Vanille Havane
Les Indémodables (2020)

Now this is a vanilla perfume. The breadth, depth, richness, and darkness are not something I've experienced in a vanilla perfume in quite a long time. Its structure is nearly linear and monodimensional in nature, but LI's and Lie's attention to detail in the nooks and crannies of the perfume's vanilla accord make it stand out from the crowd. The opening notes that call to mind rum and dried fruit remind me of a dessert cocktail-type snack my family serves over the December holidays: raisins, dried figs, prunes, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, and dried cherries that have been soaked in a very high-quality Caribbean rum for days, insert a cocktail toothpick and serve. There is a booziness to the opening that doesn't have the heat of alcohol, but plenty of the fermented caramelly cane sugar notes of rum in addition to a silky fruitiness that you would get from the dried fruit. These accords fall away quite quickly to the heart and base of the perfume consisting of, again, the broadest, deepest, richest, and darkest vanilla note I have smelled in a long time.

There is a sweetness to this perfume, obviously as you would expect, but it's well tempered; it approaches the line of cloying and thick but doesn't get so close as to be uncomfortable. You might not even notice it because you'll spend so much of your time pulling notes of sumptuous bitter cocoa, rich and earthy aged pipe tobacco, and, of course, vanilla. The cocoa and the tobacco own the role of filling in the gaps of the vanilla, as I mentioned earlier, creating that sense of breadth and depth with bitter, nutty, floral and hay like notes, but it's the vanilla that's the star. The best way I can describe how this vanilla is different from nearly all other vanillas we get in perfumes is with a visual description. In most other perfumes the vanilla is a light brown, calling to our noses and minds the smells of caramel and cooked sugar, the dough of baked goods that turns a light shade of brown after a heaping tablespoon of vanilla extract is dumped into it. The vanilla of VH is black. It's the vanilla bean as you would get it from the plant, not out of a container in your pantry. The wet and sweet topsoil earthiness is here, the bitter bean fibers and pigments are here, the superbly oozing oiliness from the flesh as you scrape the seductive goodness out of the center of the bean is here.

At no point do any of these notes or characteristics become so homogenized that you cannot make out the trees for the forest, but they are so seamlessly stitched together like fine fabrics to create an incredibly cohesive whole that it's difficult to picture them ever being apart from each other. If you want a true vanilla perfume that isn't going to make you gag with sugar, that will bring to your nose and the noses of those around you the incredible dimensions of vanilla, that will make you and those around you weak at the knees and wanting to take a bite out of your own skin, then this is the vanilla perfume for you. This perfume geek that is mostly impartial to vanilla is, actually and finally, completely won over.

Wearing this gave me the same feeling as eating a desert that is too rich and heavy. It is just too much decadence all together.

At first inhale, it seems like it is going to be a “tasty delight”, but once carried around on skin for awhile, I just wanted it to go away.

Final 100% honest no bs verdict on the whole brand:
Exceptional quality, when you really like 5 out of 13 fragrances that's saying something, because I usually like 1 or 2 from a whole brand.

Les Indemodable fragrances that are full bottle worthy:
(All of these smell incredible and have incredible performance)
1. Vanille Havane 2. Ambre Supreme 3. Musc Des Sables 4. Rose de Jamal, 5. Oranger Sirocco 6. Immortelle Solaire

The two colognes are very good!

Iris perle gave me a headache

The rest of the collection I'm not impressed with, especially these three: fougere emeralde (too harsh, doesn't belong in the line), chypre azural (It's very meh, after fougere it's the worst from the brand not worth anywhere near 220e), cuir de chine (not my style, but I could see people liking it).

Patchouli noisette is meh I don't care for patchouli.

I think some of the ones that I really wasn't impressed with were done by their old parfumer.

A finely flavoured cacao tobacco amber ‘rummed’ up and pinched in ghostly 'garam masala', ripened fruits, darkened vanilla and indole tinges that bring to mind a Porto tipped cigar waiting to be chomped on... Beautifully lit in pungency and a fluid steer away from the usual sugary vanilla in the tabac wheelhouse. Boozy, burley and buttery!

Aged rum with tobacco and vanilla done RIGHT! One of the best in it's class. My only problem is when I will purchase a bottle. 8.5/10

UPDATE: PURCHASED!

The opening is exactly what I wanted it to be. Like sniffing a glass of aged rum that was left out for overnight and therefore lost it's potency. This part lasts only for about 3-5 minutes. The fragrance then slowly transforms into again, exactly what is says on the tin. Vanilla, tobacco leaves, cocoa.
The vanilla here is dry, masculine, slightly earthy. The tobacco is present, like the smell of damp, fresh tobacco leaves. The cocoa dances with all of these notes, comes and goes but too weak to take the lead.
The overall experience is nice, gourmand. The boozyness quickly fades away. The main notes stay present and linear. Masculine, toasted vanilla with appearing cocoa and tobacco notes. The scent cloud is powdery, dry, semi sweet. Imagine taking out the floral and fruity notes from Guerlain's Shalimar edp. This is what you get. A deep dive into the basics. If you found Tobacco Vanille or Tabac Rouge too sweet and cloying then try this fragrance. Very good option for a masculine vanilla.