Highness Rose

I am one of those men who either wear the heavy musky animalics or pure florals and soliflores are among my favorites when done well. I have, wear and really enjoy Taif roses, which is a unisex pure rose perfume, so I am puzzled why Highness Rose is marketed as women's, but to me it makes no difference, with two doctorate degrees I'm not about to let some Einstein with a college degree in how to present products so the most will be sold, decide for me that because I'm a male, I should not wear it. Highness Rose is just what Montale wanted it to be because they have the means and expertise to do it right: a decadent, over the top rose perfume that leaves no room to even imagine any other notes in there it is so packed with roses. Being a pull strength parfum, when you spray it on you scent the whole room as well all rooms you occupy the first few minutes you're wearing it. When you wear this perfume you had better love and be in the mood for roses because that is what you are going to be smelling all day until you go to bed and so is anyone who gets anywhere near you as the sillage is a good arm's length which is quite exceptional for a rose soliflore that is not relying on geranium to do so. Montale claims to use only the finest quality rose absolutes in this perfume and for good reason: they do and it's obvious. There is no citrusy or citronella high pitchyness nor is there the barfy bitterness typically found in poor quality Bulgarian rose, and no peppery drydown, that I do not enjoy as rose de mai is fading away. I would guess there must be at least some civet in there to warm up, and bring the rose absolutes back to life but everything is in such perfect balance that I would be trying to say my nose is better than it really is if I were to fib and say I could tell it's there, so I say it probably is but that I cannot smell it. The first time I tried it on my arm, I kept smelling it close up and thinking...wow, too much of a great thing really CAN be too much!!! going against my whole way of life that too much of a good thing still isn't enough. At that point I thought that this smells like a rich, top quality rose perfume, but not like the flower, like perfume. But once I bought the big 100ml bottle and sprayed it on my neck where I always wear fragrances I couldn't smell it so near to my nose and at that distance or further it does smell far more like the real flower. Like Taif Roses it is a natural rose as it is in nature and not phony sweet or fruity in any so there is nothing wrong with men wearing it. It is just a wonderful rose soliflore that ever perfumer out there can feel sad about because there is no way that it can be outdone without cluttering it up with other notes. It is sad that it's a limited edition. For the quality and cost of what goes into the juice I am certain that Montale is not making a huge profit in sales of this perfume. It seems they created it just to stake claim of having made the ultimate rose perfume so over the top in every way that nobody should even waste their time trying to top it. I bought the 100ml parfum and I'm sure it will last me many years, hopefully long enough for them to release it again. Whether you are a perfume, rose, floral, Montale, or whatever enthusiast now is the time to pick up a bottle of this unique perfume that is all superlatives. It is the Liberace of rose perfumes.

A great old school rose fragrance masquerading as a modern scent. Highness Rose was a big surprise for me, and I needed a big and good surprise. Another blind buy (no bricks and mortar stores that I can find carry a full range of Montale scents, or really any at all), and even though I only sprung for a 20ml bottle I started to kick myself a day after I ordered it that I was buying yet another sweet rose scent like so many others. I'd skimmed down the reviews and even though one recent one said it had a similar vibe to Perfumer's Workshop's Rose scent, which rivals moth spray. In its day women who were wearing Perfumer's Workshop rose were literally banned from going into certain places, like bars and restaurants, until they washed it off. Yet rosequeen had bought Highness Rose anyway, even though it was the same vibe? So I was worried. But Montale Highness Rose is here, and I have no regrets now. It's big and gushing but it doesn't take over a room or a building unless you've sprayed maybe 3 or 4 places. It's very spicy, almost a taif rose, and not watery or common or anything I was dreading. And yes, it's a lot like Goutal's Rose Absolute, at least the one they started selling maybe 10 years or so ago; I have no idea what Goutal is selling now and/or how strong or long lasting anything Goutal makes now is. The odd thing is that I'd started the day with a very old school scent, Caron's N'Aimez Que Moi parfum, that I think was first made in the 1920's. I hadn't planned on wearing it to compare; I wasn't positive the Highness Rose would even arrive today. I just thought the sun was out and maybe I should wear a floral instead of an amber or oud for once. And lo and behold, the Montale Highness Rose is very similar to the N'Aimez Que Moi. No one wears this Caron anymore, and even in Caron's heyday N'Aimez Que Moi wasn't sold widely, but it's one of those fabulous strong rose floral Caron scents made with many notes jockeying for position. Only 13 Fragrantica members admit to owning this Caron and only 8 people say they want it. (It doesn't help that it was never cheap and it's usually very pricey now.) Whereas 58 Fragrantica members say they have Highness Rose and 151 want it. Not throngs for either perfume, but it interests me that one scent is old school and probably associated with little old ladies, and the other is perhaps more the scent of an over what, 40? and more hip woman. I highly recommend Highness Rose. It lasts 7 hours or so on my skin and I suppose it might project beyond my arm, but no one was around other than me to smell it since I sprayed it, or to complain that it was just too strong.

