Vendetta Uomo

It opens with a quick blast of fresh notes that are gone in an instant. The scent goes away for a few seconds, but comes back in full force with the heart notes which are mainly cinnamon, vetiver, jasmine, cedar and carnation. The carnation and jasmine gives Vendetta a floral aspect that compliments the woody notes excellently. The basenotes are leather, leather and yet more leather backed by labdanum, oakmoss, benzoin, amber and tonka bean. Whilst Vendetta features lots of notes, they all work to form a big accord that is pretty much present from the first few minutes and until it dies out. The perfumer really went to work here to get the composition balanced. I am quite puzzled by Vendetta. It rarely gets mentioned by vintage collectors, yet it's a scent that has received mostly praise from the few who have owned it. The question is why has it been forgotten? Well, It was released in 1991, and is completely anachronistic to the period. By 1991 it was all about Cool Water, Eternity and Drakkar Noir. Fresh fragrances. Vendetta is the complete opposite. One of the darkest leathers that I've every tried. It's contemporaries are scents like Ralph Lauren's Polo, Patou Pour Homme and Cartier Santos. Deep and dark 80's scents. However, unlike most 80's scents this one is really smooth. That is what gives me the PPH association that smooth leather-y aspect. To my nose this one sits squarely between Polo and PPH in terms of smoothness. It's darker than both. Longevity is excellent - 9-10 hours with good projection. On a final note, I rarely care about packaging, but the box for this one is stunning. The burnt woods effect fits the scent perfectly, and the bottle looks stunning. Rating: 9/10

The pyramid is probably off here, and inconsistent from one platform to another, possibly due to the fact that Valentino never properly communicated an official one. To my nose, it opens with a blast of petitgrain and verbena, supported by a subtle aldehydic note. In the heart, it morphs towards a spicy myrtle (aka bay-rum) supported by florals, that will give an overall impression of cypress and reminding me of Floris 1962. The base is where the magic happens, with dance of a magnificent labdanum and olibanum duo (the olibanum is very noticeable, despite not being listed anywhere), supported by styrax and a strong presence of smoky oakmoss, as well as subtle clean musks and a hint of patchouli. At that stage, it's nearly an churchy incense-centric fragrance, sharing similarities with the drydown of ELdO Attaquer Le Soleil and Tom Daxon Resin Sacra... The performance is the only flaw here. But in view of the age of the juice (26yo according to the batch code) and the price I paid ($30/100ml on ebay), I think I hit the jackpot. I can't stop smelling my arms, and I agree with a previous reviewer, that this could have been signed by CdG or Lutens. Ahead of its time! Highly recommended to whom looks for a woody/green/incensy suede fragrance.

Oooh, I was very nervous when I first wore this publicly! I was due to spend an evening over at the girlfriends, and had applied a few squirts here and there. Half an hour later, just before I set off, I was aware this was radiating in warm waves, yet worried that it might be greeted with a "Phew...which 70's Burt Reynolds film were YOU a body double in!!!" As it happened, she took one whiff, and proclaimed "Hmm... is that the one with the dark brown bottle? I really like that one." By the way, she was talking about my YSL M7. But she had a point. The dominating aroma to me ( and to her seemingly ) was a warm incense accord, akin to the agarwood of M7, that pervades the mid to late life of Vendetta. Yes it opens with a bitter, almost sour spiced orange blast, but this fades down to the leathery incense that is the beauty of this offering. Vendetta is deeply rooted in the older school of mens cologne-ialism, but in itself distills all that was good about powerful man-fragrances back in the day, and offers a wonderful, rich, warm potion all served up in a great oil lamp syle flask. Ace.

I personally have not recently encountered greater quality other than The One, Dior Elixir, Givenchy Pi, in today’s field that is more often cheaply produced products that only provide a name. Often the quality and distinctive features lacking. People get older, metabolisms change due to age and/or medications. People need and want a quality that today’s fragrances seem less likely to manifest. While body wash may be available, scented talc is not. Scented talc propelled scent throughout the day as time worn on, and talc performed that job nonpareil and nonstop. One need neither overspray nor reapply. Talc held the fragrance in place and discreetly intact. Alas, it’s a different world 🌍 today.

Shocking! It starts as a typical Italian salad with herbs and conventional masculine aromatics but it only lasts a moment. It plunges immediately into some serious depths of labdanum and patchouli and starts developing into a dark mysterious church incense. I do not remember Italian Cypress TF but I do remember Sahara Noir TF, and to me, it is very similar. I will probably get a beating for it, but yes, this is the closest related perfume I remember. Maybe some CDG Zagorsk- not sure. I get this very specific Russian Orthodox Church note I cannot get rid of.