Route du Vétiver
Maître Parfumeur et Gantier (1988)

I smell rhubarb. Not as strident as styrallyl acetate, more like rhubofix (Firmenich) with its woody aspect.

To my nose this smells like Carven's Le Vetiver but that actually smells better than Route du Vetiver since it has an added boozy note. I don't like this at all. It's too earthy and not in the good way.

2/5

A different style of vetiver fragrance. RdV does indeed open with a deeper, heavier tone of vetiver. Unorthodox in a genre that is typically sweetened or sharpened by citrus elements, RdV feels raw by comparison. There's no mistaking the vetiver in the first hour, as it's pungent and bracing. Some may pan the fragrance at this point, which would be unfortunate as RdV begins to mellow, turning into a buttery middle, revealing hints of wood and floral as the vetiver sheds it's raw elements. RdV does have aspects that conjure the tone of oud wood, playing through the heart phase, as well as hints of sandalwood and plum. I've always understood vetiver to have multiple dimensions and RdV presents a range uncommon to the market. Better than average sillage and longevity and in my opinion, a must have if you enjoy vetiver. Thumbs Up for me.

a very elegant, damp, skanky, juicy vetiver perfume..it is the only vetiver-focused scent that I wear, I think. Ive tried many vetiver frags over the yrs, and most of them didnt last long on my skin for some reason. But this one has...and in warmer weather, it REALLY comes to life.

I love it...and its hangtime lasts all day on me.

Starts bitter with vetiver roots that are dump and dark; I could also associate it with the smell of black soil and say that it could have oud in it, because of the dry earthy bitter smell. After about 20 minutes, the fruity and sweet blackcurrant lightens it a bit.
Going forward, it becomes juicier and after about another hour, the perfume softens even more with a flowery façade which turns it from this raw beast(which I love) to a widely wearable fruity-flowery vetiver. It changes dramatically, but it remains gorgeous.

I find Route du Vétiver interesting and quite well done, but it's with all the vetivers out there, it's not really my choice.

Vetiver as a note naturally has a lot of nuances, from brighter elements like hints of lemon and spice to darker elements like iodine and ink. Most vetiver perfumes play up the brighter elements by adding lemongrass and nutmeg, so we kind of tend to think of vetiver itself as a really bright smell. Route du Vétiver goes the opposite direction, playing up the darker elements. As such, I kind of don't like the assertion that it's a more "true" vetiver - instead, I would personally describe it as "contrarian".

So what does it smell like? Well, a deep vegetal, inky vetiver, with the iodine quality amplified until it smells rubbery. It's also ashy - not burnt or charcoal, but dry dusty ashes. The base is more of a surprise, as a cool chalky iris join the vetiver, giving the ash note a bit of cigarette smoke flavor.