It has been ten years since most of the world became aware of independent perfumer Andy Tauer. The first perfume I tried was a little less than ten years ago called L’Air du Desert Marocain. At the time it was one of my first introductions to the potential of independent perfumery. L’Air du Desert Marocain showed a perfumer with a vision could find a wider market. The next two releases were a limited edition called Orris and a regular release, Lonestar Memories. Orris I think is one of the great masterpieces of all-time. Lonestar Memories was Hr. Tauer’s take on the American West full of sagebrush, campfire, and leather. Now in 2016 as a thank you to those who have supported Hr. Tauer he has released Lonesome Rider.
In the post announcing Lonesome Rider Hr. Tauer mentions that it is meant to build upon Orris and Lonestar Memories. Early on in my wearing of Lonesome Rider I spent too much time trying to find those two perfumes leading to a mild disappointment. I had to walk away from it for a few days to stop thinking about that. If you go into Lonesome Rider thinking this is some mash-up of the two inspiration fragrances I think you will also be disappointed. When I returned to Lonesome Rider instead of seeing Hr. Tauer as some perfumed gene splicer I instead focused on what he said, “Lonesome Rider builds on Orris…..followed (by) Lonestar Memories.” The word I focused on was builds. I realized Hr. Tauer was not trying to create a throwback what he was attempting was to delight us all over again by returning to a style of perfume he hasn’t done much recently. On that score Lonesome Rider delivers spectacularly.
Andy Tauer
This time I feel less like I am in the wide-open spaces. I am instead within my inner space as Lonesome Rider is a perfume of introspection. I found myself late in one of the days I wore it using it as a meditational focal point. There is a serenity throughout Lonesome Rider quite uncommon in most perfumes.
Lonesome Rider first arrives with grapefruit pierced with clove, coriander, and black pepper. What is nice about this is the way the spices surprisingly transform the citrus into something shaded by those notes. Instead of exuberance the grapefruit is more mannered because of the spices. The orris rises out of this retaining the spices as underpinning. This is an evolution of the cinnamon, frankincense, orris heart accord of Orris. The black pepper stands in for the metaliic quality of the frankincense and the clove is the counterpart to the cinnamon. Lonesome Rider finds the orris more contained, less effusive; which follows the more serene nature of this perfume. The leather comes next and this is a well-cared for leather garment, broken in with all of the rougher birch tar facets worn away over time. What I like best about Lonesome Rider is Hr. Tauer takes the smoky faux oud of Cypriol and uses it to provide a hint of that more animalic leather in an earlier day when it was a player. The base is sandalwood, vetiver, and cedar forming an old weathered wood accord.
Lonesome Rider has 14-16 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
As I mentioned above if you are reading Hr. Tauer’s words and expecting Lonestar Orris I suspect you won’t find it. If you actually take him at this word what you do get is a marker on the maturation of a precocious talent after ten years. Lonesome Rider is my favorite Tauer release since Une Rose Chypree; I think it is one of his very best.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Twisted Lily.
–Mark Behnke
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