Vaninger

Oh, this is lovely! Like Judyk, I didn't know I had won a sample of Vaninger until I came back from Christmas holidays and found an envelope containing a mystery perfume sample! At first, on me, Vaninger is predominantly lemon and smoke. Like being sat beside an outdoor wood fire, whilst sniffing a large thick chunk of fresh lemon peel. Looking at the notes, after trying, I think the ginger is contributing to the smoky feel. The lemon component quickly stands out more, becoming more 'high', more fizzy - I love this kind of lemon scent. Then the vanilla becomes apparent but not in that ubiquitous way these days,it's blended subtly and harmoniously with the other notes/components to make a soft and natural-smelling whole. Plus, I've got a cold at the moment so it feels very right and timely to be wearing a lemon/ginger composition! Thumbs up from me, thank you to Fragrantica and the designer for the sample. EDIT: It's October 2025 and I found my Vaninger sample and applied some for bed last night. This is GORGEOUS. The top notes of my little sample have degenerated but soon, the 'true smell' of the perfume comes out. Gorgeous and unusual. Warm and bright. I'm not always good at describing smells - great at smelling them! - but I wish this one could be brought back. Please 😢🙏

Wow! What a wallop! In your face with a punch as per a number of Oliver’s creations... Not sure about others claims as to this being the best ginger... I’d leave that to Heeleys Zest de Gingembre (bright, fresh, zesty, natural and fantastic performance ) or even Byredos Chembur (fresh, juice like, soft drink connotations and sweet though lacking longevity). This instead is a deep dark earthy ginger root that after a few minutes is ballooned out with a deep syrupy vanilla on amber. The turmeric et al are all complimentary notes to help the core scent rather than stand out. After a few hours the ginger earthen root starts to soften and the vanilla and amber overtake and this scent sways ever so slightly more toward a feminine bias. As the long dry down progresses and it evolves Hedione and heliotrope help add a slightly almond like slant to the vanilla. Stunning scent, if you are lucky enough to get one before he finishes the brand you will Be mighty pleased with its uniqueness and over the top performance. Worth going out of your way for... I bought a large qty of his last stock as a blind buy and I’m mighty happy.

I am full wearing this today after a few days of hand sampling and the first impression I have is this is very gourmand, close in style and smell to Profvmvm Roma's Dulcis in fundo but rougher, as in more explosive but less refined. This happens too to the other Oliver and co scents I've tried (Vetiverus and Ambergreen): they are very strong, good smelling and overall original but lack a bit of the sophistication you find in other brands. They strive for effect with a dramatic and overloaded content but fail at keeping interest a bit after that first punch mainly because of being one dimensional as a saturated pastel painting. If you like your scents that way, this is it! This smells like something done in a more individual workshop way, by mixing loads of vanilla absolute with some citrus and there we go. It feels as if there is no team work involved or some other ingredients to tame a bit the beast and give a more round finish after the first moments. All of this is not a problem really as the result is good but when it comes to gourmands I prefer to have some other facets to them cause it overwhelms otherwise. Andy Tauer is the best example this way of producing scents can be great with no "but..." imho. As far as I've sampled, Vetiverus is the jewel of this house. To be fair, I got many compliments with this today at an outdoor party so sample it yourselves! Totally unisex and for all ages (and definitely good price for the money as it lasts ages!).

Thank you for the sample give away to Fragrantica and Oliver & Co. What I feel after 3 days of testing. It's open pretty sparkle notes of vanilla, fresh ginger, and citrus. After few minutes comes kind of medicine feeling of turmeric and ginger (which is not the same one of opening) with little bitter kimquat, and amber. Then vanilla, amber,and musk are going to the end. I think this is very interesting approach to the vanilla perfume that after all this is not ginger bread, I feel more chinese ginger tea, so who want sweet candy feeling it's better to test before buy.

I've made it!!! Years of search has culminated now in Vaninger what I consider my ginger holy grail. Yay! So happy that went for the blind buy (based on the reviews)! This is exactly what I've been looking for...a fresh and slighly sweet ginger starring and sparkling in the middle of the composition. Vaninger will heal all the pain and disappointment with muzzled gingers (Serge Five O'clock and the likes). Bliss.