Launched in 2003 by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, and called Une Rose, it was renamed Rose Tonnerre in 2021 in honor of legendary perfumer Edouard Fléchier, who signed the fragrance.

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.

Notes: Turkish rose, fruity notes, honey, geranium, woods, tuber, musk, and red wine dregs.