Bulgarian Rose Otto
Note Profile
About
Steam-distilled Bulgarian damask rose: deep floral with the honey pushed forward and a zest lift.
Scent Profile
Floral dominates and every source says so: Eden Botanicals opens with 'fresh, warm, deeply floral and rich'. Honeyed is the second facet and it is the one the grower singles out - Alteya's own comparison is that the otto carries more concentrated rose-honey notes than the absolute, so honey is the axis of difference here, not a garnish. Green follows as the earthy-green body Eden names, the stem and calyx rather than the leaf. Citrus is a soft zest lift over the top, described as hints rather than a facet in its own right, and it is what makes this read brighter than the absolute. Waxy_fatty is Eden's 'muted waxy undertone', held low because 'muted' is the word the source uses and only one source names it. That undertone used to be parked at a low lactonic value for want of a facet; lactonic is now zero, because nothing in the evidence reads this oil as dairy. Below those sit a warm sweetness, a low earthiness and a faint pepper.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Rosa x damascena grown in the Rose Valley around Kazanlak in Bulgaria, hydrodistilled from the flower. Otto means the steam-distilled oil, as opposed to the solvent-extracted absolute. Eden Botanicals sells it as Rose Otto Bulgaria Organic and gives plant part as flower and method as hydrodistilled. Alteya Organics is a Bulgarian grower and distiller selling its own crop.
Usage in Perfumery
A heart note and an expensive one. Eden Botanicals states rose ottos are more potent than rose absolutes in perfumery, so a smaller dose does the same work. Attested 23 times on Parfumo across 16 brands and absent from the Fragrantica note list, which fits a material named in luxury copy rather than in mass note lists. Use it where the brief calls for rose with honey and lift; use the absolute where it calls for rose with jam and depth.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Bulgarian Rose Otto
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