A fresh garden, Perris Monte Carlo Rose de Taif

Perris Monte Carlo is a perfume brand that appeared in the perfume world in 2012. It is run by a Perris family, who caused a historical house of Houbigant to come back to life, so they’re not totally new to the industry. The first time I got a chance to try fragrances from this line was at the beginning of this year. In February 2013 I wrote two posts discussing the 5 perfume blends that were available then. At this year’s Pitti Fragranze a new perfume was introduced to the collection.

It’s not the first time when the Taif rose becomes an object of fantasies of a perfumer. We know at least couple of scents with word “taif” in their name and a couple more that don’t have the word in a name, but contain an essence of this certain rose species. Since it’s never enough roses for me, one more won’t do any harm, true? So here it is – Perris Monte Carlo Rose de Taif. It’s a fresh take on this noble flower. The composition begins with a shot of lemon. It’s a really juicy one with a strong mark of citrus peel aroma that lasts for a while. After 15 minutes the blend becomes a little bit more spicy and dry because of the nutmeg that emerges from this perfume.

Shortly after the nutmeg accord appears Rose de Taif becomes incredibly fresh and green. Geranium aroma is really full-bodied in this perfume. The most intensive part of the flower that you can’t mistake are aromatic geranium leaves. Green, sappy and slightly spicy too. Then it’s green stems and finally bright red geranium flowers that appear as the latest part of this accord. Not mentioned in the list of the notes I have a feeling like I’m detecting crushed mint leaves. Why did I get this idea? Because this phase highly reminds me of Rosine Diabolo Rose that contains mint.

Taif rose essence appears 30 minutes after spraying the perfume on. This species is a very valued one. These roses grow 2000 meters above sea level, in a very specific climate conditions. It’s the place and care of people who cause roses to feel good there. Taif rose belongs to the Damask rose species. From Taif rose, the attars – a flower distillate over sandalwood oil, are made.

Rose accord in this new Perris Monte Carlo perfume smells very fresh and breezy. This is definitely not a sultry rose from rich oriental compositions. This one is much more delicate and airy. When I smell it I get two slightly different impressions. One facet is dewy, watery and simple like a floral water. The second facet is more intensive and blood-red, plus it feels oily. Maybe this happens because Rose de Taif contains both Ta’if rose and Damask rose. Their aroma might be similar, but not completely identical. There are always some nuances (a chemical analysis would show that.)

For the next couple of hours Rose de Taif is quite linear. Only some small changes (like a dropping level of geranium freshness) and different faces of rose, entwining with each other are clear to my nose. At the 5 hour mark this rose gets metallic for a while, could be a black pepper. Just a little while longer and the composition quiets down and settles on skin, resting. Now it’s watery, making me think of a garden after the rain.

The drydown phase of this fragrance is created with rose musk – at least that’s how the brand describes it. All in all Perris Monte Carlo Rose de Taif lasted on me for almost 8 hours. It’s sillage had a good power that I would describe as medium and becoming weaker after 3 hours. I don’t think I need this perfume, I certainly didn’t fall in love with it but I can see many people liking it. For me it had too much geranium. However it was good to discover this scent – I appreciate another rose.

Rose de Taif by Perris Monte Carlo was created by the Perris family. It’s concentration is EDP, comes in a 100ml flacons. The bottle is black with golden cap, letters and arabesque motif on it.