Saffron Rose

After having sampled the beautiful reimaginings of Grossmith's three historic perfumes, I was keen to try their modern offerings. Saffron Rose is my first to sample, and it is an opulent rose-oud scent, classical in style, with spicy facets and an amber base. Beautifully composed with high-quality ingredients, it is refined and regal. It owes a lot to Middle Eastern perfumery tradition too. SR opens with a rich rose note, dewy and petal-like, followed closely by a beautiful saffron note. The saffron is warm and earthy, quite realistic, marrying beautifully with the rose. This forms the crux of this scent, as its name suggests. There is a smoky undertone early on thanks to the tobacco, and soft sandalwood rounds it out beautifully. As it develops, a palatable oud note emerges, not too animalic, but giving a nice leathery undertone. It complements the spicy rose to perfection. Cinnamon emerges as the smoke subsides somewhat, adding warm spice, but the rose remains dominant, becoming less dewy and increasingly powdery as it develops. A sweet amber accord develops in the background, resinous and rich, yet light enough to set off the other notes. It becomes musky as it fades, becoming a sweet amber skin scent with remnants of spicy rose. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. Made with a surprisingly light touch despite the rich ingredients, this is a well-blended, wearable thing of beauty. I love rose, and this one is beautiful, nicely composed in traditional style, yet timeless. Exceptional. 4.5/5.

Making love in a bed of roses... This is a very playful spicy fragrance. Not your typical Oud-Rose combo. Top notes in here are giving this perfume its scent profile (rose-saffron-cinnamon). You can pick the rose, and the saffron compensates somehow the sweetness of the cinnamon, making the rose darker and warmer, and very spicy. Castoreum provides the special touch through a leathery animalic dirtiness, which to me is key in this perfume, to like it or to dislike it. I do not get the tobacco or cigarette feeling, may be a hint of smoke reinforce by a little myrrh. Oud in here is not recognizable "per-se", but takes the top notes throughout the wearing of the perfume, making it thicker and providing a resinous feeling. This is elegant but naughty, dense, rich and intriguing, but not cloying of overly sweet... Very addictive and well blended. This could lean more feminine, but on a man its playfulness is multiplied. Nobody expects a man smelling this way, but it works really well. Uniqueness: Medium-high (not a typical oud-rose perfume) Scent: 8/10 Performance: high (you get wafts all day long) Would I buy it: Yes (it's part of my collection)

Opens very confidently with a strong saffron note, wedded to an almost sharp, zesty cinnamon; the combination recalls the salty bitter-sourness of a preserved lemon. The rose quickly enters the picture, followed by sweet, resinous incense and woody notes, blended so beautifully so as to never upstage the saffron. The castoreum and oud are used ever so lightly, a suggestion of warm, clean skin. Could you picture Victorian ladies wearing this? Absolutely! It’s a very elegant flirtation with the exotic that wouldn’t have been out of place in a 19th century drawing room.

I find this absolutely divine and completely addictive. This has been made with gorgeous ingredients that have been perfectly blended and balanced resulting is a terrific fragrance. Beautiful lush roses, steeped in the metallic saffron, rolled in high quality wood and wrapped in a kid leather glove. Perfect. It feels familiar in that it's old school, I adore this perfume, it's nothing like I imagined. Creamy, unctuous with notes that roll in waves over the senses. Perfect. Did I mention, I find this perfect!

This fragrance is amazingly good. Opens very masculine with some upscale soapy sandalwood and a subtle undercurrent of smoke (possibly form the oud). As the smoke clears the rose begins to bloom and she is bright and candied. It almost evokes a strawberry sweetness. This aspect persists throughout the development, although much lighter. It blends beautifully with the skin. The sandalwood soapiness reemerges and creates an interesting contrast with the sexy syrupy rose.