PHI Une Rose de Kandahar

This is a rose perfume like you have never smelled before. If you are tired of the commercial Bulgarian rose EVERYWHERE, this will be your best friend now.

Masculine Turkish Delight. Top: Apricot, Bubblegum Mid: Afghan Rose Base: Patchouli, Tonka No complaints!

I love it.. I just can't smell it after 5 minutes unless I bury my nose into where I sprayed it. To be fair it was one spray on the back of my hand. But that's how I test all perfumes, and this feels weaker. Very high quality ingredients, though.

For me, THIS is Tauer's masterpiece. Forget the others. The rose actually smells completely natural and the supporting notes are delicious. The newer bottle that I bought is also quite consistent with a much older decant I have. Highly recommended to try for general lovers of rose scents.

not sure how all those naturals can add up to the exact scent of ketamine post-nasal drip, but it's impressive and i can't get past the similarity

I'm sorry, Andy, but this one smells like baby Desitin. I did love l'air des alpes Suisse. I bought an entire bottle. Only to realize later that it smelled like basic laundry detergent. Orange star, also, smells like an item in my laundry room. I don't recommend any of these fragrances. I did give them an honest try, and did buy a bottle. I'm done with Tauer.

How on earth to describe this wonderful perfume. Rose but not flowery/floral. Jammy but not (too) dense, sweet or sticky. Soft fruits but not tropical. Subtle amaretto. More joyful than Jubilation. Habit Rouge with apricot jam? More wearable than most rose perfumes which can be heavy, or overtly sexual, or just boring (enough oud thankyou). A luscious and indulgent experience, exhibiting excellent performance. One of the best in my collection, my favourite Tauer and worth every extravagant penny. 5/5 (easily) PS the fragrantica notes suggest this might be some sort of rose/fruit salad combo, far from it. Most of the reviews are bang on re the experience.

The opening has always been a strong love for me, it's so sweet and almost edible with the mix of perfumey yet juicy elements. Perhaps my favorite jammy rose on the market with POAL. However, the drydown goes into this tobacco-vanilla-powdery musk that I don't love nearly as much. I wish the base had a tad more grit, or something darker to anchor it. It's still lovely and well made, but it's just a bit of a mismatch for me.

This might be a good frag but I will never know because the sprayer is not working. DOA. I had issues with Tauer sprayers before and for the price he charges he’d better up his game with the sprayer atomizers. It’s been a known issue forever so I only assume Andy doesn’t care. I returned it and will not purchase any more Tauers ever again. Pathetic!

A light and airy opening with just a touch of bergamot and almond and the barest hint of some spice. Then you get the whiff of the rose and, oh my. I love roses. I thought I know roses. Turns out I know fuckall because that first whiff rewired my brain by making me realize there's more to roses than I had thought before. To me the rose here is airy and otherworldly and honestly impossible to put into words. Then it goes a bit more green (but also not the usual perfume green, oh god I legit can't describe it) and fresh but that might as well be the base notes coming in. This perfume is pure art and so, so much more than the sum of its parts. Performance-wise, it stayed pretty close to my skin and I got maybe 5 hours out of it but holy heck what an experience it was!

First time I smelled this, it immediately put a huge grin on my face. Dark, almondy rose, almost cherry like. It’s sort of a fluffy rose cloud rather than a jammy rose. I get some cinnamon spiciness as well, and it has some of that chalkiness you’ll find in many of Tauer’s concoctions, but it’s significantly toned down, and overall it wears very smooth, in a way that isn’t typical to this house. It’s also darker and more gothic than I expected from Tauer. This is beautiful, one of the best rose scents I’ve ever tried. I would definitely get a full bottle if I could find one.

I am spechless..All of the Taur parfums are amazing I picked this one. In general I am not a rose woman but this one is just amazing.

A really lovely, sweet, slightly powdery, accessible-but-interesting rose fragrance. After a few hours on my skin it smells like a cabbage patch kid. Obsessed

Although i can't really distinguish apricot or almond in there, together with the other top notes, they make the rose much more approachable than most of the other creations centered around rose i know. Makes for a very smooth rose accord which is not cloying or overwhelming but kind of fruity and graceful. I would rate it definitely feminine and too sweet and sparkly for me(he) personally, in particular in the opening. Later hints of tobacco and then vanilla peek through and it's a little more balanced and less sweet. Nonetheless there's really not many occasions I would wear this when I am out even though I don't mind dosing myself at home once in a while just to enjoy the composition. Kind of misfired on buying a fb of this. My 2ml sample will suffice me for ages while the full bottle will probably find a new home with someone else who wants to wear it more often than twice a year...or decade.

