Vétiver Bourbon
Eau de Parfum, Parfum d'Empire (2022)

I love vetiver. I also love Parfum d’Empire. It might be a foregone conclusion that I would love Vetiver Bourbon. Wrong! (Hopefully). I try very hard to turn off my biases when assessing perfumes but I honestly cannot tell you if I succeeded with Vetiver Bourbon. Vetiver is a very talented actor, the type that you can see in several movies or television series and question whether or not you’re seeing the same actor. Vetiver Bourbon does what the best vetiver perfumes do, which is to give you this very complicated and multi-faceted material in all of its chameleonic forms while making each character coherent.

Upon application you view a scene of enormous complexity, the opening sequence to a very well-done action film. See the strongly medicinal and woody angelica muscling its way in, while musky-oily and earthy ambrette keeps the explosion from developing into total chaos. This is largely the same ambrette that Marc-Antoine Corticchiato used in Le Cri, except dialed way back so that it doesn’t come across as blinding sunlight but rather as a density with a gravitational mass that keeps the Angelica explosion closer to earth. To keep proceedings from getting too medicinal-woody and oily-musky a dried and spicy woody clove provides a lift into the air, the human emotion and personality to these serious and heavy characters - which is funny to say for clove.

But then arrives a massive dose of hydrophobic and oily orris as well. How did MAC achieve this? Orris is not a wallflower, yet the overlap between the top section and the orris and the growing vetiver accord is masterful. There is the Bourbon vetiver which is musky, oily, pungent and robust in the aromatic way, and the Haitian vetiver that is dark, earthy, and woody. There are very nearly two dry downs to this perfume. It takes forever for the top section of angelica, ambrette, clove, and orris to depart before going to an aromatic and green Haitian vetiver and then finally settling on a Bourbon woody vetiver bolstered by cedar and a resinous labdanum. The Haitian vetiver - separated from the Bourbon vetiver - plus the cistus at the base is inspired. It smells dark and earthy, woody and green, but also resinous and slightly floral. Here, and as always, thank you, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato for not ignoring your dry downs and making them just as beautiful and intriguing as the upper layers.

What is remarkable about Vetiver Bourbon is that, like the greatest of vetiver classics, it gives equal balance to the bright green and energetic vetiver notes as it does to the dark and mysterious notes of vetiver. The only thing that is missing is the more off-putting side of vetiver, the swampy, salty, fetid side of vetiver but yet you do not miss it - if that is something that allures you; the rather difficult and “look at me” opening more than makes up for vetiver’s naturally challenging characteristics. MAC displays a masterful and encyclopedic knowledge of the overlap of materials and their notes with Vetiver Bourbon, cramming so much into the perfume without ever losing the plot line or having actors/characters become overshadowed. This is damn near as good as my beloved Guerlain Vetiver EdT (the original), which is saying a lot… a whole lot. This is one of my favorite vetivers to have emerged in many years.

This house is masterful with natural smelling fragrances, some of the best out there. Vetiver Bourbon (named after the older name of Reunion Island in east of Madagascar) is enhanced vetiver root. If you like vetiver, it's basically a must have IMHO. The rootyness of the vetiver is enhanced a deepened with orris root, which also works to soften the edges just a touch, and take it from being wild in your face, to something entirely more elegant.
Top notch perfumery here, but most likely only appreciated by fans of vetiver.

As honest and candid as its reliable performer, the great Marc Antoine Corticchiato (Parfums d'Empire Corsica Furiosa, Ambre Russe, Musc Tonkin, Wazamba, Cuir Ottoman are still excellent references of creativity, balance, strictness and quality). Parfum l'Empire Vétiver Bourbon was launched in 2022 and is a straightforward vetiver-centered fragrance founded on two types of high quality raw material, namely the haitinian one (vetiver Haiti, darker, more wild, earthy and bitter) and mostly on the Bourbon vetiver (muskier, silkier, more exotic, wide and evocative). In the opening it seems vetiver Haiti is going to overperform in dosage and centrality the Bourbon one since the aroma, as a fist in your face, bursts soon out wild, kind of freshly mineral, slightly salty, aromatic and earthy-rooty a la Etro Vetiver (it seems to detect as well some dry tobacco's nuances). On this stage the angelica root (supported by peppery and spacious cloves plus some orris root) enhances the aromatic, vegetal and kind of slightly spicy-laundry vibe while the virile aroma smells uncompromising and almost indie (definitely natural) in style. Over this boisterous opening (and while entering the central and final stages) a soothing accord of spicy musky ambrette seeds, enchanted and evocative bourbon vetiver (musky, slightly floral and mild) and iris butter go smoothing the edges (while adding a tad of rounding mildness) without basically altering the dominant wild temperament of the alchemic amalgam. On this final phase the wild exotic note of vetiver is highly dominant in its plenty of nuances (fresh, bitter-mild, rooty, musky-exotic). This super fragrance (vivid and realistic) aims to celebrate the noble note of vetiver in its wide spectrum of kaleodoscopic gleams. Bourbon Vetiver definitely ranks up among my absolute favorite vetiver-based creations with its excellent performances (expecially the duration) and the amazing compromise between urban austere woody elegance and wildly exotic more spacious natural feel. A fragrance for an authentic man deep on soul and rich in his "spirit of the explorers" and the respect for wild nature all around the world. A must have for all the vetiver-passionates.

My most worn fragrance of 2024. It perennially vies with Guerlain’s to take the top spot on my shelf. This is the highest quality, earthiest, greenest vetiver blended masterfully with a rooty angelica, warm spicy cloves, powdery orris butter, and a deliciously musky ambrette seed oil in the base.

To me, VB effectively works as a hinge between Guerlain’s vetiver and FM’s French Lover, two other favorites in my wardrobe. In terms of their vibe, the Guerlain is gentlemanly and thoroughly complex, with a citrus top, a distinctive tobacco that acts as co-star, and an animalic undercurrent. French Lover, for its part, is bold and more modern, using an astringent angelica up top and a unique incense accord that is bolstered by a well judged woody amber base.

Corticchiato’s vetiver, in contrast to these two, is bright, light, eminently natural, and thoroughly realistic (as in accurate). This doesn’t imply a lack of finesse, don’t get me wrong; it is simple in the best possible way. In a word: elegant. I feel invigorated, sharp, focused, confident, and smart when I wear it. And who wouldn’t enjoy a boost like that?

A little spicy, but most of this is a bitter aromatic vetiver with some musky touches. Very beautiful, its a classy masculine scent, and this could be my favorite vetiver ever made. I know all the vetivers and tried them, but this is just right, its not too much of anything, its just perfection. If you want a grassy earthy vetiver that is aromatic, look no further.

On initial wearing,VB seemed to be a vetiver of the more vegetal and fresher kind. There is little evidence of the earthier and smoky fare that we are used to from the likes of Encre Noire. It also lacks the elegance of the high-priced Sycomore. The positive is that PdE has minimised the artifice and retain a clean and highly accessible vetiver offering. On second and third wears, I started to like this a lot, and was able to detect a broader palette - if not of notes, then of aspects of the key ingredient. The quality shines through here. Not to be missed by fresh vetiver aficionados.