Rock Rose

‘Nobile VII - Rock Rose’ opens with a hesperedic accord featuring the tart freshness of bergamot. Black peppercorn and neroli flower offer a counterbalance of piquant spiciness and sweetly indolic floralcy respectively. The combination of citrus, spice and floral top notes in perfumery is certainly not groundbreaking, but in ‘Nobile VII’ it is done so in a sublime way. With a deft hand and a painterly effect, the contradictory notes mingle into one intoxicatingly exuberant scent. The eponymous rock rose appears in the mid-range, accompanied by lavender, violet and clary sage. Rock rose’s earthy, balsamic scent shines here, featuring its warm ambery undertones. The pairing of lavender and violet flower helps to soften the composition while still allowing the rock rose room to breathe. Clary sage offers a balmy, woody aroma (not much unlike the smell of loose wet tobacco leaves) which helps to amplify the rock rose further in the forefront. The base of ‘Nobile VII’ is comprised of a unique pairing of notes which include cocoa, amber, patchouli, and vetiver. Amber and cocoa seem the most predominant, continuing the warm rich tone set in the top and middle notes. Faint hints of vetiver’s dry woodiness and patchouli’s denseness can be appreciated well into the drydown. As a men’s cologne in the styling of historical fougere fragrances, ‘Noble VII - Rock Rose’ excels. It strikes the perfect balance of mass market appeal while still exhibiting the handcrafted and unparralled quality one is to expect from the Clive Christian brand. At once sweet, spicy, woody, and herbal, 'Noble VII' unfurls itself upon the wearer's skin in an astonishing olfactory performance. From its grand hesperidic opening to its warm and comforting drydown, 'Rock Rose' is currently my favorite offering from the perfume house. Women will love this scent on a man, given its ability to playfully articulate masculinity, fortitude, and sensuality all at once. With its "extrait de parfum" concentration, both sillage and longevity are excellent, and help to impart the composition with a strong projection. Easily suitable for both formal and casual settings, the versatile 'Noble VII' comes across as a universally pleasing scent, one which is capable of transcending the traditional constructs of societal mores. I personally will be looking forward to wearing this exquisite scent in the spring and summer months ahead, hoping to share the beauty that is 'Nobile VII - Rock Rose' with the world around me. Read my complete review at my personal blog:

Got this from an authorized Clive Christian store who decided to drop the brand and liquidate their inventory. I got this deeply discounted, as well as buying No. 1, 1872, and X--all masculine. This is the perfect fragrance for when you don't want to offend or know what know what to wear. It's so likable and fresh without being aquatic--just the right amount of normal-ness to it that no one is going to say you stink; it's perfectly agreeable. It's year-round, drop-dead gorgeous and ready for the office, date night, poolside, or trip to the mall. One reviewer described it as "just eyes roll up into head juice," and that's what it is. If I had to throw away everything but one bottle, I'd probably keep this. The people who don't like it still can't even say it's bad. Not everyone wants to smell like Aventus, but they still want to be fresh--maybe even a little bright smelling. This is the one. It's expensive, and I think it smells it, too. It's one of the few that I'd recommend a blind buy of. If you want nice things, you'll have to pay nice prices. At $550, I don't think if I would've bought it at that price, but it was worth what I paid. If I ever run out, I may just buy it in travel size bottles from Clive Christian; the price is more palatable. Lasts about 7 hours until it starts getting close to the skin. Then it stays as a skin scent for about another 5 hours. Lasts a good while on clothes. Sillage is perfect, around 4-6 feet for about 4-6 hours or so. My performance varies. I'll wear this year-round, but only have worn in the hot, humid Mississippi Summer. Can't choose a good season for it because it's just so versatile. 10/10 scent, 8.5/10 longevity--great for a fresh scent, 9/10 sillage. Edit: as it's gotten a lot hotter, the performance has drifted often down to 5 hours for me. Disappointing, but still love it.

