Rose Tonnerre / Une Rose
Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (2003)

I was hoping to expand my go-to "Portrait of a Lady" and Memo Paris "African Rose" rose fragrances with a different, iconic, rose-centric creation. Someone suggested I might like the reformulated Une Rose, now "Rose Tonnerre."

"A ROSE COMPLETE WITH ITS ROOTS." These are the words someone cited (on a different review site) as printed on the "sample" stock card that was used over time to package the little 1.5ml samples of this fragrance.

Ugghhhh...so disappointed. And I purchased a full x 100ml bottle at a pretty good price (such as the pricing is for this stuff).

While nice enough for what it is...I suppose...the opening notes of wine lees and coriander, coupled with honey, truffle and orris are so sour, acrid and dirty, I can barely detect any rose. Well, yeah...the rose IS present but the fragrance "feels" and "wears" (for quite some time) like bitter, sour, moldy flowers and moist, dank, dark dirt. And roots. And dirt.

The rose in Rose Tonnerre is dusty, dry and (shall I say) a rotting rose accord. The supporting notes are difficult to describe. On my skin, the honey, wine, castoreum and truffle notes are so overpowering, they are the only notes I can smell. After 30 minutes, or so, I detect a bit of dry, dusty, antique rose.

This. Is. A. Pass.

Renaming Une Rose to Rose Tonnerre was actually quite a good call. “The Rose” doesn’t capture the spirit of the perfume nearly as well as “Rose Thunder”. This perfume is thunderous, a maelstrom, all blacks, deep purples, and dark browns. There is no sunshine here, it’s been blocked out. Gothic almost to the point of being campy, it is also superbly rich and elegant. Dracula would have this perfume as his signature, for sure. The rose is beautiful, of course, and the greens of the geranium and the vetiver are wonderful but predictable pairings. It’s the “wine” accord, castoreum, and the truffle that stand out and take this is in a wholly different direction. With the slightly metallic turned-fruit note from an inky purple cabernet franc, the semi-garlicky earthiness from the black truffle, and soft leather-like animalics of the castoreum, the innocent red of the rose is corrupted by their poisonous blacks, purples, and browns.

That was then. The thunderstorm has passed; Dracula is in his coffin for some slumber, unwarranted light is now breaking through. The new formulation is much heavier on the greens of the geranium and the vetiver, with maybe a new addition to the perfume that strikes me as mossy, while the wine chalice has been emptied, the truffle eaten, the leather gone, and the patchouli dialed back to a whisper. It actually has more in common with new formulations of POAL (also a shell these days) than it does with the original Une Rose I love. The original is a big thumbs-up. The new formulation not so much. Bram Stoker would not be pleased.

A VERY high quality fragrance, its top notch. This is on that same POAL level, i think its maybe even better than POAL. It just a well built swiss watch, this is the Patek Philippe of fragrances. I imagine french countryside when i wear this, i imagine nature, green color all around me, top notch wine, truffles...you get the point. What i get in the fragrance, is a dark crimson red rose, velvety, dark, earthy, dry, green, a little spice for the sharp effect. Try this if you like Armani Prive Cuir Majeste, Tom Ford Noir de Noir, Amouage Lyric Man, Frederic Malle POAL. This is at the top if you want a fantastic rose. But here, you get a whole scenery, the whole french wine valley with some beautiful sun shining down.

Review of the original Matt Cap version.

A gothic, velvety rose drenched in red wine, served with truffles on a bed of death foliage. Far from a solifloral. The wine-drenched rose petals open the way, sweet and intoxicating, at times, giving away an almost metallic smell. It feels like the wine is offered in chalice cups—nothing fresh or crisp here, rather gothic and gloomy. Clever usage of vetiver and truffle creates an earthy accord that is pushed toward decay. The addition of castoreum in the base gives that perfect extra touch, creating an almost suede leather-like texture. One of the most elegant, mysterious, and beautifully romantic scents I've tried, only for dressed-up occasions, or to enjoy by yourself. I can't picture something like this for a casual wear out and about. Somehow, with time, it has become more of a tart, sour, and spicy, almost fresh geranium scent. The earthiness has been replaced by green stems, and the castoreum is nowhere to be found. Quite linear and boring. I feel that from the entire line, this one lost most of its past allure and mystique.

IG:@memory.of.scents

This is a red rose wilting; its petals’ edges are drying up and curling back on themselves. Everything returns to dust, as is the case, with this rose. A dusty rose with a foot fetish that stays rosy to the end. It dries down to an ever-present rosey, lightly honeyed, yeasty flower on a musky/wood base.

The woody aroma chemicals are quite perceptible in the dry down. If these scents agree with you, this is pretty special. This rose is not basic; it’s pure, but with plenty of character. It’s not embellished like PoaL, which I also enjoy. They’re very different.

This is a must-sniff for rose lovers.

Une Rose --- La Rose ?

A rich rose, steeped in yeasty wine-lees and truffle ... with a light harmonic geranium, and a fatty-animal note coming straight off the blocks.
And then, a slow dark rumble of vetiver-patchouli, and a base of light amber.
It's a classic combination, which Fléchier makes anew - no doubt thanks to the direction of Malle; they have plucked a rose that’s earthy-humid - and elegant - at the same time.

The blend of earthy and elegant reminds me of French Lover (aka Bois d’Orage, or Storm Wood – 2007). They are both mutable scents - at home in town or country - but where that was pale and minimal, this is deep and raw; a rose that would liven up a dark forest or a dimly lit bar.

Not only is it tasteful, Une Rose is technically brilliant.
The depths are dark and complex; it could get muddy but it doesn’t thanks to a bouyancy that’s part bitter-powdery, part acid bite; it makes a Blood-Dry rose that’s light and legible but still warm.

It’s a wonderful scent; subtle but straightforward, aloof but alluring, Grande dame and Gothic; a masterpiece.

And - I’m sure, it’s not just a rose to some, but The Rose...


It's now been renamed Rose Tonnere ::: cue Thundering Groans and Gnashing of Teeth ...