Jo Malone London Taif Rose Cologne Intense

Roses and coffee - is there anything better?

I have known Jo Malone London since its very inception and it’s always so interesting to see how they develop their fragrance collection. My least favourite Jo Malone London fragrances are Pomegranate Noir (although I was burning it over Christmas and actually started to like it more) and Lime, Basil and Mandarin. I believe those two have been best sellers for years but I’m always going to be an Orange Blossom fan at heart. A few years back, Jo Malone London made dining room candles in the Orange Blossom fragrance and I remember having friends over to dinner with them burning away - opening the door to the dining room which I’d sprinkled liberally with fairy lights and this glorious fragrance greeting us - it was just lovely.

Taif, in Saudi Arabia, is known as the City of Roses thanks to its abundance of rose fields. This time of year (January), pruning is taking place before the roses blossom and are harvested for steam distillation. Harvesting begins (before sunrise) in March when over 70,000 roses are picked each day.

Jo Malone London Taif Rose Intense is a rush of rose - it has a natural sweetness in the same way that a fresh rose petal does but before that can be too much rose, an earthy coffee note kicks in to ground it. With amber at the base, it’s cocooning and mystical with the lightest hint at the richness of traditional Middle Eastern scents. There’s a clean and soapy element to Taif Rose Intense as it warms on your skin but at the same time, it’s very sensual.

If you love a rose fragrance, I feel confident that you will find the nuance in this one alluring - it’s all sorts of contradictions really but I feel that I will dip into it again and again. I had a rose latte at the Cafe Royal last year which was unlike anything I’d tasted before (I loved it) and Taif Rose is giving me the same thrill vibes as that did. It’s definitely rose, but it’s different underneath. 50ml is £112 HERE.

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