Orange Star
Tauer (2010)

I never thought I was going to say this, but out of everything I've ever smelled so far, this is my favorite fragrance.

Orange and tangerine are the main notes I can pick out, maybe some neroli? But calling this a citrus scent seems a bit contrived because it's actually so much more than that.

It conveys the color orange more than the actual fruit, and it's more of a nocturnal scent, so there's a bit of navy blue or maybe dark teal as well. It's one of the rare cases where the bottle, the name and the scent are a perfect match.

Everything about this is odd, skewed and distorted. It's chalky, oily, shimmering and a bit green, almost medicinal, it vaguely reminds me of car fresheners but in a good way, particularly in the opening. Sometimes it makes me recall the back seat of the first car my family had owned (a 1st gen Ford Focus sedan in "aquamarine frost metallic" with light grey cloth upholstery, and a lingering scent of cheap automotive cleaning products, mild early childhood trauma and a hint of tobacco smoke from my dad's cigarettes).

But as the journey continues, there are moments when it really lives up to its name, because despite the nostalgic feeling it also comes off as alien, futuristic and industrial. It has this dry, bright, fizzy texture, and I suspect that it's due to a large dose of aldehydes. It also contains some spicy element, something I didn't realize until 2 of my coworkers told me that it smells like cinnamon.

This is a real hidden gem that should, at least in my book, be as popular as LDDM, ACDD, Lonestar Memories and Sundowner, but I’m almost glad it isn’t, because I can actually find this one for sale at discounters.

What's that I smell? It hits me as soon as I spray Orange Star to skin. Oh yeah, it's Andy Tauer's top-to-bottom amber material. Surprise. I think most of his perfumes are actually flankers without an original…? Anyway, that aside, which I'm going to try to ignore (but that would come at the cost of being objective, wouldn't it?), the orange accord to this perfume is gorgeous. It's quite different than how oranges are usually presented to us, in that it is completely removed of all of its sourness and leans heavily into the oily and bitter zest/rind note. Even the orange blossom note has an indolic quality to it that strikes the wearer as atypical. It's a smart pairing with Tauer's cold, dusty, amber as it provides a new texture to the amber we've experienced so many times (groan) by taking the whole of the perfume into what is almost gourmand territory. If any of you have had wassail, a hot mulled holiday wine chock full of sliced oranges and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, clove, etc.), this will smell extremely similar to you. To keep proceedings from descending into a hot, oily, gourmand mess a very pleasant string of lemongrass, bright and herbal, weaves itself over the top and through the cracks of the heart. On this balmy day, where you noticeably feel the hemisphere beginning its transition from spring to summer, it feels a bit too heavy and thick. But on a fall day this would be perfect, where the brisk weather would be neutralized by the warmth of the amber while providing welcome swells of evocative and refreshing orange fruits and blossoms and lemongrass. Winter is citrus season here in Northern California; once the weather cedes from fall to winter the orange groves are full of fruit bursting with juices and oils. I'm immediately transported to that time of year, when I throw on a sweater and a scarf around my neck, and I'm all smiles and cloud-nine while I walk through the orange groves, warming spicy beverage in hand to help stave off the chill, and I take in the beautiful smells of the groves and burnished reds and yellows of the tree foliage. Orange Star smells like that. It's a beautiful perfume. And, finally, a Tauer perfume that I want to buy.

Tauer's sensibilities sometimes veer into very idiosyncratic territory, and such it is with the profoundly peculiar Orange Star.

I have long sought a dark, bitter orange scent, and, to date, Orange Star is the closest scent I've found to match my vision. It opens with fizzy, medicinal orange, a bit like an orange-flavored seltzer tablet with some authentic orange rind in the mix, sitting atop bitter patchouli and ambergris.

If I'm being honest, I wish the orange note here skewed a bit more strongly towards a realistic orange peel, but it all feels coherent and decidedly "Tauer," and the way it increasingly tilts towards that largely unsweetened patch-ambergris wins me over.

Andy created a very unique fizzy orangey fragrance with a very uplifting accord of oranges & his own blend of other notes which you can detect in his other fragrances.

I really like it 🧡🧡🧡

Longevity is Superb 🌟🌟🌟

Thumbs up!

Starts out with a bit of sharpness from the citrus and lemongrass, then softens to a creamy orange sherbet with a bit of a twist from the ambergris and patchouli notes. Never crosses the edge to cloying, but stays too close to it for my tastes. I prefer my citrus more acidic and aromatic. Still, lovely for what it is, and as well made as one would expect from Tauer.

So, not for me, but warrants a thumbs-up.

An unusual orange. It's dense and packs a punch. It doesn't turn too sweet and is nothing like the citrus you'll find in Atelier Cologne. Way Off Scenter describes it as an aldehydic bomb, and that's pretty accurate.

Not your average citrus scent so sample before you buy.