Vetiver
Sixty five years after the original, Guerlain Vetiver Parfum 100ml revisits the house's most respected men's fragrance and takes it somewhere greener and more bitter.
The opening is herbal rather than citrus led. Basil and rosemary give a green, slightly oily sharpness, bergamot and lemon brighten it, and wormwood adds a genuinely bitter, almost absinthe like edge that is the first sign this is not a simple reissue. In the middle, vetiver arrives alongside fern and juniper berry, the fern cool and green, the juniper resinous and gin like, with rose softening the edges and smoke drifting through, dry and ashy rather than charred. It is an unusually austere heart for a modern release and it is the best part of the fragrance.
The base returns to vetiver and adds oakmoss for a wet, bitter floor, violet for a faint powder and licorice for a cool, slightly sweet twist that keeps the whole thing from being purely severe. Nothing here is comfortable in the conventional sense, which seems to be the intention. The perfumer was Delphine Jelk and the year 2024. As a parfum it lasts eight hours and more with a trail that holds, and two sprays is the sensible dose. Cool weather suits it, as does daytime, and it reads as a men's fragrance while being dry enough to be worn by anybody.
If you already own the eau de toilette, this is not a replacement but an argument with it: greener, more bitter, less polished, and more interesting for it. Ownership of the house sits with LVMH, and the firm itself has been making perfume in Paris since 1828, long enough that revisiting its own back catalogue counts as a tradition rather than a shortage of ideas.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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