Industrial-scale production of Damask Rose absolute began in Bulgaria in the 1950s. In 1955, Bulgaria produced 435 kg of essential oil (rose otto) and 316 kg of concrete, which was very rich in absolute.
But let’s dig deeper: of the over 6,000 rose varieties, only a very few are used in perfumery. Some have a fragrance reminiscent of musk or violet, others have fruity tones. But the varieties that have a true “rose” aroma belong almost exclusively to the centifolia, and there are essentially four:
1) Rosa Damascena Mill. (Bulgarian Rose) Botanists describe it as a hybrid between Rosa Gallica and Rosa Canina. The flower is dark pink when still in bud, but turns a beautiful pink when fully ripe. It has the highest essential oil yield of all roses and a magnificent fragrance.
2) Rosa Alba L. (or Rosa Damascena Mill. Alba variant), also called White Country Rose or White Cottage Rose; it has a lower essential oil content and lower quality than the former, but the plant is much more resistant to climatic conditions.
3) Centifolia Rose (also called May Rose), cultivated extensively in southern France and Morocco for the production of rose water, concrete, and absolute. Due to its lower yield, it is generally not steam distilled for essential oil production. The rose has a very intense red color.
4) Turkish Rose (Anatolian Rose) is a Rosa Damascena Mill. Red variety (it appears to have been imported from Bulgaria in 1894 and transformed in the early 1900s by over 1,200 small peasant distilleries in the Isparta region). This absolute is very valuable and resembles the characteristics described in item 1).
Commercially available rose absolute can have very different characteristics depending on the flower it comes from.
Damask Rose Absolute is a viscous liquid, with a very intense greenish-brown color. It has the characteristic scent of the flower but is sweeter, honeyed, and more consistent than the essential oil, which is more lively and ethereal. It has a moderate solubility in alcohol and water. The yield from the concrete is around 51%.
Centifolia Rose Absolute, produced in France from the Rosa Gallica (also known as Rosa Centifolia or Cabbage Rose), is obtained from the concrete produced in Morocco, with a yield of up to 67%. It is a viscous liquid, dark orange in color. The olfactory notes are sweet, spicy, honeyed, and always less pronounced than those of Damask Rose Absolute. It is mostly soluble in alcohol.
At Casalvento, we grow certified organic Damask Rose.
In Casalvento Laboratories, we produce an absolute with a low stearoptene content. Our production technique ensures high hydroalcoholic solubility and the absence of waxy deposits on the glass of the perfume bottle. The product sold is produced exclusively by us, concentrated, and free of added solvents or solubilizers.
Extensively used in high-end perfumes in chypre and oriental formulations, in modern bouquets it is combined with other ingredients, achieving a much better perfume yield than the essential oil.