Vetiver de Java
by Il Profumo

Forget the name of this one, it’s much more than vetiver. This is a first class lavender-green Chypre created by Silvana Casoli and dedicated to “an elegant man, sure of himself, bold and daring, yet who knows how to appreciate the magical pleasure of fine literature in front of a fireplace, burning and freeing suggestive and seductive aromas of the forest.” (from website)

The opening is a very sharp green lavender together with bergamot, very high pitched and pure, slightly sour and herbal. This is my least favorite part of the experience, but after a minute of two everything settles down and a really beautiful herbal/forest scent emerges and joins the lavender. This is the heart, and it’s composed of birch, cypress, vetiver, rose, and patchouli. Smelling the heart of the fragrance, it really smells like those notes combined, but with a savory complex herbal feeling that I’m guessing is the oakmoss working it’s magic (evernia prunastri is used). I do get the rose if I concentrate on it, but it is very tame and integrated, a piece of the overall puzzle and lending a tanginess. This stage of the fragrance thankfully lasts a very long time, through the workday if I apply in the morning. The base (around dinner time) is gentle, woodsy, and warm; to me it seems like there is sandalwood in the basenotes, but again, maybe just the oakmoss.

Vetiver de Java, to me, is a perfectly balanced take on an herbal chypre that doesn’t overtake me and I can wear very easily. Love it!

Yes, definitely a civilized vetiver – greenish lavender and a lightwood vetiver with the additional gentle green of cypress – all these green notes are presented with tasteful sillage and adequate longevity. The oak moss is smooth and retiring and I can’t smell the gaïac wood.

A gentleman’s fragrance: there’s nothing raw, nothing annoying, nothing visceral: It’s masculine and precise.

Good show, old man…

No, this will not win a prize for fragrance innovation. But if you want a perfectly crafted green-floral-woody masculine with "gentlemen's sillage" and excellent longevity, then Vetiver de Java (the osmo-parfum version) is for you. Vetiver, as noted in the other reviews, stands for green woody herbacity here more than for the actual smell of the grass, for which I'd suggest Villoresi's brilliant creation or Givenchy's profound Vetyver. Il Profumo's offering is indeed a classic men's scent. arlecchino describes it very well, though I get no sourness, just a very green powdery lavender-bergamot note in the top and find the floral aspect to be quite pronounced - but perfectly set in a ring of strong herbs and woods. That long-lasting interplay is what I love about this fragrance. It may seem to fade at times, but always comes back wafting pleasantly, easily throughout an entire working day. Persistent, unobtrusive and classic, with an Italian vibe, this is a perfect office scent - but it's so good it really deserves a very fine Canali or Corneliani suit, plush carpeting and mahogany furnishings.

If you are looking for a vetiver powerhouse out of the gate, then Vetiver de Java is not for you. The opening is elegant and herbal; doesn’t really project much, quite close to the skin. With time, the vetiver emerges. Again, it stays close to the skin. A slight rose note emerges on top of the vetiver and this is my favorite part. Then it all fades away. My primary problem with Vetiver de Java is how close it stays to the skin. It smells nice. I just wish it gave a bolder projection.

After an hour you can find on your skin the true scent, and it's wonderful. Very deep, luxurios, enchanting..like others eaux de IL PROFUMO, the longer you wait, the better the perfum fix on your skin. I agree, you recognize the in-house note of IL PROFUMO..

il Profumo makes some spectacular scents.
There is a house base-fragrance, like Guerlain has a "guerlinade" (profumanade?), which appears in a few of the masculines. If I struggle to dissect this fragrance I would put forth the following ingredients: musk, a light dose of a woody camphorous smell-- perhaps birch tar, and a more than healthy dose of what seems to me Calone. It has an aquatic vibe without being palpably aquatic. Make any sense?
Anyhow. On to Vetiver de Java. Not really sure I pick up much (any?) vetiver here... don't come looking for a vetiver stronghold in this. The aforementioned house note is pretty much what predominates from beginning to end. As for luckyscent's description, which often leads me to believe that they were creative-writing English majors before they got an MBA, they couldn't even spin a yarn beyond what the company's website says about it. On top of all this, the concentration seems weak.
Thumb sideways, as this scent isn't dreadful, just unnecessary. Tempted to give it a thumbs down as I'm miffed at a lack of another good vetiver in the world of scent... but one tries to remain unruffled.