Et Lux in Tenebris: Incense Rosé by Andy Tauer

How could all the autumnal joy of eating a bright citrus fruit marry to the somber ambience of incense? And how does this immerse itself in the heritage of centuries and centuries of aromatization and meditation through fragrant smoke?
Incense Rosé the new fragrance by Andy Tauer is a proposition towards this very end.


Incense Rosé was announced as

"A fragrance that breaths
in the tradition of perfumery,
capturing the floral beauty
hiding in smoking frankincense".

Andy Tauer spent months measuring CO2 extracted Frankinscence (Boswellia serrata)in large cylinders, the shining golden viscous liquid aromatizing the Swiss laboratory into an immense church. And out of the shadows, there came light: lux in tenebris.


(uploaded by Catholiques)


A big dollop of clementine, juicy, dribbling down in all its exhuberant glory is greeting me as I spray Incense rosé on. Sustained for the length of its life span much the same way carbon deteriorates little by little in all living matter to leave but a whiff of its quinta essentia . Floral elements of a rich, lush and dark rosiness (never too sweet and with no powderiness or makeup feel) emerge from the depths of the woody and resiny embrace of viscous labdanum and bitter myrrh. Labdanum resin, the dark brown material of an illustrious past and the reigning star of many quality orientals was a first for Tauer as he had never included it in one of his unique fragrances before per his words. Here it makes for a 4% diluted slowly in ethanol, which acts as a counterpoint to the brighter, hesperidic elements, anchoring them and giving them a soft darkness like the velvety glove of an approaching night.

Complex, with a spicy herbal touch like bay, consisting of 35 materials of an inherently multinuanced character as they are natural essences, Incense rosé takes one into the crepuscular trail of light that illuminates a sunny autumnal afternoon. Its warmth and radiance are especially simpatico to those cold, cold days we are having, lending them a bit of its mirth. The more the fragrance stays on the skin the more it melds into frankincense smokiness. Much more orientalised and opulent than Incense Extrême of a lone monk chanting under his horsehair shirt (but I personally love it so!), Incense Rosé is intended for those who are not quite willing to leave the earthy delights just yet.

In the Eau de Parfum concentration it has very good tenacity and is quite unisex, although at the same time rounder than Incense Extrême which might be perceived as more masculine.

Official Notes for Incense Rosé:
Clementine, bergamot, castor,
Bulgarian rose, orris, Texan cedar wood,
incense, labdanum, myrrh, patchouli, ambergris.

Front cover illustration of flyer: by Dezsö Bödi, hailing from Eastern Europe is a good friend of Pascal, the shop owner of the Medieval art & life shop in Zurich. "When he is bored he makes arabesque drawings", according to Andy, just like the one on this flyer for Incense Rosé.

I especially like and respect Andy's thinking:

"I start wondering where we are heading with all these luxury things going on around us and that maybe it would be time for a contra punto. Something subversive, like a fragrance that everyone wants, that is selling for almost nothing, but that you can not get if you are an oligarch or otherwise rich.
And I think about another contra punto: Make a really good, rich fragrance, with lots of really good rich ingredients, reduce the entire packaging to a glass bottle and nothing else. The simplest bottle you can get. And sell this as zero fancy line".

His fragrances are indeed quality potions in spartan packaging with zero fluffiness: to the point!


For Tauer's other incense fragrance, Incense Extrême click here

For an in depth examination on Incense fragrances, please check our Incense Series, clicking here.

Incense Extrême has juct launched.
Incense rosé will come out in March.
Available through Andy Tauer site, Luckyscent, Luilei and First in Fragrance.

Pic of clementine by citrusboy/flickr. Flyer from Andy Tauer's site.