Counterpointing Roja
In this post, I am going to take 9 perfumes of Roja Dove, and against each of them, I will discuss another non-Roja perfume. Roja Dove sometimes reminds me of Apple, yes, the company that makes cellphones. Many of their innovations are their own, but sometimes they take inspiration from something someone’s already done, add their own signature and call it their own. The net effect is that as a consumer, you don’t care who came up with the innovation first, you just want a world-class experience, and Roja provides that, as do Apple. Roja is also notorious for not disclosing who the nose behind the creations are. While it is possible, it is very unlikely that Roja Dove himself is the nose for all his creations. If you are new to the world of frags, the brand is like the producer/ banner of a movie, the nose/ perfumer is like the director of the movie. Can you imagine watching a series of movies by a producer, not knowing who directed the movie?
Roja Haute Luxe (2013) — This is probably the most expensive perfume in the entire line. At ~$35/ml, this perfume reeks luxury. One of the marketing gimmicks of this flanker is the fact that it has real gold flakes in the bottle, and while it doesn’t do anything technically to the scent or the psyche or even the value, it does one thing very brilliantly — it helps him boast about the quality of the perfume ingredients (“gold is not the most expensive ingredient in the bottle”). Haute Luxe is controversial in its price, and it is epitomizes everything Roja Dove means for the perfume world. There’s more than one non-Roja, non-$35/ml, commercially available perfumes that also have gold flakes. L’Air D’Ore (1984), Vertus XXIV Carat Gold (2015), Rare Scents (?) and likely more perfumes have the “real gold flakes”, and it occurs to me that the only people who will buy a perfume for its gold flakes are the people who are indifferent to the liquid inside.
Roja Enigma Pour Homme (2013) — Many of Roja Dove’s perfumes take inspiration from other perfumes, but to me, Enigma is an original. It is considered one of the all-time best perfumes that include the notes of Cognac, a category more generally known in the fragcomm as “boozy fragrances”. Many different liquor types have been used (whiskey, bourbon, cognac, rum, gin etc..), but I feel cognac takes the cake. There is something magical about this perfume, I dont think I will ever be without Enigma. While they are very different profiles, the only perfume that comes close to Enigma in terms of its booziness is Amouage’s Overture Man (2019). I could almost put Jovoy’s Les Jeux Sont Faits (2013).
Roja Vetiver (2012) — I was underwhelmed when I got this perfume, eventhough I would rank this among the top perfumes featuring the Vetiver note. I already had several extraordinary Vetiver perfumes, so I was expecting something more special and more magical from Roja. Within the fragcomm, everyone knows one of the best Vetivers of all times is Guerlain’s Vetiver (1959). I just happen to think that while Roja’s Vetiver is fantastic, it falls short of it’s Guerlain comrade.
I draw parallels for the next three fragrances, based not on my personal experience, but on knowledge imparted by some of the people I follow.
Roja Oligarch (2016) — Terre D’Hermes (2006)* Roja 51 Pour Homme (2015) — Frederic Malle’s Portrait of a Lady (2010)* Roja Scandal Pour Homme (2011) — Yves Saint Laurent’s Pour Homme (1995)*
*Thanks Ramsey
The last two parallels need no introduction — the whole world knows about it. It is well documented, critiqued, discussed and so on.
Roja Diaghilev (2010) — When I got this, everyone in my family said this is the best perfume I ever bought. I have not started analyzing/ breaking this down yet, but the effect created by the perfume is just fantastic. Sergei Diaghilev is the name of a Russian opera producer who, in his time, used Guerlain’s Mitsouko (1919) to perfume up the opera houses to create an olfactory association between the opera experience, and the scent of Mitsouko. So why did Roja name his perfume after this Russian opera producer? Because Diaghilev (the perfume) is a riff off of Guerlain’s Mitsouko, so much so that there is plenty of content in YouTube on which one is better. People say the overall experience of Mitsouko is better, but the structure/ layering of Diaghilev is better. I wouldn’t know, because I don’t yet have Mitsouko, but this legend is impossible to ignore.
Roja Danger Pour Homme (2012) — Roja Danger is probably the most obvious perfume when people talking about a perfume taking inspiration from another. Guerlain’s Heritage (1992) is considered by many to be one of the best men’s perfumes of all times. It has been formulated, and reformulated many times over, and most knowledgeable people have created the verdict — that Guerlain is the winner. I for one, think Danger is just as good, if not better in dry-down.