Rose Drawn in Amber

A rose gives up its scent for only a few hours. The petals are gathered before sunrise, while the dew is still on them, and by mid-morning the heat has taken the best of it. Rubaié begins in that narrow window.

Like the four-line verse it is named for, it says everything in a few measured lines. A bright, green opening of bergamot and palmarosa gives way to a deep, velvet rose set against smoked oud and sandalwood. Then comes a long, glowing finish of amber and soft musk that stays on the skin and on the collar.

It is made in small batches, and each one is finished before the next begins. When a batch is gone, the next arrives when it is ready, not before.