Czech & Speake Dark Rose
First, I’d like to thank Barry (a prince among men, heh) for sharing this fragrance with me. It’s nigh on impossible to find in the States, and not easy to come by elsewhere either. Czech & Speake no longer list this as part of their regular line up, for example, but as a “new” offering. The scarcity of it is allegedly due to production problems, which in turn means supply problems. Scuttlebutt has it that Czech & Speake will begin producing Dark Rose again sometime early this year, but sadly, I recall hearing the same things last year, so who knows what will become of it?
Dark Rose begins with a lonely chill: a solitary walk down an empty corridor that’s filled only with the sound of your own footfalls. Near-frozen reedy notes cast long winter shadows, and give no clues as to what will follow. I hope this won’t be off-putting to anyone, but that opening blast reminds me of strolling through the market and smelling the fresh fish on ice. It’s cold, and weirdly iron-rich like the taste of blood.
Slowly the eponymous “rose” asserts itself, but not without its saffron companion. The two are intertwined here, and form the fragrance’s core character. In certain respects, they do lend Dark Rose a resemblence to Agent Provocateur, but where Agent Provocateur is headstrong and marked by wild, nearly maniacal sillage, Dark Rose behaves with reserve and austerity. I would go so far as to refer to it as a stoic rose, for while it is full of its own life, it seems comparatively passionless compared to other rose fragrances. This is not a criticism.
Notes of sandalwood, arid resin, and a resolutely transparent amber fill out the rest of the composition. Intonations of tightly stretched leather seems to be implied throughout the body of this scent, though I am unsure if this is an actual note.
This fragrance feels compressed, like a ball of prepared masa harina rolled flat into a tortilla. Again, in this case it is not cause for criticism. It adds to Dark Rose’s austere air. Plus, I must point out it’s much easier to wrap a tortilla around things than with a big ball of dough. And so it goes with this cologne, which wraps around my skin with an ease that not all rose scents possess. I’d specifically suggest Dark Rose as an option for folks who might think that they can’t “do” roses.
The stoicism with the cologne makes it ideally suited for men. Not to discourage women from seeking it out, of course, but I think I’d be drawn helplessly to any man who wore it. If I were to pick any scent from this line for men, it would be this one, which was I feel incorectly designated as a female scent by Czech & Speake (if I recall correctly, that is.) It is not my favorite, that one being No. 88, but thus far I have been very pleased with all four scents I’ve tried from their house.
Top image entitled “Stoic,” by Patick St. Germain, from art.com. Second image is from a series of strobe photos taken of a bullet shot through roses dipped in liquid nitrogen - the credits, and information about the photos can be read at http://web.mit.edu/luminea/Public/strobe-lab/about.html. It’s neat, and I totally recommend looking at the playing card photos, too.