Vanille Absolu
by Montale

This is a deep, sweet, boozy vanilla, with just a touch of smoke, & l get the "nutty praline" note mentioned elsewhere. The other notes are barely there for me, but serve to give this otherwise "straight-up" vanilla a bit of depth & backbone. The sillage is good, & it lasts around 8 hours on me, not unusual for a Montale.
lf you're looking for a straight vanilla that's high quality & not cupcake-sweet, l recommend this one. l think it would be great for layering, too.

28th January, 2012.

One of the best straight vanilla scents out there. It's pure vanilla - not overly candy sweet at all. It's grown up vanilla with hint of smoke ,a touch of woods -but not too much . Addictive, sniffable and with Montale's trademark longevity and sillage.A versatile quality fragrance. I can well imagine this would be someone's Holy Grail vanilla scent .

17th June, 2010.

This is vanilla, yes, and I have a lot of vanillas. But it's a vanilla that says "Moi, I am sweet, and if you do not like, go elsewhere."
It seems to have a touch of aldehydes that take it from common sweet to expensive sweet, like Hershey's as compared to Godiva.
I like to wear it for my own pleasure, but it also does well at the boring meetings I must attend, where the uneducated noses of the common rabble (my beloved coworkers) only appreciate what they can identify scentwise.
In this case I usually hear, "You smell like a doughnut."

Sigh.

18th April, 2010.

A high quality vanilla and that seems to be just about it. Nothing wrong with it – in fact, I love it. Decent longevity. I think this would smell especially nice on a lady. I recommend it, but if you need complexity, consider something else.

2nd January, 2009.

I collect, and love, vanilla fragrances. I also love Montale, particularly for the unique accords and creative compositions in so many different fragrances. Montale's Boise Vanille is one of my all time favorite vanillas, so I figured how could I go wrong with a blind buy of Vanille Absolu when I saw it for a steal? Oh well.

If you don't like vanilla fragrances it may seem a bit odd to collect them - after all, it's 'just' vanilla, right? Not exactly. Even though every house has a vanilla fragrance of some sort of straight vanilla fragrance, there is generally something that differentiates them from being just plain-old-vanilla. Fragonard Vanille has a slug of sandalwood. L'Artisan's Vanilia has that candyfloss tinge, Parfumerie Generale Felanilla has a banana wood heart. Dior Addict has orange blossom. There's always something.

Well, this Montale offering is just plain old vanilla. It's hardly different than sniffing, say... vanilla extract for cooking. None of the few other notes (cinnamon, clove, woods) are noticeable, and if they're there from keeping the composition from being too boring there isn't enough of them. Even the saving graces - like good sillage - aren't present (though longevity is good as it is an EdP). I forgive Montale because I do so love Boise Vanille, and from the looks of it Vanilla Extasy is more interesting than Vanille Absolu, but I'd caution even vanilla lovers to take a look at any of the fragrances I've mentioned above.

29th December, 2008.

I love wearing this. It has good sillage and it smells intoxicating. It's a "humid vanilla" instead of dry, and it does smell a bit medicinal, but I soon fell in love with it when I actually wore it for a few hours. You will smell it on yourself when worn on the neck or chest so it is a fun fragrance to wear for your own pleasure. Note that at first, it reminded me of a popular lip balm which is why it seems medicinal. If upon applying it you notice that too, don't worry, after an hour or so worn on yourself, you will forget that association and love it.

17th December, 2008.