Reviews of Orris (2006)
by Tauer

If you love iris scents, this is definitely worth a try. Alas, iris dominant scents are not really for me and this one failed to make me do a complete u-turn.

Orris is a decent fragrance but its sillage and longevity could have been a lot better.

[Original submission date: 21 December 2006]

Andy Tauer Orris

Andy Tauer is one of the nicest guys in all of artisanal perfumery. He is generous about sending out samples to the community, very forthcoming with information and clearly loves perfume. So why don't his scents send me the way they do others. Tauer has hit a solid 50% and even the ones I like are not my great loves. Until now. I had heard about Orris, the 2006 very limited release, and based on the note list it sounded like my kind of scent. Of course based on the note list L'Air du Desert Marocain is also my kind of scent and it leaves me cold and wanting more. Orris was first released as a series of samples to his faithful blog readers, see what I mean about nice. Then after much begging and pleading Tauer released a very limited edition of 200 bottles. The reason is that it is difficult to source the quality of materials needed to make this scent and that quality is evident at every stage of this one. I am a lover of iris and rose and the use of these with many of my other favorite accords might make Orris as close to a perfect scent for me as I'm likely to find. The top of Orris starts with the mix of iris, rose, pepper, cinnamon and grapefruit. The floral character is what hits my nose first followed by the tang of grapefruit and the zing of pepper and cinnamon artfully kept at a level that keeps the spices from overwhelming the florals. The iris, rose and cinnamon linger and are joined by what might be my favorite incense accord. This is is not the high mass incense or the head shop incense, this is incense from inside a Tibetan temple in which a fire is built as there is a smokiness in conjunction with the sweetness of the incense. Combine this with the now-dominant rose and cinnamon and the heart of this is incredible. Finally the woods make an appearance as a mix of sandalwood and agarwood (oud) show up and now turn this scent into a woody wonderland as the creaminess of the sandalwood complements the strength of the agarwood and brings this to a resounding crescendo at the close. Orris is a deceptively strong scent as it feels like a skin scent but based on the people around me it has some sillage and projection. I'm not in the habit of saying I'm looking for a "holy grail" or the "one scent I'd save in case of nuclear holocaust" but Orris is definitely on the short list of scents I'd consider for those positions.

I'm a new community member and forgive my rather blunt approach to rating fragrances: I don't know that many notes but I am a female and I cannot imagine wearing this scent; I can't even imagine my husband wearing it; it smells like what I would imagine an outdoor medicine man's teepee might smell like -- I do not pick up on any floral at all here just bitter, medicinal albeit subtle wafts of different scents I am not familiar with: I suspect they are the orris (which I guess is iris root?); or violet? Neither of these are apparently for me. To date my favorite fragrances are Bois des Iles and Sacre Bleu; far sweeter, softer, more feminine. Don't know: my husband likes them both but vastly prefers Sacre Bleu.

This is a wonderfully done fragrance ... however, florals and I don't get along very well. It's just not for me. I gave my sample to a young friend and find myself appreciating it more and more when he wears it ... but I enjoy it more on others than on myself.

This has the signature Tauer "tar" note, but it is much more smoothly
blended with the other notes than in LDDM or Lonestar Memories. The tar retreats into the background early on, leaving a rich and warm interpretation
of the iris note.

It is a well-balanced and intoxicating scent that is dark and sensual in the vein of Voleur de Roses. This was my first full-bottle floral purchase, and my first iris.

I see no need for any other. This is an easy Holy Grail for someone, man or woman. When I wear this, I envision a heat-shimmer of energy pulsing from my body, wave upon wave, perfectly synchronized with the beating of my heart.

Art... Mystery... Seduction... and Love...

They are all here in abundance! Thank you Andy Tauer for this fabulous scent! Both thumbs up!

Tart and herbal at the opening, which is now my favorite part of this scent. Menthol, lemon, sage notes create a tart/green pine quality. Accompanied by Iris, it is incense like, peppery and dry. Overall, this scent has a crisp white smokiness to it, ironically very clean. Exquisite, like the first smell of expensive leather. And the rose is hidden far under the other notes, it is just a whisper. Much later this lingers on your scarf or lapel as a piney wood and spice scent. I love this scent for a man or woman. I wear it and think of walking through gentle woods, it is incredibly centering.

