Rose Poivrée (2001)
by Different Company

Best rose ever. My queen. Bold, carnal, beautiful. Indeed different even for a niche house. Most of the people witnessing Rose Poivrée dislike it, and this only proves its geniality. Somehow I feel - no, I am CERTAIN I can never stop adoring this extraordinary & unique fragrance.

18th December, 2011.

Thumbs up to the funky animalic cumin-loaded original!

19th October, 2011.

I smell no civet in ROSE POIVREE, but a huge dose of cumin. My references for civet are JOY and FIRST; my references for cumin, well, the kitchen! Perhaps synthetic civet has a cuminesque cast? Or maybe civet + coriander reacts to produce a cumin facsimile? Hmmm...

It's also possible that the names have been confused, and there really is plain old cumin in this composition. Anyway, cumin is never subtle--whether in perfumery or cuisine--and I find the quasi-cumin note so marked in the opening of this composition that it somewhat mangles the rose. Unfortunately, as the cumin fades to the point of being tolerable, the rose pretty much dies out. (Death by cumin?)

Well, this is not something that I have any real desire to smell like, and there's no dearth of rose perfumes out there, so I can safely move on...

22nd August, 2011.

A strong red rose tamed by pepper, releasing an even wilder side.

12nd July, 2011. (Last Edited: 29th July, 2011.)

I have to agree with odysseusm regarding this scent....also doesn't work for me....almost a moldy rose.

16th April, 2011.

The original formulation (2001):

Some rose scents feel like they've been prepped by Max Clifford before entering the public domain – snapshot ready with hair-sprayed do (L'Ombre dans L'Eau) and dapper suit (Opôné). Rose Poivrée is the flower caught unawares, bedraggled after a long run through the park, all flushed face and moist perineum. It is simple and raunchy, with rose and civet spiced with Ellena's trademark cumin and coriander combo (I smell only a dash of black pepper). While not worlds away from Le Labo's Rose 31, Rose Poivrée is more fun, with an entirely welcome, cumin-funky lushness about it.

8th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 24th March, 2011.)