Yes, a tea fragrance smells like fresh tea. You might like the article, "A Nose for the Rose" from the Chicago Tribune by William Hageman.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Nose for the Rose by William Hageman

You also might like the speech that Tom Carruth made on breeding for fragrance. He talks about different types of fragrance starting at 14:15. I found it interesting because he talks about the rose colors usually indentified with the scent (although "tea" isn't mentioned).

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Carruth-Breeding for Fragrance

To me Tea fragrance is a woody, dry scent, akin to the smell of fresh wood shavings or chips--not pine, but hardwoods or perhaps cedar. People's noses perceive scents differently, but this is what I think of with Teas. It's a good smell.

Glamis Castle has a strong myhrr which I love--it's intense.

However it's extremely vulnerable to black spot. You'll likely need to spray fungicides to keep foliage on it. And nasty prickles, one of the prickliest.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I've smelled roses that my family would disagree on how strongly scented they were. One of them being St. Alban. It smells just like a florist shop, is a yellow Austin rose. My sister can't detect anything from it.

Hoovb- Thank you for reassuring GC. I want it so bad but when I read reviews I think "i don't want anything that smells like a diaper pail!" Haha. I'm hoping its remotely similar to sceptred Isle - a scent I can probably classify as one of my top three roses. Have got ever smelled SI before?

Thanks Jasminerose4u, those 2 links were very informative and helpful.

andrea

You are welcome, Andrea. I found it interesting as to why we all smell a rose differently, i.e. gender, location, time of year, age of the bloom, etc. I didn't know that women can smell "fruity" better than men and that men can smell "apple" better than women. No wonder the Help Me Find Roses website, often states, "Opinions vary". Thank goodness we are all different :).

By the way, zone6-nj, I searched for Glamis Castle on the Help Me Find Roses site and saw a notation in the comment section, saying that they loved this rose's bloom and scent. There are also comments about black spot, but of course that depends on location too.

Thanks jasmine! I appreciate the information. I'm glad some people like it!

For anyone on here that's ever smelled Sceptred isle, would you consider that strong myrrh? Or myrrh mixed with something else? Because I want glamis castle, and if it smells like this I'll buy it for sure. If not, what other roses smell like Sceptred isle?