Rose Tonnerre – layered and rich and dark

The previous owner of our house was a very talented and dedicated gardener. We took possession of the house, along with it’s gorgeous garden, and moved into it in mid-June. After all the Sturm und Drang of moving day, my husband and I opened a bottle of good wine, took it out to the back deck, clinked glasses and welcomed ourselves to the neighbourhood.

It was a perfect summer’s evening and our hearts were full with the shared excitement of a new beginning in our new home. But the sharpest memory I have of that moment wasn’t the taste of the wine, the clothes I was wearing or the exhaustion from a hard day’s work; no, it was the smell of the heritage rose growing by the south fence that filled the air that evening. I suppose that’s why I always associate roses with the month of June. But it doesn’t have to be June for me to enjoy one of my favourite floral notes - not since I bought a bottle of Une Rose by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. In 2021, the name was changed to Rose Tonnerre in honor of legendary perfumer Edouard Fléchier, who signed the fragrance.

It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for rose fragrances, but I am choosey, and I choose Rose Tonnerre.

In his book “On Perfume Making” Frédéric Malle talks about how Rose Tonnerre came about. He says: “At the request of a cooking magazine called “La Truffle,” Edouard [Fléchier] took up the challenge of reproducing the odor of a Perigord truffle “by nose” while stripping away its garlickly smell. He did that by jotting the raw materials down on paper, like a painter sketching an object.” Together Fléchier and Malle came up with the idea of pairing the woodsy, anmalic ‘truffle’ notes with a feminine, floral rose.

He goes on to say,”The idea was to take advantage of the half-earthy, half-animal nature of the of the truffle to enhance the “garden” aspect of the flower." That’s one of the reasons I love Rose Tonnerre. But I’ve got plenty of other reasons to love it, like the fact that it just smells so, so good.

It opens with a fresh, bright note of rose – true rose, like the ones in a garden – honeyed, fruity, lavish and opulent. Geranium adds sharpness and warmth before it gets woody, animalic and earthy – that’s the ‘truffle’ effect. The drydown is layered, rich and dark.   

The interplay of the ‘masculine’ woodsiness/earthiness with the ‘feminine’ rose is what makes Rose Tonnerre such an exceptional fragrance.

Rose Tonnerre smells like a lush, raw, ripe rose, freshly plucked from the garden – rose, leaves, roots and all.

Some 20+ years later, we still enjoy the benefits of our house’s previous owner’s green thumb. The heritage rose still blooms by the south fence, we enjoy a glass of good wine out on the deck on soft summer evenings, and I wear Rose Tonnerre anytime I want to recall those times.

Check out Rose Tonnerre in our Shop.