Of all the colognes and after-shave lotions I have, this is my favorite. I’ve been wearing it for over 40 years and there are a lot of wonderful memories connected to this one. When I moved to Manhattan and worked for Lord & Taylor, I did the same thing I did at the men’s cologne counter at Gimble’s in Milwaukee.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’d stop every day at the men’s cologne bar on the main floor of Gimble's and get my fix for the day. I’d try different scents until I found something that clicked, and more often than not I was disappointed. The store started, right here in Beer City. It took up a whole city block and I used to know every inch of it.

About 15 years ago the big old building was taken over by Marshall Fields and they finally gave up the ghost because the Malls in the outlying suburbs get all the business. Now, the old, glorious white glazed and tiled building with its Roman columns facing the Milwaukee River has been divided up into part hotel/motel, part a new Borders Bookstore and Café, and part something else that I don’t care to know about.

One day in the early 60s while I was at work at Lord & Taylor, I tried something new; it was called Vetiver by Guerlain and it was just what I wanted and I bought my first bottle. It was a relatively small bottle and cost about $12.50, less my store discount of 40%, but I was hooked on it and it became my signature scent for many years. I soon learned that if I bought a bigger bottle I got more fluid in proportion to what I paid. That discount was wonderful and it prompted everyone that worked there to spend more than they really could afford.

In 1828, Pierre-Francoise-Pascal Guerlain opened his first boutique in Paris. Since then, the Guerlain name has been inseparably linked to beautiful objects and clothing. Jean-Paul Guerlain, the current Guerlain creator, fabricated Vetiver in 1961 when he was just eighteen years of age he made a masculine scent that is a truly great men's fragrance. It’s suitable for all occasions and is the perfect arid fragrance I like for the summer months, but it works well all year ‘round.

The first thing you smell when you put on Guerlain’s Vetiver is citrus and that fades to the long lasting aroma of Vetiver that lingers on your body and clothing for days. An artist friend of mine says I smell like “ashes of roses” when I wear this. I take that to mean something like a rose jar or potpourri; my mother made her own from the rose petals from my father’s garden. My memories tell me to lift the cover off of the antique green cloisonné jars on the mantle and have a sniff.

I found a conflict of ingredients on several web pages and I’d like to believe all these wonderful scents are in there. This is the first combination I came across: Top notes of bergamot, lemon and coriander, middle notes of carnation, oakmoss and leather and base notes of musk, amber and Vetiver. Whatever the combination is, this is a fresh, spontaneous, invigorating and elegant odor.

The composition from the House of Guerlain's site has head notes of citrus, where you will find orange, bergamot and lemon. In the middle range is my beloved Vetiver, followed by pepper and nutmeg. The base notes are tobacco and tonka bean, that vanilla smelling substitute.

The main ingredient, Vetiver roots, are crushed to produce the oil that gives this cologne its name. I found out that it takes more than three hundred kilos of roots to produce just one liter of oil; the best Vetiver is said to come from the French Island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

I’ve often tried to find the dried roots to stick in my underwear and shirt drawers so they would be impregnated with the odor; that’s how much I like it. There’s been no luck in finding them so far . . . and I have no idea what they would even cost and maybe after reading how much it takes to make the oil, I had best forget about it.

I now pay about $75 plus tax for a 6.5 ounce bottle with no atomizer. It’s just a nice square glass bottle with a brass cap and it figures out to about $16.66 an ounce. Robert Granai has designed a new bottle of banded frosted glass that is boxed in an attractive silver green carton. You can see it pictured in the image at the top of this page.

My purchases are less frequent now, but if I plan for it, it’s something I can live with. It’s also high on the list when someone asks me what I want for my birthday or Christmas; I’m no longer available on the Valentine circuit! This wonderful fragrance would be a welcome gift for any of the men in your lives, if you like a clean, clear masculine scent that mellows wonderfully and lasts for a long time.

My only advice is to make sure to test it on him before buying. Each person’s body chemistry is different and the outlay of some cold hard cash on a fragrance that doesn’t work on your man would be a shame.

There’s one good thing about Guerlain’s Vetiver though, a lot of women like the scent on themselves and wear it well, so it may be just the thing for your personal collection!

The House of Guerlain, www.guerlain.com , is located in Paris on the Champs Elysées. The company is now owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). That leading retailer collects luxury brands like other people collect stamps and is one of the world’s premier perfume houses. LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics Services LLC also owns the labels of Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo, Laflachère and Acqua di Parma.

Here are links to my other fragrance reviews in this series:

Fragrance Reviews:

#1 Guerlain’s Heritage: http://www.epinions.com/content_3060834436

#2 Davidoff’s Cool Water: http://www.epinions.com/content_86974828164#

#3 Muehlen’s 4711: http://www.epinions.com/content_88686694020

#5 Jacques Fath’s Greenwater: http://www.epinions.com/content_89430462084

#6 Hermes Eau D’Orange Verte: http://www.epinions.com/content_133415145092

#7 Guerlan's Imperiale: http://www.epinions.com/content_90606046852

© Ed Grover - 2003



Recommended: Yes