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[perfume] Tauer's Phi

rydra_wong said:

I'd also like to nod to [Tauer's] Phi: Une Rose de Kandahar, which does not fall within the remit of this post (deep almond/apricot/rose), but which does a rare thing with perfumery's obsession with "foreign" lands, namely actually representing some benefit to people in those countries: it's based round a specific rose oil produced in Nangarhar in Afghanistan -- where roses are one of the few viable alternatives to growing opium poppies for small farmers -- and is only available in limited quantities depending on the availability of its raw materials.

Tauer's website says:

HEAD NOTES: Phi starts with a rich fruity line of apricot. An all natural apricot extract with its surprising richness enchants and blends into a cinnamon line and hints of bitter almond, softened by bergamot essential oil.

HEART NOTES: These spices lead over to voluptuous roses in the fragrance heart: Extremely rare rose essential oil with its unique scent of spices, plums and flower petals blends into rose absolute from Bulgaria and hints of Bourbon geranium. The rose petals melt on the skin into a dark tobacco fond, built around an amazing absolute of dried tobacco leaves.

BODY NOTES: The animalic, leathery and woody tobacco opens the ground for a generously dosed layer of patchouli in the base of Phi. Here, woody and gourmand notes melt into hints of animalic lines. Vetiver, vanilla and tonka add richness and brilliance. A generous dose of exclusive musk and amber gris round the body of the fragrance and encircle the roses.

It's currently out of stock until at least the third quarter of the year, but rydra_wong very, very kindly sent me a sample - because "apricot" is Alex-bait, and almond and bergamot are Alex-bait, and plum is Alex-bait, and leather/wood/vetiver/vanilla are all, very much, Alex-bait.

( Herein my impressions. )