Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille is probably one of the first fragrances you’ll read about if you get into online fragrance forums, especially if you ask for recommendation around tobacco fragrances.
Its accessible, likable, whats not to like?
This is a “what you smell is what you get” fragrance, not much development from top to bottom. Right out of the bottle, Tobacco Vanille is a blast of cloves, sweet honey, dense buttercream frosting styled vanilla and it beats on this drum for many hours.
After a couple of hours there is a white floral softness that joins the mix from either a bit of jasmine or the note tree stated tobacco blossom.
In the dry down the cocoa and tonka bean bring a smoother softness as the sweetness tones down some.
Make no bones about it, this fragrance is brash, a bit harsh and persistent.
There isnt much more than what’s mentioned above, its unbalanced to the sweet side and the tobacco is either understated or non-existent because all I get are cloves.
Sounds pretty straight forward right? It is.
I think that’s where it’s popularity comes from. Its an easy ride if you’re not looking for creativity but a guilty indulgence of sweetness and spice that persists throughout the day and easily detectable. It takes the bite out of cold air and helps add warmth to the day. Just don’t expect an experience that highlights part of its name, tobacco.
12+ hours and an elbow’s length scent bubble for much of the duration.
If you like this one, another fragrance in this vein you may enjoy is Comme des Garcons 1994 EDP in the golden bottle.
More honey and spices with florals and additional complexity.
My bottle of Tobacco Vanille is from 2015 with a batch code of AC5.
Rating
-
4.5/10
-
8.5/10
Summary
If a frosting sweet vanilla and honeyed cloves fragrance sounds appealing, give Tobacco Vanille a try, just dont expect a cigar shop romp.