Vetiver by Guerlain, 1961

Once, while spending my holidays in Amsterdam, i met a french boy fond of fragrances. He told me about his Dad's passion for a great classic, Vetiver by Guerlain and  about a sort of unparalleled fresh, clean, exotic aura exuded by this fragrance, a polite masculine feel due to its tobacco note. Few times later i watched a wonderful advertising printed on a magazine ( the sail- boat floating on a green sea ) and i decided to give it a try. Few scents i admit exude a pair sense of freshness and cleanliness and it's true this fragrance is still exotic and classy even if the new formulation understates its greatness. Many are complaining with the new formulation and i agree in part with them. The current formulation is too linear and weak in my opinion, taking away that touch of boldness and crisp temperament that the old formula kept on and that is necessary in my opinion in these kind of gently mild, green fragrances. Guerlain Vetiver is a mild, slightly airy, gentle vetiver, so far from the untamed rough ones like Route du Vetiver and my lovely Etro one. You hardly can perceive the earthy temperament here and after the starting citrus spicy blast the fragrance slides soon in a sort of smooth, slightly resinous, mellow, green smell, may be too pale and gentle. Perhaps today i prefer the earthy vetivers even if i love the airy Sel de Vetiver, surely not rude and a lot airy and salty, indeed. Anyway this remains a great one and the key of scent is represented by link between neroli, vetiver, tobacco and a touch of myrrh. Tonka bean impresses a nutty, watery feel to the dry down and the spices engage to push up the exotic masculine feel. Unfortunately longevity and sillage are weak. Always a pleasure to take a shower by foam bath all over shampoo Guerlain and to copiously spray this fragrance on yourself at morning.

After the disappointing experience with the Vol De Nuit EDC, I did not have high expectations for the Vintage Vetiver EDC. Even though Guerlain was not the first to introduce a Vetiver Fragrance(1961), Guerlain should be the touch stone for all Vetiver fragrances. Though vintage Vetiver EDC is mainly a linear fragrance, it does contain notes of lemon,tobacco, vetiver, nutmeg and pepper. Vetiver EDC opens with a strong blast of aldehydes or smelled more of hairspray and a light scent of lemon. After about 10 minutes in, I start to get the vetiver coming forward with the lemon and a faint smell of tobacco. 30 minutes since applying the vetiver is coming on strong with the faint smell of lemon. I never get a smell of nutmeg or pepper. Now is when the sillage is at it's highest, though Vintage Vetiver EDC is not a sillage monster. One hour in, the frag has become a skin scent, but the vetiver is still hanging in there. After about 2.5 hours, the EDC's longevity has given up and is gone. The vintage Vetiver EDC has been a lot more of a pleasure to wear. Perhaps a little because I like the scent of vetiver, but unlike the Vol De Nuit EDC, the wearing pleasure lasted a lot longer. If you have normal skin and can wear EDC's, this would be a perfect spring and summer fragrance. Actually the coolness would seem to ruin the effect of vetiver. This could pass as a unisex frag due to it's airiness and if a lady likes vetiver obviously.