Vesna Cologne

*short add to the review.. This one has a fizziness. I never understood that term in fragrance until this one, it really gives me the fizzy quality which I actually really enjoy. I like this more now, and would say my previous comparison to the aromatic qualities of the others is lessened. It is still aromatic, just not as much of that similarity as I initially experienced.* Just having acquired this, I can’t give a full take on it until I do a proper wear or two, but wanted to write initial thoughts while I have it fresh on my mind. I was racking my brain trying to think of the similarity. Initially the lemon made me think is it Allure Homme Sport “Cologne” or Tonic Vert? But it wasn’t after smelling them. Aqua Viva? Nope. Then looked at the comparison to Royal Water, and that’s the fragrance it reminds me of; however, not the citrus itself. Now, smelling side by side they’re not the same, it’s a “similar similarity” to Clive 1872 next to Royal Water.. in that side by side not the same and even wearing I know they’re not the same, but are somehow related. It’s the type of aromatic quality that they share, along with whatever few notes that are similar. I’d also say that the citrus itself is similar to that of Virgin Island Water. Not the same, but closer to that than other types of citrus notes used out there. (VIW citrus is amazing in my opinion). So that citrus, and a similar aromatic of the others. It really is its own fragrance but had to make note of those connections. Lastly, on skin this so far smells a lot different. I may prefer it on clothing, but like always need to try again later, now that it’s had a chance to breath after a few sprays, which always changes some after time in my experience. Until the next review after more wears!

Firstly it doesn't resemble Zemfira. It has literally nothing in common with that perfume. This one opens with a fizzy pineapple sorbet which lasts all of three seconds, unfortunately, before it starts its drydown to cypriol with some (like another reviewer said) suede texture. It's very beautiful, however I also agree with others who've said it doesn't stand out in the line. It's the most "meh" perfume of the 15 Bortnikoffs I'm familiar with, but let's be honest, a "meh" Bortnikoff is still streets ahead of almost all niche perfumery from recent history. This Is a great perfume and as it's the safest and most gentle by far from the house, it will be joyfully functional for days when I have to be professional and discreet. Update: this definitely errs on the side of being a smell rather than a perfume. It's a pleasant smell, but has a sort of waxy, chewy quality, like what I imaging a factory producing Starburst would smell like. I hate to say it, as I'm a defender of Bortnikoff against the following common critique, but this does seem like quality ingredients fudged together with no skill or vision to speak of. I don't feel like that about any others of his that I've smelled (many). Update: I agree with the above reviewer who claims to smell cheese. It is cheesey, but somehow this doesn't bother me.

Peculiar, ambiguous, I don't know what to say about it for now, I get a hard time with the tomato leaves. EDIT: I was wrong, it is peculiar, but as it happened with L'heure Exquise from Bortnikoff, it was my first time smelling a real ambergris based perfume, same with Vesna, the tomato leaves, Cypriot etc were a first in my olfactory journey. After a full wear, I can say I prefer Vesna go Amber Cologne, which is also very beautiful and more playful, a feel good scent. But Vesna... Pure class. It is so refined, green, light and dark. It really incites me to discover Russia and the slavic countries during spring. I don't get any Aventus or Hacivat Vibe, to my nose, the pineapple isn't prominent, very light and juicy in the opening. It seems like the EDPs have a better projection than the extraits. Bortnikoff is a mix between a rockstar and an impressionist artist.

I think this a real underrated release. It has incredible longevity for a cologne, after 16 hours I can very much still smell Vesna on my skin. I think the fragrance will undergo some further maturation in the bottle. At first sniff Vesna seems to be a somewhat one-dimensional fragrance with some fresh citrus notes, but in reality with each successive wear I begin to smell the multi-dimensional facets. A beautiful fragrance

A simple beautifully constructed Oriental Chypre. The scent whose name suggests spring opens with gourmandish notes of lemon, pineapple and tea. There is a brief floral middle of magnolia but the scent settles into a most unique powdery bed of dried tropical fruits and nagarmotha (cypriol). The expertly blended scent is a slight masculine leaning juice with moderate sillage and very good longevity. Somewhat reminiscent of a Roja Dove chypre but much more spare and stripped to the bone. A nice example of this perfumers expert blending skills, the scent is simple yet unique and wearable. Enjoy!

Opens with a strong lemon and pineapple note, quickly turning to a soft magnolia then for some odd reason, suede on my skin. I think that’s due to dried fruits and the nagarmotha note. I can still smell Vesna six hours later. I consider that a extremely good performer, since most scents are gone within 3 hours on my skin. I like Vesna, but there are others in the Bortnikoff lineup that I like better.