I had no way of testing it beforehand so I blind bought it. We're all aware of the potential risk. Now that I've gotten to wear it, what I can say is that PHI Une Rose de Kandahar is both a chameleon and simultaneously evades being the sum of its parts. Its development isn't linear on me, which is why I can't say I really understand it. It defies being pinned down and therefore I have a very hard time making up my mind. The rose here is spicy, and a little green. Perhaps sharing some kinship with La Fille de Berlin. But I also immediately get a blast of geranium which those two fragrances have in common. So I think the connection might also come down to how rose and geranium smell combined, rather than the rose itself. I think the geranium is very underreported here. To my nose there is nothing overtly fruity. The fragrance itself is dense and well blended, of course, but it's not particularly rounded. I feel like it doesn't allow me to relax into it. It's not something that you forget about wearing, that fades into the background. I'm now realizing it's also the vetiver and tobacco, with the rose and geranium. The're much more prominent than the votes would suggest and I'm only getting the faintest hint of the top notes before I'm greeted by the heart. And I feel like what I'm smelling keeps vacillating between two polarities of the rose, one sharp and green, one more mellow. This is not instant anything, it's very reluctant to reveal itself.

Feels like Vanilla Flash and Rose Flash mix together and add some ambergris. It smells pretty good, and it's indie 10 years ago, but there are so many similar fragrance in the market now.

Be careful. Caps are leaking.

"Rose De Kandahar features cinnamon as the main note, balanced by a soft rose background. On my skin, it lasts about 4 hours, and toward the end, it has a hint of burnt vanilla." Scent: 9/10 Longevity: 6/10 Sillage: 5/10 Overall: 7.5/10 I wear it for personal enjoyment, usually on Fridays when I go to the mosque.

As a lover of rose-centered compositions, I am used to the rose and oud combo, Phi – Une Rose de Kandahar stands out as a welcome departure from the that. Here, the absence of oud is not a lack but an inspired choice that allows the rose to shine in a far more nuanced and graceful light. The result is a fragrance of striking individuality and refinement (as always with Tauer's creations, let me add). What captivates me most is the soft, powdery sweetness that envelops the central rose accord (but absolutely not into makeup-like territory), Phi has a delicate balance. Upon further reflection, I believe this effect stems from a masterful interplay between almond, tobacco, cinnamon and vanilly giving the fragrance an almost marzipan-like softness with a subtle dryness and warmth. This combination creates a comforting, gently sweet backdrop that elevates the rose without ever overshadowing it. Phi is restrained, elegant, and unmistakably imbued with Tauer’s signature touch. As with L'Air du Désert Marocain and L'Air des Alpes Suisses, I detect Andy’s olfactory fingerprint: and a sense of hand-crafted artistic integrity that permeates the entire composition. His perfumes consistently exude creative depth without ever becoming unwearable or overly avant-garde—Phi is no exception. It is striking and expressive, yet still utterly wearable and intimate. Within my collection of over a hundred perfumes, Phi has undoubtedly secured a place in my personal top five or six. Tauer’s packaging is always a pleasure to behold. Whether it’s the distinctive metal boxes or the newer cardboard designs, each presentation is thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing. A particularly charming touch is the inclusion of a hand-signed note from Andy himself in each box—a gesture that speaks to the artisanal and personal nature of his work. The bottle itself is among the most instantly recognizable in the niche world: pentagonal, sturdy, and elegant in its minimalism. The thick glass and precise angles give it a sense of permanence and quality. If I had to offer one minor critique, it would be the spray mechanism—it doesn’t deliver the most refined mist—but this is hardly a concern. The overall experience, from scent to packaging, remains deeply satisfying and memorable.

Got this as a present, after having wanted it for a lo g time. Had a decant avout ten years ago, and couldnt forget it. It has this expensive touch, you sense immidiately that it is one of a kind. Love the depth, warmth and uniqueness, it is the best of all my hundred bottles ❤️

Pues la verdad,después de leer muchas reseñas me esperaba una maravilla y me ha decepcionado totalmente. Al final sólo queda,al rato de ponérmela,un aroma de almendra y muy tenue.

Store Test Short Review: Almond edible powderiness to a uniquely sweet rose that’s very flat and almost resinous with a hidden apricot fruitiness to it that doesn’t bother me despite hating that fruit. There is a notable cinnamon adding to its gourmand leaning nature. I’ve been meaning to test this brand for a while, it’s very hard to access in my country but I finally found it. Didn’t disappoint but is not too impressive either, for a brand mostly led by one man, it is absolutely gorgeous and doesn’t rely on common synthetics unlike many others. Definitely looking forward to trying it more in the future!

