Tobacco Vanille
Tom Ford (2007)

A guilty pleasure. Just like that song that comes on the radio that you’ll belt along to in your car when you’re alone, but if anyone else is in the car with you you’ll scoff and switch the channel. I shouldn’t like this, but I do.

Really about the only thing tobacco-like to this perfume is the opening, which is a big hit of green tobacco leaf that is really pleasant. Already though the vanilla and the cocoa note are rushing into the room. At this point it does smell convincingly of a sweet and vanillic pipe tobacco, but once the greens disappear it is mostly a chocolate-patchouli and vanilla bomb that is sweet, crude, crass… and I like it. Sorry, not sorry. There’s a bit of booze, a bit of fruit, but nothing really truly convincing as such, like you might be smelling a cognac snifter a day or two after it actually had some cognac in it. The base goes more dark and aromatic woody thanks to guaiac wood, but make no mistake that the coumarin is still playing strong.

It’s not particularly well composed, the materials and their handling kind of suck, it’s lumpen and deadpan, it hits more gourmand targets than it does tobacco targets for sure, but… I don’t know… I just like it. The best way to experience this is minimally; don’t wear much of it, just a couple sprays - for the love of God, you beast mode, gym bro types, yes I’m talking to you: catching a brief whiff of this is far more pleasant than it clobbering you or me over the head, which it can do because it is very strong and tenacious. Additionally, as it is with nearly all of the Private Blend fragrances, this works remarkably well when worn with other Private Blends. A spray of this and a spray of Oud Wood creates a very stunning head-scratcher of a fragrance - but do it well and be smart, a spray of one there and a spray of the other over there, otherwise it could come across as quite messy.

So what do I really want to say about Tobacco Vanille? I don’t know. The person writing this review is a lover of jazz and classical music, of Stan Getz and Beethoven, but he also has a soft spot for Jimmy Buffett and Boston. Make of that what you will. Tobacco Vanille is in the latter camp, as far as I’m concerned, but you will still find me in the car belting along.

EDITING MY REVIEW (A BIT): I am surprised at how much I actually like Tobacco Vanille; LIKE it but it is NOT a LOVE. Surprisingly to my nose, it is NOT strong, or cloying, or overbearing in any way. To me, this fragrance is tame.

After wearing the fragrance steadily for several days, my opinion has changed.

Tobacco Vanille opens and wears straight-up as the notes dictate. Opening is intense, unlit (unburnt) tobacco leaf and sweet, dry tobacco flower notes and spices. I get lots of cinnamon in the opening, although cinnamon isn't specifically listed as a note. And I get CLOVE, which I thoroughly enjoy!! Surprisingly, the opening tobacco leaf/flower notes smell almost floral. The perfume's opening is really really nice!

Develops into a warm, dried-fruit, SWEET, UBER-HONEYED, syrupy, vanilla fragrance. Not ashen, not smoky, not incense-y, not burnt smelling. The vanilla-honey base notes are well done. And in the dry-down, the tobacco notes prevent the vanilla from becoming overly-sweet, or synthetic-like.

And I refrain from gender-categorizing fragrances; I say, "Wear what speaks to you, wear what you love." But IMHO, Tobacco Vanille leans masculine.

Linear and a bit predictable. But overall, an easy wear and a lovely perfume!!

Great Winter and holiday scent, opens very strong so go easy on the sprays. Hangs around and becomes more subtle and more tobacco comes through. I love everything about this one except the cost which is crazy. Buy a decant.

Cozy, inviting and gentlemanly. This is a great fragrance for cold weather. It’s projection and longevity are average on my skin.

For my taste, the clove is too pronounced. I don’t get much tobacco on the drydown, either. Instead of photorealism, this is more like CGI, which is typical of Tom Ford.

I still love it, though, as I’m a sucker for vanilla and tobacco. And it doesn’t fall short of its name. Thumbs up.

One of my favourite perfumes of all time, and that's saying quite a lot. This gorgeous fragrance really does smell like tobacco in the best possible way. The opening is tobacco and a little bit of warm spice, but then the heart notes are deliciously soft and gently sweet, almost creamy (at least on me). Base is more woody, but I also get vanilla all through the base.

Love, love, love this one, in spite of the Tom Ford high price (which I don't love at all). Good longevity, too. A bit on the stronger side (on me), so I need to remember to restrain myself a bit with this one. Just a couple of sprays in key areas would do the trick.

Side note, this is marketed to men. I don't care at all, despite being distinctively a woman. I've been wearing "pour homme" fragrances since I was a teenager, and I've never once had anyone think I was a dude. I wear what I like, and the marketing doesn't really bother me one way or the other.

Groundbreaking fragrance but it's not a tobacco frag for me. Its very well crafted and it smells top-notch but imo its a veritable gourmand frag. Indeed It has a very subtle vibe of tobacco-smoke effect but then its just a vanilla-cacao- bit spicy-cream tart scent. Of course its well blended and its unisex leaning more to the feminine side. Not very sweet which is good. Imo, if that tobacco-smoke effect was more pronounced, long lasting and the vanilla note was more subtle and bitter, then it would have been a very good tobacco fragrance.