Only Bortnikoff could mess up a Pineapple fragrance in this way. Pineapple needs to be kept sweet and juicy. The lushness and 'pop' need to be retained by supporting sweet fruits or 'neutral' hardwoods like Cedar. So, of course Bortnikoff would ''do the Niche thing'' of putting the dreaded tomato-leaf note up top; a greeny vegetal note and then the lemony overpowered scent of magnolia to drown out the potential fruit bowl sweetness this scent could have taken. My rating: 5/10.

I also get cheese in the opening

What a weird fragrance. Vesna Cologne opens with a weird melange of fruitiness and what I can only describe as a pungent "cheese" accord. Its somewhat off putting and perplexing. What creates that pungent cheese accord? None of the notes listed are really identifiable to my nose, and I have nearly 400 full bottles, many composed with these notes. I love Dried Fruit notes, for example, but they are non-identifiable in Vesna Cologne to my nose. What is he using to build a Dried Fruit accord? The cheese persists well into the mid, albeit abated somewhat. It does soften more into a more understandable composition of the Earthy, Woody and Green accords listed above. But then, in the far side of the mid, the entire scent changes to mimic the basic scent profile of Creed Royal Water, which I have in my collection. Here, into the base, Vesna Cologne is quite nice, but I prefer Creed's simple, understandable, and coherent composition with likewise natural ingredients. I need to wear this more to try and understand it. So far in my exploration of Bortnikoff's catalog, I have only one full bottle purchased (Moss Cologne. Beautiful opening.) and Amber Cologne on my to-buy list. But Vesna Cologne and a few others prompts me to question Dimitri Bortnikoff's expertise and experience as a perfumer. Specifically the composition and blending. I made a shallow exploration of Andy Taur's catalog a few years ago and had a similar impression. I appreciate artisanal perfumery and pretty much consider myself a bit of a niche snob. I like scents that seem to have been crafted with an artist's personal stroke, but fragrances like Vesna Cologne make me question the artist's true acumen.

OMG @cypriant you now have RUINED this scent for me, too!!! It is indeed very citrus 'hygienic', which is hard to purge from the mind, and it's the tea which is the culprit -- there is something 'cleaning materials' about tea, and I don't know if it's universal, or just THIS particular tea component (or ALL tea essential oils) -- nonetheless, it is there and I can't get it out of my mind! Despite being citrus + tea, I don't get lemon tea connotations from it -- it might be because of the additional sweet fruits notes, or the white floral. Either way, this is giving me Lemon Pledge, or Lemon Jif, and I really wish I didn't read that review below mine because I can't get the association out of my mind, now!

I seem to go against the grain on this website/forum on a constant basis, and this fragrance is no exception. It's unique as far as colognes go. Green, bright, and a unique pineapple note (almost plastic like) that gives this character. The opening, mid and dry down all have their own profile, and it does change up a bit on my skin. The opening is all about that pineapple, the mid has a bit of floral touch and the dry down is almost spicy. This is the first B fragrance that I've sampled and according to these comments, I only have up to go from here so I am excited to try out this house. But for me at least, vesna is a winner.

Why this is categorized as a fruity chypre is beyond me. You get lots of citrus in the opening with a hint of pineapple tickling the back of the throat. It almost smells like there is some vetiver as well, maybe thats from the nagarmotha. But the dried fruits are not as strong as I would have imagined which would have made a great juxtaposition to the bright opening. Enjoying how they do citrus in their fragrances. 6.5/10

This is tough to review because it smells good, the ingredients seem of good quality, but it opens EXACTLY like the smell of those citrus capsules that they put in urinals at public restrooms. Once you smell that you can't unsmell it. I won't even rate it because it's way too polarizing even for me.

I read a review saying it has excellent longevity for a cologne, which would 100 percent be true, but it's not a cologne. It's an edp is the style of a cologne. I'll update about my wear when it's done, just wanted to end confusion people may have about this whole line of "colognes "

yeah, not enjoying this... crass, bitter tea mingling with mild pineapple and gentle citrus. Later on, the nagarmotha comes out and renders this scent unusable. i'm not a fan for those icky moist-green kinda notes (vetiver, nags, etc), and so for me I just can't. i tried.

It’s always a surprise each fragrant for Bortnikoff, so unique and different to each other. This is super lemony and yes the mix up later makes something unique