabacco scents and scotch, I really like Ayala Moriel’s Espionage. I wish the scotch, cigar smoke & leather notes lasted longer though before the vanilla takes over.
As much as your post makes me want to try Rose Kashmirie, and it does. Rose and tabacco…mmmm. Even more so I want to go to the tabacco shop in Chicago and sniff around.
I get a kick out of note lists like that. they make me giggle. To be fair, though, since I cribbed these I have no idea if that is what is on their site. I was too lazy (and in a rush) to check their site – the current notes listed are way more straightforward.
I prefer tobacco with a bit of a sweet tang to it. Espionage sounds yum! Liz Zorn’s Tobacco & Tulle has that Zornade sweetness that works well with the smoke.
xo >-)
PBI here: while I agree about the pretentiousness of note lists in general – and this in particular – in the case of the peonies I imagine that they want you to know that this is a tree peony. These can grow over 6 feet tall and do originally come from China, as opposed to a normal garden peony (i.e. the herbaceous kind), which usually top out at around 3-4 feet. I could be wrong, though. FWIW, the tree peony represents good fortune, love, and prosperity, and is considered the essence of the Yin (female) element in nature; since the plant itself is considered male, the thing in its entirety is a perfect balance between male and female energies.
OK, stopping now!
No actually that’s pretty cool, I had no idea. Can you get peony trees in the US? I’ve been planning how to landscape/garden my new yard and I adore peonies. I splurged and ordered two yellow peony plants, (To be delivered when it’s time to plant.)
Yes, you can. I love tree peonies. When they first came on the consumer market (about 20 years ago) they cost the earth ($150+:o) Now they are much more affordable. My favorite is Hana kisoi “Champion of Flowers”. And….White Flower Farm, maybe? …has a yellow (pale) that is beyond gorgeous.
Slow growing, though,s o don’t be in a rush.
xo >-)
I know it looks funny, but they’re actually called “tree peonies” and not “peony trees” :0) and yes, you can get them in the US. I googled and this came up:
http://www.treepeonygarden.com/
(no affiliation: no idea if they’re any good). I know that
http://www.forestfarm.com/
is extremely good; though whether they have many tree peonies, I don’t know. They certainly have a whole lot of very interesting perennials and shrubs, that’s for sure (again, no affiliation). You can find plenty more just by googling. (I don’t have any of the tree sort, myself – I just grow the regular kind.) Good luck!
I have grown tree peonies and my former neighbor :(( – I miss my life!!! has one of the most beautiful specimen bushes (even though they are called tree peonies they are bush plants, albeit with very woody stems – and can grown to enormous width and impressive height). I used to lurk around her house, awaiting the opening of the first buds.
xo >-)
Thanks! I’ve been checking out those links and will be ordering. I usually order or buy peonies from Hidden Springs Flower Farm because they specialize in rare peonies and are here in MN but I didn’t see any tree peonies listed on their page.
Yep! That’s the place that has the vaunted Dr. Saunders’ peonies. I adore his work and wish he were still with us.
Do you belong to the MN Peony Society?
http://www.mnpeony.org/
xo >-)
No, I would love to though. Am checking out that link.