Reviews of Vetiver (1961)
by Guerlain

I have probably worn this too often and grown a little bored of it. A great inoffensive workhorse scent. I believe this was my first vetiver scent, and getting to know it, allowed me to appreciate other less mainstream offerings like the briny Sel de Vetiver and the dry and dark Encre Noire. Still worthy of a place in my wardrobe.

June 2009:

Guerlain’s classic Vetiver introduces itself with a very wet, round citrus accord. It takes some time before the citrus is underpinned by a relatively mellow vetiver note. Later in the course of its development it also reveals a touch of smoke and some crisp green notes that extend the life of the opening citrus accord.

The fragrance cruises along in vetiver-citrus mode for a long time, and I find its uncomplicated structure brisk and refreshing. Guierlain Vetiver is a classical fragrance in the true sense of the word. Like an ionic temple or a Mozart concerto, it exhibits perfect balance, with no extraneous elements to distract from its essential form. If you’re looking for the aggressively earthy, stark, potent vetiver of Route du Vétiver, Vétiver Extraordinaire, or Etro’s Vetiver, you won’t find it here. But if you want a comfortable, civilized approach to the vetiver root, this is it.

August 2009:

I have an odd relationship with Guerlain's Vetiver. I keep thinking that I ought to like it much, much more than I do. With tobacco, nutmeg, coriander and neroli gracing its star note, this stuff should be catnip for me. An yet - it never strikes as much more than "OK."

Why is that? Could it be that I've become accustomed to bolder, more aggressive vetivers, like Encre Noire or Route du Vétiver? No, that can't be it, since I find the more polite and civilized Sycomore and Givenchy Vetyver far more compelling than the Guerlain. Whatever keeps me from loving Guerlain Vetiver dearly lies with the scent itself. As I wear it and study it, I notice a few things:

First, it's very linear on me once the vetiver and cedar emerge.

Second, it's very, very shy on my skin. After fifteen minutes of wear I always have to search for it with my nose to make sure it's still there.

Third, and most disappointing, is that the vetiver and cedar heart smells oddly hollow and emaciated to me, as if the flesh on the accord has been whittled away by some erosive force, and only the skeleton remains.

I still want to like it, but I can't actually find all that much in it to like.

a pretty dynamic, harsh/gritty vetiver n tobacco combo presented in a very true form... for reference, Lubins Le Vetiver smells a lot like this one. however, this is not my type of scent...maybe itll grow on me in time...but for now, ill pass.

decillisjl I see what you mean. I have a spray sample of this I got from the perfumedcourt and was very excited to try it because of all the wear it gets around here. When I put it on my skin it smelled like a citronella candle. I don't know I guess it's just my skin chemistry that doesn't agree with it making it rather pungent and not very pleasant. Not bad just not for me obviously.

oh how excited i was when a fellow bner shipped this to me... oh how disappointed i was after wearing it to a full day at work... i really love the vetiver out of the bottle, but there's something "off" with this on my skin... no i mean like off the bug repellant... wow rereading the scent profile just made me figure out why i don't love this... CORIANDER... i ran a mexican restaurant for five years and one of the best parts of the day was making salsa... the pungent yet fresh aroma of crushed cilantro always left a smile on my face, but cilantro on my skin is absolutely wretched... this is the reason that i was never able to really enjoy live jazz... it's so sad that something i love smelling so much in its natural form makes me so nauseated in its perfume form... oh well this will be another bottle up for swap... neutral rating because it is a very well made fragrance and i can see how it is so popular, but i will never be able to wear it

Great looking botttle , feels good in ther hand , spraying citrus and then a nice dry down but i found it too light and after a few hours hard to smell , I sprayed twice on my arm and twice on my neck and kept sniffing my arm and just didnt get that wow factor that I have from other frags. Must be my skin type just doesnt shine for me, I am sure with the right skin type its great but sadly not for me

