Once upon a time, Andy Tauer was a Swiss chemist living and working in Zurich. But one day, he stumbled onto a book about perfumery, and he was hooked. After studying and experimenting for a few years, Andy launched his eponymous perfume line, Tauer Perfumes, in 2005. In no time at all, his creations began turning heads all over the world, earning him fans and the kind of critical acclaim that many upstart perfumers dream of. In just 10 short years, Andy had become practically a legend (our word, never his), but he felt the need to take another olfactory path: Tauerville.
Andy calls Tauerville “a playground for innovative ideas presented in a down-to-earth approach.” That means less marketing, simple packaging, no sampling, and the choice to not disclose specific scent notes. This concise, naked approach to perfumery lets him bring beautifully exquisite materials to the table without tacking on a luxurious price tag.
Andy decided to build each Tauerville scent around a central note and drape it in his distinctive signature. Of course he tells us that note—rose, in this case—but why not the others?
“I want Rose Flash to be experienced as a complete scent and not picked apart into individual notes and analyzed down to its bones,” Andy says. “This rose is here to share the joy and fun I had in my lab exploring rose petals.”
In Rose Flash, we can see—or, rather, smell—the joy and fun Andy had while creating it. Rose Flash whispers secrets into your psyche, and the thrill of decoding them is made more intriguing by the fact that the specific notes remain an enigma. Andy’s request that we enjoy this fragrance as whole work of art gives us the freedom to observe it. And instead of talking about the notes, we can talk about its tints and textures.
The rose in Rose Flash is a young rose with deep velvet petals. When it opens, it releases effervescent orange gossamer bubbles that are nose-tinglingly bright. But right away, you sense the heft that underlies so many Tauer creations: the woody stem and the prickly thorns of spice. The gourmand nature of the rose quickly blurs the edges of green leaves, and you’re left with a depth of scent and a much-matured rose. In the end, she is a rose gracefully approaching decay, nodding her crown towards the forest floor, surrounded by musks and woods in soft focus.
Andy has said that Rose Flash is the most luxurious rose he has ever created, and that sounds right. It is elegant—certainly a grownup’s rose—but always approachable and welcoming. (If you’ve ever met Andy, you’ll know those are two qualities he exudes in spades.)
Experiencing Rose Flash as a whole artistic entity is a lovely experience. If you like to do deep reads on perfumes but always do it with notes in hand, this might be an even lovelier experience than usual. You have no guide. You have no CliffsNotes. You have only your own nose, your own memories, and your own associations. So close your eyes, spray, and paint your own picture of what Rose Flash illustrates to you. Is it light? Dark? Realistic or abstract? As a gourmand floral oriental, the possible interpretations are unlimited. And that’s what makes Andy’s innovative Tauerville line so much fun to explore.
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