Spiritueuse Double Vanille (2007)
by Guerlain

SPIRITUEUSE DOUBLE VANILLE. Sounds like a drink, doesn't it? Had it appeared on a drinks menu I'm quite certain nobody would have done a double take. In fact I find the opening to be deliciously effervescent and vanillic, rather reminiscent of ice cream soda which is a favorite drink of mine since I was 7. A reviewer even compared it to vanilla liqueur. And I must say I agree with him for this is indeed an intoxicating scent, one which easily finds a top 3 spot among my preferred vanilla masterpieces.

Undoubtedly the best vanilla fragrance I’ve encountered, unabashed, straight-up sweet and sticky vanilla. Spiritueuse Double Vanille is never over-bearing though.

Lasts for hours and hours and can still be detected the next day. My only gripe is that after 6 hours it takes on a very milky smell on my skin. Males that wear Bulgari Black, Monk and Chergui should give this a try.

I get a very smokey almost syrupy opening from this. The vanilla sure takes its time to blossom, and is accompanied by some mild woody notes. The overall experience is wonderful. All the praise is deserving, though pretty costly to acquire at full retail price.

A perfume will rarely smell how I imagined it smells in my mind, and this is no exception. Those expecting a fragrance that is solely vanilla-dominant may be disappointed, as SDV opens with a strong bitter/sour red berry/cherry (it's actually pink peppercorn) note, a huge blast of high quality, natural-smelling cedar and a touch of rose and ylang ylang. While I was initially pissed off that the vanilla only emerges in the drydown (along with benzoin), I now appreciate this beauty for what it is. If it was vanilla and only vanilla all the way through, I could see myself getting annoyed. Instead, SDV evolves beautifully throughout the day - it starts off tart and stimulating, then shifts gradually towards a woody heart. Finally, a few hours in, you're left with the thick and boozy vanilla you've been waiting for.

Great stuff overall, and even though the bitter berry notes threw me off a bit at first (I believe the berry note can even be interpreted as pipe tabacco by some), I've grown to love every stage and note of SDV. It might not be the perfect vanilla fragrance in the classical, simplistic sense, but it's a fantastic interpretation.

As a side note, while Indult's Tihota (another ridiculously expensive vanilla fragrance) might be on par with SDV in terms of being one of my favorite vanilla-based scents, I might mention that SDV is not only the one that's somewhat worth its painfully high price, but it's also more interesting.

9.25/10

Many years ago I remember a girl I know wearing a vanilla fragrance. It wasn't expensive, but I remember thinking to myself - THIS smells really good. Maybe it was "Vanilla Fields"? A drug store fragrance I believe.

Then Versace's "The Dreamer" came out, and I remember thinking it was absolutely stunning. I think it made me comfortable wearing fragrances with vanilla notes.

SDV is a gorgeous creation that I cherish, though in small amounts. As lavish as it might sound - I also think it would be perfect for layering with another Guerlain fragrances to "amp up" the vanilla and make for a spectacular dry-down. I'm thinking L'Instant + SDV, but haven't tried that yet. It's great on its own.

As for the fragrance itself - I don't get anything sour from it at all. In fact, I find it's quite sweet.. definitely boozy, and somehow dry at the same time. I can't smell floral in it and I've found that it's fairly linear in nature. This is a good thing. It's potent, as an EDP, and is probably one of the more truly unisex fragrances of all time. The bottle and box/presentation are beautiful - like a fine cognac.

I originally decided to visit the Guerlain boutique, in order to investigate this, based on the recommendation of a fellow Basenoter. My first impression was a faint vanilla and rum scent that underwhelmed me – I was expecting it to be much stronger. Undeterred, I proceeded to apply four spritzes to my body – one either side of my neck and another two to my chest (under my shirt). I then left the store and continued shopping elsewhere.

For the first hour, I wasn't really detecting that much but, when I did, I smelt some similarities to Hermèssence Ambre Narguilé. I continued testing other fragrances elsewhere and eventually went home. At this point, I had more or less written off Spiritueuse Double Vanille for being too subtle to my nose (much like Hermèssence Ambre Narguilé) and forgot about purchasing a bottle.

And then a funny thing happened: throughout the day, I could smell this heavenly aroma around me. At first, I thought it was another fragrance that I tested on my wrist but I eventually came to the conclusion that this wasn’t the case. I then forgot about it and had a siesta. During the periods when I was awake, I could still detect this enveloping aroma – much to the point where it was driving me crazy not knowing which scent it was. It was just so warm and extremely sexy!

After waking up, the aroma was still there. I then decided to have a shower and removed my shirt. As soon as I did this, I realised the scent was on my shirt as well and instantly knew that the heavenly scent had to be Spiritueuse Double Vanille. I was absolutely amazed! There was even a faint trace of it in the apartment for several hours. Out of curiosity, I decided to wear the same shirt again, when bumming around the apartment the following day. The scent was still evident and I knew then that I had to buy a bottle of this elixir at the next available opportunity.

A couple of days later, I returned to the Guerlain boutique, tested the juice again and, sure enough, the same scent that had captivated me for the last two days was in that very bottle. I swiftly located one of the SAs and told her I wanted to purchase a bottle, whipped out my debit card, paid and left with a big smile on my face.

However, soon after returning to London, I found myself in a conundrum – I now had two vanilla scents in a wardrobe where everything else was unique and distinctive. The other vanilla scent I owned was Givenchy's Pi EDP (also a limited edition and now very rare). After some deliberation, I decided to pit them against each other by spraying one on either arm before going to bed. Up until now, Pi EDP had been the best vanilla scent I had ever come across. However, when compared to Spiritueuse Double Vanille, it completely paled in comparison – it just came across as synthetic and flat.

When I woke up, Spiritueuse Double Vanille was still evident on my arm and stayed that way for a good 12 hours (it probably would have been more had I not been tossing and turning). As for Pi, it had more or less disappeared from my skin. As a result, it was pretty obvious my bottle of Pi had to go. My all-time favourite vanilla fragrance trumped with panache? I just couldn’t believe it!

Spiritueuse Double Vanille is a very Luten-esque scent that is worthy of the title of possibly the best Guerlain release for the last 80 years. This is certainly not an overstatement and I urge you to investigate this olfactory miracle at the soonest opportunity. $200 may be a lot of money for a 75ml vanilla scent but, believe me when I say that this is THE BEST vanilla scent ever made. It is sheer heaven and only gets better as it develops further on the skin.

It’s an amazing creation.

[Original submission date: 21 July 2008]