Vetiver 46 (2006)
by Le Labo

Smokey and woody, at first you'd think you've been had since there's no vetiver! It almost smells like buring woods and incense. The scent is rather relaxing to me. The vetiver appears after a few hows and it's a very subtle accord with the lingering incense. I prefer the more pointed or bracing vetivers like Vetiver Extraordinaire or Givenchy's but Vetiver 46 is not with out its charm.

At first I did not care for Le Labo's Vetiver 46 at all. Something in the top note (petitgrain maybe?) gave me that same "elderly man" smell that I get from Dior Jules, which I find a little repulsive. But Vetiver 46 has been strangely compelling. I keep sniffing my sample over and over, and now I find it rather mesmerizing.

Vetiver 46 is a rich, smoky, earthy fragrance which reminds me a great deal stylistically of Comme des Garcons' Tea. It also seems to have aldehydes in the middle notes which softens the fragrance and gives it a sense of voluptuous luxury similar to Chanel No. 5. I also smell a touch of leather and what seems to be a bit of clove/metal/amber in the final drydown, similar to Comme des Garcons' Jaisalmer.

Vetiver is a hard perfume to totally figure out. However, I think it is fair to say that Vetiver 46 is a unique vetiver fragrance like no other. It doesn't have the sunny, astringent "captain of industry" manliness of Guerlain's Vetiver, nor the softer, girlishness of Creed's Vetiver. Rather, Le Labo's Vetiver 46 is a mysterious tall, dark handsome man wearing a deliciously soft, well-cut black cashmere blazer.

Here are the notes, from "Now Smell This": bergamot, black pepper, clove, cedar, vetiver, ladanum, olibanum, gaiac wood, amber and vanilla.

This is one of my all time favorites - certainly a good winter scent. Every time I spray myself with the tester I cannot stop sniffing all day. This is a very smokey fragrance, with a strong vetiver note, mixed with something church-y, like frankincense, myrrh or incense or all three. My formerly religious friends, in fact, do not like it at all as it brings back unpleasant church memories for them. Everyone else loves it. It is a bit like the Gucci Pour Homme (the amber-colored 2003 one in the black and white box) but tweaked with more mystery and darkness and without the flatness of cedar.