Andy Tauer is at the forefront of the tradition of artisanal perfumers having an ongoing conversation with their admirers through the use of a blog. His blog has been a way for him to reach beyond his lab and contact those who enjoy all the minutiae of creation that goes into creating a fragrance. To those who engage in conversation with Hr. Tauer he lets them have the opportunity to try different fragrances as he is refining them. The most recent release No. 12 Eau D’Epices has been one of those “works in progress” which has been finally released as a finished fragrance. I didn’t have the opportunity to try Eau D’Epices in its different embryonic stages and as such have only become acquainted with it in its mature form. That mature form seems to have taken some themes from an earlier Tauer Perfumes release of 2010, Orange Star, and added some more depth to them making Eau D’Epices a more complete fragrance than Orange Star was for me. I don’t know it is it intentional but Eau D’Epices felt like the finished version of Orange Star to me.

 

 

Hr. Tauer’s inspiration for Eau D’Epices, via his website, was “An Indian basket of spices….” and Eau D’Epices quite expertly achieves that throughout its early and mid-development before it ends on a soft resinous amber cloud. At the open the spices are apparent as a fresh breeze of cardamom cut with the edge of coriander make the first impact. They are joined by clove and mandarin to add some sweet and heat to the early phase of Eau D’Epices. The heart is where Eau d’Epices and Orange Star share some similarity to me as the same orange blossom accord that I think was in Orange Star is used in Eau D’Epices. By using jasmine and orris root,  in Eau D’Epices, they complement the orange blossom . It takes that accord and smoothes it out as part of an overall floral accompaniment to the spices which are still lingering on the edges. The ambergris and tonka finish is soft and surrounds you like a favorite blanket.

 

 

Eau D’Epices has excellent longevity and above average sillage

Eau D’Epices is, perhaps, not being as written about as much because for many of those who follow Hr. Tauer’s exploits on the blog; Eau D’Epices feels like old news to them. I would encourage them to try the finished product because all of the work put into it has resulted in the best of the four fragrances Hr. Tauer has released this year.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples purchased from Luckyscent

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor