Dark Rose
Czech & Speake (2003)

Dark Rose by Czech & Speake (2003) is a fairly rank-and-file Western rose oud, which is not to be unexpected from a higher-end designer tier at the same price point C&S sells this for, but is somewhat unexpected coming from a brand unique as C&S themselves. That said, Dark Rose is a good representation of what it tries to be, a very by-the-numbers synthetic oud with a jammy rose of dubious origin (perhaps synthetic itself at least in part), and overall blended well despite the rather "generic" approach to the topic. What's important here is the release year, as 2003 was well before the rose oud craze in the deeper-pockets section of the Western perfume market. Yves Saint Laurent M7 (2002) had only been on the market a year and already misunderstood, and absolutely nobody knew what Amouage was, while similarly Montale was in its infancy. Perhaps there again sheds some light on why this scent was advertised as "Dark Rose" rather than actually being called "Rose Oud" or something similar, as any oud note real or artificial was not a selling point in 2003.

As the story goes, this was an EdP pulled after a short time, then re-introduced as an EdC when Czech & Speake took their manufacturing back in-house from the licensed-out Forester Milano, reformulating Dark Rose in the process to be more-prominently an oud fragrance in order to capitalize on an "oud craze" that by 2009 was in full swing. Amouage was making waves, and Montale had beaten C&S to the punch with their Aoud Rose Petals (2005) ironically right after Dark Rose was discontinued the first time. Soon after, Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud (2009) would come out to tread similar jammy rose sweet oud territory, then Jovan Secret Oud (2012) would offer the extreme downmarket take on the theme for pennies on the dollar. As an owner of the latter, plus someone who can find Montales much cheaper, I have a hard time recommending this, as the only thing you're going to get with Dark Rose besides marginally better oud accords than the Jovan cheapie is the inclusion of a saffron note in the heart that only the Montale will match. Overall, slightly boozy, spicy, sweet jammy rose with a medicinal ambery oud undercurrent and insane performance is what you get here.

If any of that sounds like something you'd want to send $200+ over to Czech & Speake for, I'd just the same tell you to save your money, and buy a few cans of Montale, like Montale Attar (2005), Montale Black Aoud (2006), and Montale Aoud Cuir d'Arabie (2006), all which show far more authentic oud styles for less coin, with a balanced take, a rose/patchouli focus, and the phenolic barnyard aspect hardcore oud addicts crave, respectively. Being a scent from the absolute dawn of Western perfume's acknowledgment of oud (not counting the 1990 release of Balenciaga pour Homme which also fails to really mention the likely real oud it contains), Dark Rose by Czech $ Speak is a nice historical document that is now a few decades old, but has little to offer style and quality-wise for its price point. Plus, if you're going to explore an esteemed Jermyn Street perfumer in the English tradition, a rose oud is the last thing you're coming to look for when you visit; and I'd much rather steer you towards something more important or unique from the house, like the brand-launching No. 88 by Czech & Speake (1981). Now that right there, that is a rose scent worth paying $200 for, even if I'd still rather not have such a price tag. Neutral

I really like Dark Rose. It's got a truly dark powerhouse chypre hiding in plain sight, a dank mix of kitchen herbs, oily patchouli, and moss that isn't obvious, but adds tremendous depth to the rose that's the feature of the scent. In addition, there's some rubbery oud that manages to fuse with both the rose and the herbs, tying everything together cleverly, while a shot of aldehydes lends some space-age plastics to the mix.

This is a cologne, so it's not as heavily concentrated as your typical rose/oud perfume, but I think that's more of a strength than a weakness, as it's much more practically wearable than a lot of its brethren. It's also of note that Dark Rose's herbal chypre backbone makes it smell really unique compared to the tidal wave of designer and niche oud perfumes that have come since. Definitely a thumbs up!

Notes of synthetic, humid, dark (as the name goes) rose, benzoin, quite a lot of patchouli, perhaps a boozy note too, and shortly after the opening, an oak moss note which an unexpected thickness and pleasant rich texture. I don't get any oud honestly, or it may be what I think was oak moss plus something boozy. A dark scent for sure, a rich and thick gloomy chypre centered on rose, with a metallic-camphoraceous aftertaste that somehow sadly "ruins" this sort of gothic ambiance, taking away a bit of its charm and deepness. Nonetheless the scent works, it's quite unpretentious and a bit cheap, so don't expect this to be some less expensive replacement for Lyric Man or other costly (and far more richer and compelling) "dark rose" scents. It smells masculine, but more like unexpensive and obscure chypres of the '80s – not the fascinating ones, rather the cheap ones. I've heard that this scent was much better some years ago when it was formulated and manufactured by Forester Milano, before C&S took back the manufacturing process in England. Other scents apparently did not suffer this change while this one did - this is just something I've heard and I am not sure if that is true, although I know there is two versions of this (you can tell the difference by the cap, the previous version had a golden cap, while now it's black). Plus anyway I did not try the "first" version and I can only speak for the current one. Which is nice, "if you have to", but nothing to really bother about.

5,5-6/10

Here's another rose-oud composition to sink your teeth into. Unfortunately there is little meat on this dish. The delightfully jammy rose is gone too soon and all I'm left with is the 'dark'. More like being left in the dark rather, for the oud is just as elusive. The structure however remains intact; the rose-oud accord receding into a close-wearing skin scent. Against the crop of rose-oud scents currently in the market, Dark Rose's reticent nature gives it a snowball's chance in hell. But I actually find the restrained approach admirable.

Genre: Floral

Czech & Speake's Dark Rose opens up all oudh and roses, rather like Montale's Black Aoud diluted down to half the concentration. The oudh-rose accord tends toward the stark and monumental, and like many scents based on this combination Dark Rose remains in olfactory stasis for quite some time. The basic character is - well - dark rose, balanced by the slightly caustic, medicinal character of oudh and a generous helping of saffron. If you like the Montale oudh scents in principle, but find them overwhelming, Dark Rose will no doubt appeal.

The rose in Dark Rose sweetens over the course of hours, taking on a “jammy” or liqueur-like character, while the oudh mellows and eventually makes way for some dry sandalwood and vetiver. The Directory entry lists Dark Rose as “feminine,” but with all that wood and the bitter edge on the rose, I'd consider it comfortably gender neutral. It's certainly no more “girly” than other recent roses for men, such as Amouage Lyric. I must admit though that I'm slightly puzzled by Dark Rose's presence in the Czech & Speake lineup. The firm already offers No. 88, which while admittedly even darker and more complex, is awfully similar in style and composition.

I had the misfortune to sample Dark Rose just days after encountering Amouage's brilliant Homage, where oudh and rose travel on an entirely different, and I must say, higher plane. Seen in light of Homage, the more daring Montale oudh scents, and Czech & Speake's own No. 88, Dark Rose seems tame – even a bit bland – and possibly superfluous.

Not a big oud fan but this smells pretty good. A nice mix of oud and rose which is slightly soapy upon initial application. As others have mentioned, this smells very similar to Montale's Black Oud. 7/10