Launched 2017 by Italian niche fragrance house Etro, ManRose is that rare thing: a stunning rose-based scent made for a man. It opens with a note of fresh Calabrian bergamot. The bergamot here is elegant and suave, more like smelling the peel than getting a blast of the tart fruit. It’s warmed by Sichuan pepper and aromatic, resinous, spice-tinged cardamom, rounded out with a gentle note of piney/green elemi. All of this ushers in a thick, lush, rich note of Turkish rose. This is not a romantic rose or a delicate rose or a coquettish rose. This is a heady, intoxicating, voluptuous, dark rose. This is the kind of rose a Roman soldier would wear in a corona obsidional romana – yeah, it’s that man-worthy, thanks to geranium and incense. The base is decidedly masculine with patchouli, vetiver, leather, musk and precious woods, but the virility of the base is tempered by the rose which persists to the drydown and a little sweetness from amber. ManRose is elegant, manly and suave, and the scent links it creates are entirely up to you. Notes: Calabrian bergamot, Sichuan pepper, cardamom, elemi, Turkish rose, geranium, incense, patchouli, vetiver, leather, amber, musk.