Once you have experienced the distinctive "Guerlinade", the in-house olfactive signmark of Guerlain, you really want to feel it again and again. A lost world come into mind, the myth-of-the-man in the XX century at its very sunrise. We have to precise that Guerlain perfumes apart of more recent ones, are very conservative, well suited for the cultural French Emperor of last decades. They are out of the fragrances you usually find in a boutique, so at the beginning you are literally astonished, then you can love it. Guerlain Vetiver gives the subtle impression to leave you alone: it's vey, very cold, adn it responds to nordic, clean tastes, so fdifferent from the italian ones, more fashion orientedand in general, warmer. I wouldn't be surprised discovering Vetiver of Guerlain is mostly sold in continental, north Europe. It's uppermostly clean. The idea of perfume behind is terrible or marvellous. Coming now to the vetiver vibrations, since I like more dirty, mouldy and resonant vetivers, I prefer the vetiver from Guccy Envy. Probably at Guerlain were aimed to purify vetiver from earthy sentors, leaving only the smoky-ones. If the Guerlinade base has something of burlesque, excessive, between caricatural or extremely classy (not an easy, first sight love perfume), the vetiver stands -for me- too much delayed over other scents.

Interesting fragrance, so calm, so fluid. Remembers an afternoon with warm breeze, chess and apple tea. Yes, I found it, it remembers my grandmother. Sincerely, it feels like something my grandma could use. Not bad, but nothing manly.

Unchanged formula? Whatever. I used to wear this in the late 90's when it was good. The lovely lady at the Guerlain counter swore blind that the formula was the same. It isn't. More lemon up top and a watered down vetiver throughout. In a word, "modernised". Shame.

Way to green !!! It really has nothing special IMO, just herbs invading your senses. It reminds me of Chanel pour Monsieur, another uber-green fragrance that follows a recipe that has been proved to be safe. Apparently, people love this kind of fragrances, so why change anything? Don't take any chances, don't try anything new, don't come up with something original... I don't like this approach. I rate this as neutral simply out of respect for Guerlain and because of the history behind this fragrance.

I am still trying to like it, but the longer I use it the less I am fascinated with that smell. The opening is amazing, the first five minutes I think: thats it!...but the vetiver scent turns pretty fast into a soapy, slightly greasy smell -still mixed with the fresh vetiver main note, but by far not as pleasant as the start off. It is too sharp and,in my opinion lacks a harmonius composition.
It is a perfume which impresses when you walk by it, but the longer you have to do with it the more it starts to annoy me( and my family). I had high expectations due to the high ranking of the Guerlain Vetiver-and I admit it is still better than most of the perfumes out there, but I didn´t fall in love with that one.

Initially invigorating very fresh top notes, but for me the tobbacco note on the drydown is just a bit too remeniscent of full ashtrays. Monsieur Rochas is far more subtle when i need an air of dignified maturity that better suits my increasing years.

One of my favorites. Classic scent.

The second Guerlain fragrance in my collection, the frist being Habit Rouge.

I bought this as a gift set which came with a 100ml Shower Gel, 125ml EDT and a rather nice Wash Bag. I bought it blind on the basis of the reviews here and I have to say, thanks everyone!

My first Vetiver fragrance was by L'Artisan Parfumeur. As such it turned me off big time. I found it heavy, bitter and cloying. The Guerlain take however is nothing short of delightful.

Yes, it is soapy and clean and I like that. Now, without wanting to risk being slated I have to say I am reminded of YSL Kouros Cologne Sport. That particular fragrance has been well and truly panned in the reviews on this site. The Guerlain is similar to my nose but with all the Heritage (apologies for the pun) that Guerlain represents.

It's interesting to me how a single note can be interpreted in so many different ways. This fragrance couldn't be further from the L'Artisan Vetiver in that, for me at least, its wearable and enjoyable!

I find Habit Rouge to be perfectly delightful but without the wow factor of so many current fragrances. When I spray it on it makes me feel comfortable for some reason. It is not something however I feel able to wear everyday. Vetiver is that everyday fragrance that I'm looking for. Its clean, slightly sporty tones keep my arm going to my nose to smell more. Its something I can wear without fear of offending but without making too bold a statement. Yes, understated but self assured this is.

