Rosemary as a main or dominant note

[Hide & Reason]

Anyone care to name some fragrances with this characteristic?

I've always put crushed rosemary on potatoes before roasting them. It's the perfect herb for that vegetable. Mmmm, I love rosemary.

[odysseusm]

I'll really have to ponder that question, and I hope that something comes to mind.
I agree, rosemary is an excellent herb with a lovely, distinctive scent. To me, it seems piney, resinous, aromatic; at times even a bit like eucalyptus or mint. Its tonic notes are mood-elevating (so too lavender). It brings me cheer.

[Kevin Guyer]

Maurice Roucel's Lalique Homme, the Lion, has an amazing rosemary top note.

[Killer_Vavoom]

Tom Ford - White Patchouli

[odysseusm]

You might find my garrigue thread helpful, since rosemary is usually among the herbal notes of a garrigue-style scent.
http://community.basenotes.net/showt...light=garrigue

Searching "rosemary" as a note, I find a few for which I can offer a comment.
Sud Est. Lovely herbal. Basil is the stronger herbal note, but I do get some rosemary.
Town and Country. (one could also say Blenheim Bouquet). A lovely minty-pine note amidst the lemons.
Gucci Nobile. A prince among scents. Warm spice-musk freshened by a bit of rosemary.
Knize Forest. The king of scents. A complex green forest-y scent, with many notes (including rosemary).
Jacques Fath Green Water. A delightful herbal concoction, though again basil is stronger than the rosemary.
Gil Odori by Bois. A big disappointment. Instead of herbal notes, I get a strong pongy note of cumin.

So in my experience, rosemary is out there but it hasn't been the dominant note in anything I've tried.

[surreality]

CK Man has a fairly prominent rosemary note.

[PhinClio]

Diptyque's late lamented L'Eau Trois has a pronounced rosemary note in it, I think (it's been a while since I've sprayed my sample of it).

[Kilgoret]

Carthusia Numero Uno has tons of rosemary.

[mikeperez23]

Try Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi.

[Sugandaraja]

I don't know of any rosemary soliflores - it's a top note, so it's fairly ephemeral anyhow - but rosemary is quite noticeable and well-used in Diptyque's L'Eau Trois and Miller Harris' Fleurs De Sel, both fragrances with a garrigue accord of Mediterranean herbs and two of my favorite fragrances.

L'Eau Trois is really a hybrid incense and herbal fragrance, the core note of myrrh being modified by thyme, rosemary, oregano and pine.

Fleurs de Sel is a light, salty, herbal fragrance with an earthy undertone. It's notes include thyme, sage, rosemary, vetiver and moss. It's very light and subtle.

I should give Parfum D'Empire's Eau Gloire a mention, too. It's not my style, but you'll find a lot of rosemary inside its somewhat dry, sharp, garrigue accord.

[Dante]

Nobody's mentioned Rive Gauche Pour Homme? The rosemary note is front and centre!

[the_good_life]

Turin claims it is sage, but to me L'Eau Bleue d'Issey is all about rosemary. You should also get your handss on some traditional Eau d'Hongrie, which is simply rosemary water.

[sables]

Carthusia Numero Uno has tons of rosemary.

I agree! This scent could be called almost a rosemary-soliflore fragrance (with a strong chypre-base).

[JaimeB]

Gucci Nobile instantly came to mind, but it is discontinued and very hard to find any more.

Caron The Third Man is probably a good bet and still available, but rosemary is not the dominant note in this.

The trouble is that a good many fresh or herbal fougères contain rosemary, but seldom in isolation or as a dominant note. It is often very deeply hidden or masked by other herbal notes. Lots of times, it's paired with carnation in the heart, which complements it nicely, but also muddles it and makes it very hard to pick out.

The traditional rosemary based scent is called Hungary Water, and a scent by this name used to be made by Crabtree and Evelyn, but it is also now discontinued. The Basenotes Directory lists another scent by this name (though it is marked as a feminine). Just type "Hungary Water" in the search box and you'll see both this and the Crabtree and Evelyn one.

By the way, I don't know if you are aware of it, but there is a rather strong rosemary-like note in frankincense, and the two really reinforce each other very well. You might try searching in the Directory, entering both "rosemary" and "frankincense" separated by a comma. You could also try pairing "rosemary" in your search with "olibanum," another name for frankincense, under which it may be listed in the fragrance pyramid.

[docluv45]

I was just going to echo Sud Est as the first to come to my mind.

Also curious, not to hijack the thread, but can one find Knize Forest or any Knize other than Ten for sale in North America?

[silverbullet]

I'd like to recommend:

1881 Cerruti
Acqua di Gio
BBaby Blue Jeans
Bijan for Men
Boss Number One
Bogart
Caron Pour Homme
Cool Water
D&G Masculine
Eau Savage Christian Dior
Escape for Men
Higher Christian Dior
Knize 10
Number 3 / Caron
Paco Robanne
Rive Gauche
Richard James

[Aiona]

I've always put crushed rosemary on potatoes before roasting them. It's the perfect herb for that vegetable. Mmmm, I love rosemary.

I do too! I have added some to my pizza sauce, and it really gives it that extra zing that makes it different from spaghetti sauce!

I second docluv45's suggestion of Romeo Gigli's Sud Est.

[JaimeB]

I do too! I have added some to my pizza sauce, and it really gives it that extra zing that makes it different from spaghetti sauce!

I second docluv45's suggestion of Romeo Gigli's Sud Est.

Sud Est is truly beautiful, but discontinued and very hard to find... but check here and here.

[Aiona]

I know some might disagree, but also Caron's Yatagan smells strongly of rosemary to me. Everytime I weed around my rosemary bush, I feel as if I'd squirted Yatagan on my wrists, and I know I haven't!

And Yatagan is not discontinued, as Sud Est is.

[Hide & Reason]

Thanks for the pointers, guys!

[odysseusm]

...Also curious, not to hijack the thread, but can one find Knize Forest or any Knize other than Ten for sale in North America?

Not to continue the highjack, but I think the answer is no. I was incredibly lucky to buy the last Forest and Two in a Toronto shop a few years ago. I think Knize has acquired a cult status now. You might check with Everso, if anyone knows how to get it, E. would.