One of the things that sets indie perfumers apart is their willingness to interact with their customers and admirers through the use of the internet. The first to do this was Swiss perfumer Andy Tauer who started his blog Perfumery on July 12, 2005. For nearly nine years Hr. Tauer has given those who are interested a window into his world as one of the most prominent independent perfumers. One special part of Hr. Tauer’s blog is during the Holiday season he has a virtual Advent calendar where he often gives out a special one-of-a-kind fragrance.
Andy Tauer
In 2010 the fragrance he was giving away was his attempt at an all-natural, all botanical eau de cologne. He called it Cologne du Maghreb. It was a big success and he followed it up by releasing a “test batch” to see if it would sell. Now in 2014 Hr. Tauer has decided it is time to release Cologne du Maghreb to all of the normal points of sale you find his other fragrances. I never had the pleasure of trying either of the other iterations and so my sample is like a new perfume for me.
In truth the middle of winter was not the ideal time to release a cologne-inspired fragrance. Now, as the summer is upon us, seems to be the right time and place for Cologne du Maghreb to shine. The other thing that feels right is Cologne du Maghreb is not meant to truly adapt the cologne architecture to an all-natural, all botanical palette. Instead Cologne du Maghreb feels more like an evolutionary jump from traditional cologne to something that feels wholly an Andy Tauer fragrance with cologne aspects, if that makes sense.
Cologne du Maghreb opens with Hr. Tauer’s creation of a “citrus chord”. The notes which make this up are lemon essential oil, bergamot, and neroli essential oil. These blaze to life with the lemon as brilliant as the sun and the bergamot and the neroli adding a corona nearly as brilliant. This then leads to an herbal intermezzo of rosemary and clary sage. Lavender pulls in rose and orange blossom to form the heart. The base is cedar and vetiver.
Cologne du Maghreb has 4-6 hour longevity and average sillage.
Due to the use of the natural ingredients cologne du Maghreb behaves like a very traditional eau de cologne which requires frequent re-application to make it through the day. I know on the days I wore it I re-applied twice during the day and each time was a like a little pick-me-up as the citrus made everything seem sunnier all of a sudden. Cologne du Maghreb is a smashing success at what Hr. Tauer wanted to do. This is where imagination meets inspiration at the intersection of a Tauer cologne. Cologne du Maghreb is the product found at those crossroads.
Disclosure: this review was based on a sample provided by Tauer Perfumes.
–Mark Behnke
