Andy Tauer is perhaps the most successful independent perfumer working. He has had an enviable string of well composed perfumes with L’air du Desert Marocain being the most critically lauded. Hr. Tauer was also one of the first perfumers to write a regular blog and just recently he passed the five year mark in that endeavor. In many ways his ability to communicate with his audience, while he is designing his fragrances, gives us a rooting interest once they are released. It also gives us an idea of what Hr. Tauer is attempting to evoke in each of his fragrances along with the trials and tribulations behind making that vision into a perfume. The latest  from Tauer Perfumes is Carillon pour un Ange.

On his blog Carillon pour un Ange began life with the developmental name of Gabriel and it was meant to be a lily of the valley focused fragrance.

 

When one thinks of lily of the valley the fragrance that will come to mind for most perfumistas is Diorissimo. In Diorissimo the lily of the valley feels almost like a soliflore although jasmine plays a more than supporting role in that fragrance.

In Carillon pour un Ange Hr. Tauer has chosen to let lily of the valley take its place in a floral ensemble piece, in the early stages, before allowing it to settle into an unexpectedly leathery drydown that takes this fragrance to a wonderfully different place than what the opening stages portend.

The top of Carillon pour un Ange shares a bit of the citrus accord that was the centerpiece of Hr. Tauer’s most recent fragrance, Orange Star. In Orange Star it was the core around which that fragrance was built; in Carillon pour un Ange it is used as an appetizer before the floral notes begin to arrive. First and foremost is the lily of the valley. Usually lily of the valley has sharply delineated lines around it but in Carillon pour un Ange Hr. Tauer has managed to soften those lines and make them feel blurred which is to this fragrance’s advantage because it allows the other floral notes an opportunity to interact with the central lily of the valley accord. The first of those is a soft lilac, followed by a lilting rose, and then a full jasmine and ylang-ylang appear almost simultaneously. Throughout the middle part of the development of Carillon pour un Ange I get a slowly intensifying feeling until, as the jasmine and ylang-ylang arrive, it is like a crescendo of flowers. I can almost hear the fragrant cymbals crash. If that was all there was to this fragrance it would be a fabulous addition to Hr. Tauer’s repertoire.

 

But there is more to be found, a second movement to this fragrant symphony. Underneath the floral fireworks there begins the hint of a soft leather accord and it is joined by a woody grouping. The final stages add in ambergris and oakmoss. This transition from full floral to something more leathery and mossy is what makes Carillon pour un Ange so special. After all the intensity in the middle of Carillon pour un Ange, it is the softer more complex second movement that takes Carillon pour un Ange and grounds it beautifully.

Carillon pour un Ange has excellent longevity and above average sillage.

In many ways Hr. Tauer is emblematic of what can be achieved when a perfumer chooses to follow his own path. With Carillon pour un Ange Hr. Tauer has taken flight, as if on the wings of angels.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample purchased from Luckyscent.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor