Rochas launched Tocade in 1994, an eau de toilette by Maurice Roucel that was hailed at launch as the fragrance of the year. The house now describes it as a fragrance that dares: citrus, freesia and geranium on top, a duo of magnolia and jasmine around a rose lifted with nutmeg, and a base of vanilla and amber, beneath the pointed hat designed by Serge Mansau.
Luca Turin gives it five stars in Perfumes: The Guide. In 2011, Jessica of Now Smell This found it a gourmand oriental floral, warm and linear; in 2013, Gaia of The Non-Blonde found a powdery rose that vanilla carries toward Turkish delight, irresistible.
Olfastory’s review
Five stars in the Guide
Luca Turin gives Tocade five stars in Perfumes: The Guide, written with Tania Sanchez. Quoted by Anne-Marie of Australian Perfume Junkies in 2016, he sees in it only unpretentious fun with roses and vanilla, but so well executed, with simple materials usually overlooked, that it deserves the top rating.
Now Smell This, a perfume that smells like perfume
On March 12, 2011, Jessica placed Tocade among oriental florals with a gourmand leaning, an unabashedly perfumey perfume that lovers of clean and airy scents will avoid. After a sharp, peppery start, she found it warm, sweet, enveloping and remarkably linear.
The full-blown rose and the buttery vanilla, with hints of almond and pastry, seemed to her so tightly woven that they are hard to tell apart, over a glowing ambery base. Lasting until evening, the fragrance felt too dense for summer; she always returns to it in cold weather.
The Non-Blonde, Turkish delight
On May 8, 2013, Gaia described a little rosy gem on a vanilla and musky base. Bergamot and green notes hold back the rose and the powder for a while; the rose, iris and lily of the valley heart reminded her of Cabaret by Grès, though that one is a chypre.
For her, vanilla is the main event: over a thick amber enriched with patchouli, it carries the powdery rose toward Turkish delight, rosewater-scented rice pudding, a slightly burnt vanilla bean. She found it irresistible and could still smell it eight to ten hours after applying it.