This is such a fantastic, simple approach to a simple, yet complex perfume. This is one of those fragrances that doesn't need to have that stanky oud note or exotic/extremely unique vibe to tell you that it is "niche." This stuff will tell you it is niche by the quality of the simplicity. By "simple," I don't mean boring, trust me. By "simple," I mean an amazing, fresh, universally-appealing fragrance. The difference with this one, is that this has such a different appeal than your everyday drivers. This is built on character and effortless distinction of quality vs cheap. You feel fresh, happy and invigorated when you wear this. The notes all combine so well it is hard to describe. I definitely get the lavender and violet up top which we are all familiar with. But the way those two lead the charge is so alluring. Then, I sometimes get a creamy mid which is the actual 'rock rose' or labdanum. Sometimes it's creamy and sometimes it is woody - it's kind of crazy how it changes. Personally, I like the woody facet a bit more but the creamy side is a little more quirky. As it dries down, the woodiness starts to blanket the bottom notes. So in the end, you get this uplifting masculine mix of lavender/violet with a creamy/woody mid followed by a woody base. I would almost say the woody base is cedar-like and not vetiver. At the end of the day, the whiffs you get are enlivening. It's a happy fragrance with a simple yet insanely complex blend of top notch ingredients. The only warning I will give is to make sure you spray the right amount! Too many sprays can lead to an intrusive metallic-creamy overload which is hard to handle because it is so damn strong. I would start slow with three sprays and find what works best for you. My personal experience: Longevity - 10/10 Sillage - 9/10 Scent - 9/10

OK now I feel comfortable doing a review: This is a really nice fragrance, but shares similarities with multiple different ones in the market. This is a nice variation of a fougere, still built over a clean lavender, but replacing the classic green/woody aspects with a dry sweetened accord centered on the rock rose note (laudanum). You know which DNA is also a variation of a fougere? Montblanc Legend and Percival’s. I’d dare to say that even Sauvage has some of that lavender/geranium clean heart. With that in mind, RR gives me a vibe just between 3 fragrances: Drakkar Noir, Percival and Dior Sauvage. A really nice fresh fragrance with depth, with that clean lavender focused feel from Drakkar noir, the hedion-y ambery airyness of Percival and a strong dry/sweet base as achieved by the overdose of Ambroxan in Sauvage. This is the one with the most amount of naturals I’d say. You can feel the natural lavender and how the cacao and labdanum open and give that dry sweetness in the background. This is also the most elegant one, but is not a beast mode fragrance like percival or Sauvage. This one lasts a good amount of time, 8-10 hours, but it doesn’t project that much and I get nose blind to it after 4 hours I love this fragrance, as I loved Sauvage until everyone started using it. I find this fragrance different enough to be considered a good buy, however, sadly, the shared similarities with a lot of mainstream fragrance may be a letdown; I experienced this letdown when my girlfriend told me: is nice, but you smell like people, not someone in particular, but people

This fragrance is very well done, and one can tell immediately that top quality ingredients are used to make it. I was actually very pleasantly surprised at how amazing this scent is - especially considering that I am not a huge fan of other Clive Christian products. This fragrance is definitely floral, but it has a masculine depth (likely due to the combination of sage, Vetiver, and patchouli). That being said, this is scent is certainly unisex. The fragrance notes are clearly listed above, so I’m not going to go into some long winded description about each and every one. However, bergamot is the main player in the opening. Rock rose rocks the heart after a bit of drydown and it blends very nicely with the amber in the base. This scent, though incredibly expensive, could easily be an everyday wear. Unfortunately, unless you’re rich, that’s highly unlikely. I’d personally save this for special days where I really wanted to stand out or smell very sexy. It has become one of my top 3 favorite scents. I wish that this scent were available in refills or larger size bottles, because there is no need to waste bottles and packaging every time you purchase a new one. Scent Score: 9.5/10 Sillage: 9/10 Longevity: 8.5/10 Adjectives: Sexy, refined, floral, head-turner