A good rice note, or any rice note at that, is hard to find in perfume. There are not many such fragrances around. I adore that note and when I find one it is mostly love.
Ormonde Jayne Champaca comes to mind, but that is dominantly a floral, I always longed for a stronger accent on the rice. Parfum d’Empire Equistrius has some too, but again the accent is somewhere else.
Enter Dolce Riso, a perfume of Silvio Levi’s line Calé Fragranze d’Autore. Rice is in the name and rice is in the perfume, along with many other ingredients to make the perfect fragrant dessert.
But let us take a look a the brand first.
Fragranze d’Autore is a Malle-style line of perfumes created mostly by perfumer Maurizio Cerizza and edited by Silvio Levi, founder of the line and owner of the Milanese perfume distributor and store Calé. There are currently ten fragrances in the line.
Dolce Riso is an Eau de Toilette with very good sillage and longevity. Notes include apple, lime, mugwort, rice, cereals, white pepper, musk, vanilla and tonka bean.
Dolce Riso is a delight from first sniff. It makes me smile and sigh with pleasure. It starts fruity, a bit of apple, a lot of lime, but both sit on the gorgeous note of steamed rice that is present from the start.
This rice is a bit sweet, a bit nutty/wheat-y and very peppery. The pepper is strong throughout and makes what could have been an overly sweet and bland dish into a masterpiece. Yes, I realize I said dish, and this perfume is very foody, but it balances perfectly on thin line between edible and non-edible. It is a perfume, not merely a good smell.
The base is warm and comfy, a soft melange of tonka and musk, with rice and cereal notes holding on and even a hint of pepper staying until the very late drydown, pepping things up, keeping it interesting.
I highly recommend to give Dolce Riso a whirl, if you love rice and if you love gourmands in general.
I am glad to having discovered this line and will certainly take a closer look.
Dolce Riso is available through First in Fragrance, where I bought my sample.
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This one certainly sounds intriguing, having not smelled a rice note in a perfume before (Putain des Palaces has one but it’s not really there) I’m not sure how I feel about the idea. It’s worth a try though.
The brand sounds like they have some rather interesting scents in the line.
I got a few more samples of the line recently, I will surely explore a little further…
As for the rice – hmmm. 🙂
I’m not usually a fan of rice perfumes, but I both like the sound and the look of this one. Will definitely try it. Thanks. 🙂
I can send you some with your MdO.
Yes, please! 🙂
P.S. Eventually. 😉
I remember us discussing rice notes when we met, and I have a note of this and a Biehl perfume to check out, while I will be sending you some Shared Water (also with it in) soon!
Rice is so comforting, though perhaps surprisingly I don’t care for Bois Vanille. Then again, that veers more into bread pudding territory, and there is a difference.
Thanks for featuring this one – firmly on the radar now!
Do you also like Annam by Tan Giudicelli? (Spelling is approximate?) Hard to come by these days, unfortunately.
You mean Un Bois Vanille by Serge Lutens? I never got any rice associations from it, I must re-smell with your suggestion in mind…
I never smelled Annam, although it sure sounds like something I would like, but as you say, it is firmly in the hard to get camp. 🙂
Perhaps I can help here: I have a bottle of Annam EdT (from CCB days) and I could provide some if you’d like to try it? Just let me know here and I’ll get in touch with you.
cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh
What a generous offer, Anna! Thank you! I would love to try a wee bit… 🙂
I’m emailing you now-ish!
Anna in Edinburgh
Have you tried Fiore di Riso by Farmacia Ss. Annunizata? It’s one of my favorite office-friendly skin scents.
Ah, this has been on my list forever, because of its name! 🙂 I hope to sample it soon. Thanks for the tip!
I have been searching for rice scents for fall, since Jo Malone Sweet Milk did not turn out to be the milky, cereal, rice combination I for some reason expected. Did you see Joann’s recent post about an YR Cedre Bleu? There must be a craving for rice in the air.
Rice is in the Air! Lol! It seems to be a source if comfort for many. If you don’t mind the added spiciness of pepper, Dolce Riso could be what you are looking for.
I wore Champaca last night for the first time in a long while, and I was thinking how much I too love the rice note, and wanted more of it! Here is a line I have never even heard of; I’ll have to investigate availability in the US!
And again we think along the same lines… Calė is a nice line, I wanted to see its mothership when in Milan, but sadly the store was chiuso per la vacanze… 🙂
“Rice is in the air”…..doesn’t quite have the same ring to it 😉 I don’t think it would have made it to the Top 10!
This fragrance sounds delightful. I’ve always been wary of gourmand-leaning fragrances, but
since the days have cooled, I’ve found comfort in herbs, spices and *gasp* little wisps of vanilla, a note I typically avoid.
Gourmands are insinuating themselves into your life stealthily, I know how that goes… 🙂
Kenzo Amour has a pretty strong rice note. I like that part, but I also got a bit of play-doh in there, which I did not like. The bottles are cool and it can be found pretty cheaply here in the US.
The bottles are really cool, I like them. But I find Kenzo Amour a good idea, but a bit thin and two-dimensional. It could be great with top-notch ingredients, I think.
You’ve got me with this one. I’m not a fan of gourmands but since rice in perfume is such rarity I certainly have to try it. Just to please my curiosity. From Cale I tried only Fulgor and Roboris. And I like Fulgor it’s development is like a story.
I have samples of those two new ones, but I haven’t gotten to try them yet. A story sounds perfect…
Let me know how you like Dolce Riso!
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