What a joy for me and solid evidence of the whole purpose and value of the Basenotes Review forum.

Initially I thought "insect repellent". Then it occurred to me that I'm not being fair so on subsequent application I tried to understand the fragrance. The opening is fresh but not sweet or aquatic (good). The dry-down ... "insect repellent".

I was initally enthralled by this one. I went back and smelled it again later, sprayed it on a scent stick and kept it for a while. I've decided that it smells like an old man. The scent of tobacco is almost overwhelming==reminded me of a tobacco drying shed in Virginia. Or of my old boss' office.

Some years ago, when buying a fragrance, I got a lot of fragrance samples. Among these samples were 2 Vetiver sprays. I had tried it once and didn't like it, it smelled rather old. When a friend of my wife needed some fragrance for the week, because he broke his bottle, I gave him the Vetiver ones as I didn't like it. Maybe it was a matter of skin or image, as he worked in a bank, wearing classical grey suits, white shirts and stripped ties, but the Vetiver worked fine on him.

Top notes are citric, not in a lemon style, just like an old style cologne. There's a note of coriander I couldn't smell as an individual one, just as a green note that avoids the top notes becoming a so much citric blend. Next middle notes are green, mainly vetiver notes arises, while citric top notes tones down. The base notes are bitter, with something spicy like pepper, maybe also nutmeg, and a note like leather (or tobacco).

Works fine as a office fragrance, also for daytime, but don't know if it should work for evening events. Suitable for all seasons, but for classical style men, over 30 years old.

I see why people like it; it's sort of an archetype fragrance -- classic, old school fresh and green, what people who aren't into fragrances might think of when trying to imagine a "classic". Alas, my opinion is biased as I compare it to other vetivers (MPG's Route de Vetiver is my favorite, Creed's new one is next) that I tried before really giving Guerlain's classic version a serious go. In comparison, this one is very light and stays extremely close to the skin on me. It's green and somewhat organic, but not as good as I had expected. 3 out of 5 stars.

This is one of the first men's fragrances I ever encountered, although the name of the elderly relative who wore it seems to escape me now. I started visiting Basenotes the same year this first won "Best Fragrance" and I bought a bottle. The 2000 version is not as good imho as the original, and smells more like a cross between chewing tobacco and a citronella candle; not my style. That said, it did inspire some very good vetiver-based fragrances, such as Frederic Malle's Vetiver Extraordinaire and Creed's Original Vetiver. For me, this is very much a summer fragrance, and was one of the few scents I took with me to serve overseas in a hot climate (the others were GIT and D&G pour homme); Guerlain makes great stuff, but this one is very much an acquired taste.

it's a nice office wear scent,imo OV is much better.

I really wanted to like this because it's a classic and it's Guerlain, but I'm just not too wild about citrus or vetiver scents. It starts off pretty decent with a fresh green note but the drydown ruins it for me. It develops into a dry and earthy vetiver note that lacks the sweetness that I crave in frags. It's a benchmark vetiver scent, but it's not for me.

I like the guerlain vetiver,blast of lemon and woods out of the bottle,the quality is good and lasts a long time,the drydown reminds me of laundry detergent,smells just like it,cant remember which one,think it was when I was overseas.

I love the old one, the new one is too light in my opinion

Vetiver by Guerlain is a fragrance that I am very off and on with. Some days I think it is a nice fragrance to have around for a hot summer day, and other days it smells old fashioned and very musty. It is a fairly strange combination of sharp citrus notes, neroli
flower and strong vetiver with a little pepper, tobacco and cedarwood. It smells very grassy and earthy, I can imagine it being an outdoorsman's signature fragrance. I think of it as being more casual than formal, but it could work for both. If you crave vetiver, there are more than a few other vetiver based fragrances that are much better.