To me, Phi is more of a sweet almond scent than a rose one. It goes on with an almost “lemonade”-like sweetened citrus, and then settles into a creamy, lotion-like tonality with the almond, vanilla, and tonka, enriched and deepened with ambergris. It’s almost like rubbing yourself in pure almond oil. This silky, cuddly, almost-too-sweet vibe reminds me a lot of the texture of Heure Exquise’s vanilla-and-iris. Here it’s vanilla-and-almond-and-ambergris, but the effect is similar. It’s a bit like a creamy vanilla custard, with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. The rose (and rose geranium) are much fainter, and quite green though also liqueur-like; a flicker of concentrated garden juice, only coming out once in a while. As time goes on, the tobacco comes out and blends with the rose (around the 3rd hour), making a soft dusky brown “wood-paneled study” note, with a little bit of liqueur. Very civilized and smooth. Phi is a beauty. It reads as quite feminine to me, and utterly luxurious. The textural contrast between creamy custard and shadowy green-brown patchouli-tobacco is fascinating – I wouldn’t have thought those two chords could work together but here they’re perfect. It makes me think of vacationing in an old Beaux-Arts grand hotel, all curlicues and Palladian windows, but gone to seed a little bit. Luxury blended with a bit of a wistful, memento mori note.

This is very beautiful right from the first sniff. Very vibrant rose with powdered sugar and almonds. It's Turkish-delight-sweet, but still a lot of air in it. To me it's a pink rose, the kind of roses I saw in Muslim palaces in Spain, perfectly arranged, and then a sea breeze caresses you. Or maybe the flower is really a princess trapped in the palace walls, longing to be free? She's allowed to go outside, take in the view of the sea, but the palace gardens are as far as she can go. She will experience nature and beauty, but never the freeing wilderness. The drydown is sometimes very musky and very masculine leaning on me. Honestly, I don't like it very much, especially the musky scent that lingers after a shower. Despite the powdery opening this is a true unisex, not in a genderless way- it's bot masculine and feminine. There is something very mature about it too, maybe a little dated even, although not as much as some other Tauer perfumes. It feels very high quality and not synthetic at all, unlike a lot of popular "niche" perfume houses.

This is the other Rose fragrance I've liked - one of only two, the other being MFKs l'Homme a la Rose for its glittering transparency. This goes the other way - not a jammy rose but fruity, almost astringent with hints of sweetness - strangely reminiscent of biting into a japanese quince complete with a powdery bloom of almond, but as a rose scent. The rosiness is very beautifully floral rather than in-your-face rich and sweet, approaching white-floral territory for me rather than the typical ruby/burgundy. The sweet coming from elsewhere makes this work balanced with the sourer basenotes settling into a warm marzipan-y floral fuzz that's just gorgeous and ensures this stays less formal, more cozy. Manages to be a fascinating properly niche fragrance with no straight lines and nothing off-putting or dull, kept me sniffing and smiling for hours.

This is a true rose masterpiece. I just keep smelling my wrist...

I had liked and enjoyed fragrance before this one. But Phi is my true first love. Head over heels it knocked me off my feet, love at first sight. Tauer is a master - my boyfriend is a big Coeur fan and I've adored smelling it on him, Pthalo is one of the most purely fascinating things I've ever tried, and Incense Rose is also a cherished personal favorite - so it comes as no surprise to me that one of his works would be an arrow to my heart. Here it is, shot from Kandahar, and thank God it found me. A jammy, juicy, dripping, nectar-and-dew rose. Luscious. What a mood to it! Tender, melancholy, victorious, nostalgic, singular. Again, dripping with springtime verdance, with freshness - but with a rainy depth to it, too. The almond, apricot, and tobacco specifically meld together for me, becoming part of the same sustained note - the stiff bite of the apricot's skin, the solid wetness of the tobacco, and the bitter-almond whisper twining both together like needle and thread. The musk and vetiver are so precisely placed, little pinpoint foundations of the scent deep, deep below this. "Sculpture" is simply the correct word, I feel like I can hold this scent in my hands, turn it over like a 3D shape, changing perspective like the facets of a gemstone. Truly a treasure - especially to a rose fanatic like myself. It's wonderful to see a rose at center stage without it being the only star, framed by a work much larger than itself but which never drowns it out. A photorealistic rose note among a boudoir of admirers; elevated, honored, and enhanced. A caveat: whatever gene or tendency that makes one interpret ambroxides as ammonia, I have it really bad. Certain otherwise wonderful scents are made intolerable to me because of this quirk. And I do notice it in Phi - but for whatever reason, it isn't offensive. It doesn't turn pungent or sour like ambergris usually does for me; it seems so well blended that even I can pick up on it accurately - and it forms this sparkling, crinkling undercurrent to the scent I adore, a little thorn-prick sharpness to it, without which the scent's triumphant sweetness would have fallen flat for me. I can only praise this dramatically, but I'm not exaggerating. This will be my signature scent until the last bottle on the planet is used up.

A blood-red rose draped in brown velvet. The rose here sometimes fills the room and sometimes hides behind a pink and russet fog of almond, tobacco and ambergris. For me this was not the instant love that incense rose was but over time I’ve come to appreciate its soft, dark, murkiness. A powdery delight for bleak winter evenings.

This perfumer puts Vetiver in Every…..single…..fragrance….which is unfortunate⭐️

Almond-shaped perfume, discreetly fruity, sweet and with a smoky tobacco reminiscent of incense, an Afghan rose dusted by ambergris and vetiver and a musky and dark patchouli background. Very interesting creation! Liked 👍🏻