Raw Materials: The Rose of Taif

Here are the secrets of the Rose of Taif. Laura Bosetti Tonatto, famous nose of artistic perfumery, reveals them to us.

Finally Taif, the stop that was worth my long trip to Saudi Arabia, guest of the royal family. Women cannot enter this country alone, but the Saudi princesses made sure that I had access to all the crops in the kingdom in order to select the best roses from those of Taif, Medina, Tabuk, Jazan and Al Jouf. They are all Damask Roses extracted with a century-old tradition.

The use of perfume plays a very important role in Saudi Arabian culture. The Muslim religion encourages it for men and women: Saudis are the heaviest consumers of perfume in the world. In Taif, the Rosa Damascena Trigintipetala is grown, a light pink color with an intense aroma. The hills around the city are not very high but enjoy a particularly favorable temperature, which varies on average from a maximum of 35°C to a minimum of 21.7°C. The climate aided by efficient irrigation systems have earned the region the name "Rose of Arabia".

The cultivation of this flower was introduced by the Ottomans, but according to an ancient legend the flower came from India. The rose essence produced in Taif does not reach the quantities produced in other countries, but it is of extraordinary quality and constitutes a precious and very welcome gift for those who receive it. Flowering only takes place between March and April and must happen very quickly as the flowers are particularly delicate. The harvest begins at dawn and ends at 7 in the morning.

During flowering the scent and fragrance of these flowers pervades the entire region and in the month of April from the surrounding hilly areas you can admire an immense expanse of pink. From the distillation of the flowers two products are obtained: the essence (Attar) and rose water, which can also be used in cooking, for example to flavor tea or sweets. Only after a second distillation process is Attar, or rose essence, obtained. Once the distillation is finished, the Attar is packaged in bottles that contain one tolah, or 11.7 grams of product. The price varies from 38,000 to 50,000 euros per kg.

Taif is the most extraordinary rose I have ever smelled and it is also the most expensive in the world. But no one has ever been able to buy it because the entire production, around 16 kilograms per year, belongs to the king who gives it to his most deserving dignitaries. In Saudi Arabia, meeting a man scented with rose essence means being in front of a person highly esteemed by the king. The shades of the Taif Rose are warm and persistent, immensely rich and flowery, with an intense honeyed note.

Saudi princesses love to make very refined blends with rose water and pulverized scented woods. These powders are prepared with recipes that are handed down from mother to daughter and are used for the ritual of fumigation, the oldest way of perfuming the house and clothes through smoking.

The oud and sandalwood used in the form of bakhoors, wooden chips soaked in perfume, are burned in the mabkhara, a censer typical of the Saudi tradition.

Princess Noof, granddaughter of the late King Khaled, seeing my enthusiasm for this "scented smoke", decided to give me the recipe for her Taif rose oud. Every now and then I open the jar, smell it and remember an extraordinary country with a unique scent, difficult to replicate due to the rarity of the ingredients. If anyone has the patience to look for them, here is the recipe:

Two parts Malaysian oud wood
One part Taif rose water
Two parts Qatari ambergris
One part Istanbul rose essential oil
Clean and pulverize the oud well, then mix it with heated but not boiled rose water, then add the pressed ambergris and allow to dry; finally, combine everything with the rose essential oil.

Muhammad placed perfumes among the things he loved most in the world. Surely someone must have introduced him to the Taif rose.

Article by Laura Bosetti Tonatto