Vetiverissimo (2018)
by Bruno Fazzolari for Fzotic

This is vetiver with some pepper, and some other mildly spicy undertones, but still a conventional vetiver throughout. In fact it smells quite close to what a concentrated version of Guerlain's Vetiver Extreme would smell like if the semi-metallic incense were dramatically toned down while boosting the vetiver component. High quality, good duration and (surprisingly) robust sillage on my skin, but eventually there is no compelling reason why one would choose this over more affordable but quality alternatives, or even vetiver essential oils.

3/5

Vetiverissimo by Bruno Fazzolari is a perfume sample that came to me with absolutely no background, no concept, and no notes. Apparently, Fazzolari just wanted to see if he could create a nice vetiver perfume for himself to wear. That’s really cool, and I imagine that Bruno Fazzolari is laid back enough as an artist and perfumer to just let his work speak for itself.

As it turns out, when I smelled Vetiverissimo, I got some references that helped me to ‘define’ what Vetiverissimo is. For example, even before I knew what the official notes were, I was able to say that it smelled very Indian to me, full of those yellow, dusty Indian spices like saffron and turmeric that smell more like the earth than of fire. In fact, the perfume smelled very much like the mitti attars (and some ruh khus) that I have collected in the course of writing my Attar Guide (which will be published posthumously, at this rate).

I’ve seen some initial feedback suggesting that people think Vetiverissimo is very simple and straightforward, an impression also given by Fazzolari himself. Other say it smells like Route du Vetiver, a very butch, rooty vetiver that smells like man sweat to me. For what it’s worth, I think it’s got more going on than its laid back, zero-concept brand note would suggest. It’s a subtly-spiced, turmeric-laden vetiver that smells like the red earth of India before the rains begin, given a pale, cloudy woodiness by a superb sandalwood. Simple, yes, but in the nuanced way sandalwood or mitti oils are, with their series of little movements plotted along a line as opposed to the dramatic, balletic leaps of stormy oud oils, or the rutting rudeness of jasmine.

A nice clean, woody Vetiver. Very reminiscent of the lovely Vetiver original from Guerlain, were they to scrape out the citrus and replace the tobacco with clean white woods(cedar, sandal). The ingredients here are much higher quality than the current iteration of Guerlain’s Vetiver and it is a bit darker, though not as funereal and scratchy as Encre Noir(another favorite), even if there is a BIT of ISO-e type synth wood in here, and even so it is incredibly subtle, lending only a shear lift to the woody aspects of the scent.

Overall it is neck and neck between this and Heeley’s excellent Vetiver Veritas... I find the Heeley slightly more true to the material of Vetiver, though as such, it cycles through some less pleasant phases (menthol, smoky and earthy, respectively) on its journey around the nice soft grass note that anchors both of these fragrances.

Overall, I’d say this is the most wearable, gentle Vetiver reference of the current niche.