The richest, freshest, deepest ROSE soliflore ever. The quality of the rose absolute is the best I have ever smelled. I sense rose otto, rose absolute, damascena and centifolia here. It's not just Bulgarian damascena. I sense Turkish Rose absolute and French Rose centifolia absolute within this as well. I am sure there is even some rose otto. The rose component itself is so rich that I am saving it for fall/winter wear even though it is a soliflore. VERY Unusual. The base is also a smooth, rich, elegant mix of woods with a touch of incense. Still, the rose reigns supreme here from opening to drydown without any medicinal hospital antiseptic accords or rubbishy wilting chemical petal accords. No sickeningly sweet candy, vanilla, or other infantile sugar to sully this magnificent creation. The natural moderate sweetness derives from the very high quality of the rose extracts here. This lasts about 8 hours on the skin and is a parfum extrait. This is not a shy EDT or EDP. This is without question the best rose soliflore perfume I have ever smelled. It is unique as far as rose scents go. There are dozens and dozens of rose scents out there. Fresh ones, clean ones, dark ones, spicy ones, oud ones, orientals, woody ones, and so on. This particular perfume has THE BEST rose absolute in it......of ALL OF THEM that I have smelled. I'm not saying it's the best perfume because we all have different chemistries and different tastes. I do feel confident in stating that to my nose, the quality of the rose absolute itself in this one is the best I've ever smelled regardless of what TYPE of fragrance you prefer. You can even detect the quality of it from just smelling the bottle top before spraying it on your skin. So, to clarify, I am making the comment regarding the particular quality of the rose absolute itself outside of what it smells like on my skin. (I happen to insanely love how it smells on my skin as well.)

This is a big beautiful rose fragrance that doesn't have many other notes to muddle it up. It's roses, roses, roses, all day. I only pick up a little musk and violet on the very far dry down, but it's very faint and not adding any powder to this scent. Nor is there anything synthetic here, which is usually not the case with too many of this brand's fragrances. Even though this is a big rose, with silage on the line of PW's Tea Rose, it's softer than that and doesn't come across as so loud and aggressive. It has excellent silage and longevity too. I put it on earlier today, and while the scent has lightened up somewhat, I can still smell it clearly around me over 10 hours later. If I smell where I sprayed, I am picking up some spice notes, yet I do not smell that heavily around me, nor does it even vaguely bring to mind potpourri. Overall, this is a rose lover's perfume. If you love that note and want something that doesn't smell dated or old fashioned, this is the one to get. It really is fit for a queen. Edit - I recently got Anick Goutel's Rose Absolue and find them similar, quality wise. It is just my personal preference, but between the two, I actually prefer this. I think it is much better blended, seems fresher, and it lasts and projects better. Goutel becomes a skin scent on me within an hour. A few sprays of this and I can smell it all day. Plus, I love that little touch of violet that is missing in Rose Absolu. It makes me think of an actual rose garden, like my rose garden, that has violets growing underneath the roses.

If you're looking for a truly classic style rose, this is your lady! The kind reminiscent of pot pourri, scented powder, essential oil, and classics by Yardley and Crabtree & Evelyn. These are positive attributes in my opinion, but I gather I'm in the minority... The texture is more velvety and dry than the syrupy contemporary roses. I had a feeling Montale would get this right purely because they specifically have a fragrance called 'The New Rose', so they understand the difference! ;) There's still a touch of freshness, almost a minty crisp edge, that exists against the velvety texture. Like in the way that dried rose petals are velvety but crisp. Longevity is great on fabric, poor on my skin, but that's not unusual. Sillage minimal on me unfortunately. If you love this kind of rose, like I do, then Santa Maria Novella's Rosa might also appeal -- it's a fresher, citric/herbal version of this kind of rose base.