This is probably the most atypical iris scent I've tried. Usually, I find iris to be cold and aloof, with a dustiness that I don't particularly care for. It seems it can add a three-dimensionality, a lushness, to scents that use it judiciously, but normally, I don't find it to be a "pretty" or "sexy" note. Here though, the iris smells more like violets than it does in any other iris scent I've tested. In fact, if it were not named Orris, or if I were testing it blind, I probably would have guessed this was a voilet scent, not an iris scent.

That said, I'm still not sure I would call this scent "pretty." It's more a mysterious and sexy scent than a pretty one. If LesNez's The Unicorn Spell is a violet scent that brings to mind a woman's romanticized memories of her childhood room and the dreams she had there, then Orris is the scent of that same woman, all grown up, dressed to kill, and exuding an air of mystery and confidence. In other words, I find Orris to be a sexy, feminine, grown-up scent.

The Tauer touch is there in the form of a dark, smoky, woodsy base that calls to mind a lighter version of Lonestar Memories. There is also a medicinal quality to this that adds the exoticism and mysteriousness I keep mentioning...probably the agarwood. Like all the other Tauer scents, this just doesn't last that long on me - I get a few good hours out of it. But for those few hours, it's a distinctive and interesting ride. In this case, it's the warmest, sexiest, iris scent I've tried. I probably wouldn't wear it, but I'd love to smell it on a woman.

I had to try Orris after all the hype. And yes, it's rich and well done like everything Andy touches, but it's not for me. I don't like florals, and I especially don't like cool and soapy florals like iris and violet. I like the basenotes in Orris, the trademark smoky tar, but I don't like the sharp blast of icy cold soapy iris in the top. This is not a sweet or feminine floral, this is a green and fresh floral, slightly lavender-y, and for those who go for that I'm sure it will be a hit. I just don't like the metallic edge to it, like a bar of soap cut through with a knife.

Fresh out of the tester (the tester is quite generous I might add—thanks Andy!) the scent is all about iris. Iris or Orris, is in this case known to perfumers as orrisroot and is actually the tuber of an iris plant and doesn’t refer to the flower. Iris can be cold or metallic smelling and sometimes even earthy but not in this case…it’s a sexy iris. The iris here is a slightly powdery accord, which smells a little like violet, which is combined with rose and leather.

As the Iris starts to fade after about 30 minutes on my skin, and the middle notes start to come forward, the smokiest rose accord I have ever smelled starts to shine. I should probably add at this point that I have traditional male skin that tends to gobble up/destroy rose notes for some reason. In fact, when I wear my bottle of Creed’s Fleurs de Bulgarie, the rose notes are almost gone before the alcohol dries! In Andy’s Orris, the rose notes last and last. At this stage, I smell rose and birch tar and sandalwood and it’s all breathtaking. This is my favorite part of the scent.

For me, the middle notes carry the fragrance all the way until the end with smoky rose and sandalwood. The only thing I would like to add is that before the scent disappears there is a very strange marijuana odor (not that I have ever smelled pot, it’s what I would imagine pot would smell like, right?). I would guess that this is the expensive agar wood Andy mentioned several times as included in this fragrance.

While testing this the other day, I had a good friend ask if I had roses for her and she was hurt when I told her I was testing a new fragrance! I was going to say that sillage is decent but not spectacular and stays pretty close to the skin after an hour or so…but, the last time I tested this I would get a whiff of it from several feet away even after having it on for hours. I don’t smell any spices or citrus. I don’t detect any ambergris or vetiver at all. For me the scent lasts a good 7 or 8 hours. Is this full bottle worthy for me? Nope. I will probably pass because I am saving for a bottle of his Lonestar Memories, which I would marry if it gave me a ring. Would I like to smell this on a woman…you bet! It’s a long lasting, beautiful rose and sandalwood fragrance that starts off with (I am sure) a very expensive Iris note. Andy, you are truly a genius.

The Orris Secret Formula (not so secret, this is from Andy’s blog)

Top notes: Geraniol, Damascenone, Bulgarian rose absolute, Phenylethylalcohol, lemongrass, Linalool, benzylsalicylate, with black pepper and grapefruit and bergamot. (These smell like iris, rose, pepper, cinnamon, and citrus).

Middle notes: birch tar, cinnamon bark, hydroxycinnamaldehyde, and frankincense. (These ingredients add smokiness, incense, and more cinnamon).

Base notes: Amboxan, Sandalore, sandalwood from Australia, sandalwood from Mysore, Vetiverol, vetiver, methylcedrylketon, and agarwood. (These ingredients smell like ambergris, sandalwood, vetiver and finally agarwood).