In developing Juan Manuel, creator Julian Bedel was inspired by the controversial and conflicting rule of his favorite tyrant, Juan Manuel de Rosas. This dictatorial governor of the young Argentinian republic from 1829-1852 was an authoritarian ruler; at the same time, he also halted the seemingly endless inter-provincial civil wars, providing the stability that the country needed to experience significant economic growth. The rose-forward fragrance is a wink between his surname, Rosa, and the rose notes used in the formula.
Juan Manuel’s key note is a variety of antique rose that provides the perfume with a smooth, honeyed finish, while alba rose adds gentle spiciness that’s enhanced by pink pepper. This is by no means a straightforward rose scent, though: many visitors to the Fueguia table in our San Francisco studio have smelled it, intrigued, without realizing that it contained any rose at all.
Controversial and conflicting, indeed. Mysterious and intriguing, too. “Not your Grandma’s rose”? Perhaps. But maybe your Grandma was a pistol; we won’t assume. If you feel conflicted about rose, we hope you, too, won’t assume things and will give it a try. This is one of those fragrances that truly inspires awe.
