For lovers of the English countryside and its depictions in literature and art, Union‘s collection of fine fragrances is a paean to the indigenous flora of the United Kingdom.
A smoky rose fragrance charged with sulfur and coal, Union‘s Gunpowder Rose reads like an olfactory ode to Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975), which was based on the eponymous Thackeray novel. The original theatrical release poster of the Oscar-winning film (now viewed by many as Kubrick’s finest work) depicts an aristocrat with pistol in silhouette, a red rose beneath his black-booted foot.
Gunpowder Rose © Union Fine Fragrance
The goal behind the creation of the Union fragrance line was to create British fragrances that utilize ingredients sourced solely from the United Kingdom. Union‘s Gunpowder Rose employs rose oils from Lincolnshire and the Stour Valley, lovage from Hampshire, meadowsweet and violet leaf from Herefordshire, and black currant from Kent, all lingering on a bed of oak moss and oak bark from Dorset and Nottinghamshire. In other words, perfumer Anastasia Brozler has traversed her homeland, from the moors and the fens and across the heaths and on into the mountains in order to create sui generis landscapes.
Ostensibly a hymn to the fabled Tudor rose, Gunpowder Rose melds a velvety floral softness with the smoldering embers of charcoal – and a smoking gun. Picture the climactic duel of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, held in an abandoned chapel: a hint of incense hovering about the morning mist, the scent of oak moss and bark wafting in from the chapel’s open doors.
A study in contrasts, Gunpowder Rose captures the roseate glow of the Countess of Lyndon framed by Redmond Barry’s fiery passion.
© Union Fine Fragrance
Union‘s fragrances are particularly enchanting for those Anglophilia bibliophiles trained in Austen, Bronté, Dickens, Eliot, Fielding, Scott, and Thackeray. As one fan stated upon smelling Union‘s Gothic Bluebell, “This is the fragrance that Elizabeth Bennett would have worn – after she married Mr. Darcy and came into money.”
Perfumer Brozler is passionate about all things Brit and her background in bespoke perfumery has enabled her access to some of the kingdom’s more rarefied estates and gardens. Her collection also includes such Anglo-centric scents such as Holy Thistle, Celtic Fire, and Quince, Mint & Moss. Befitting their provenance, Union‘s rectangular flasks are wrapped in a metal Union Jack flag.
