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.

This is a wonderful fragrance! While introduced in '91, this scent that has some roots in the 80s: rich, spicy, and mossy. While I very much like several frags across categories, my leaning is toward classic, masculine barbershop, fougère, clean, green, herbal, mossy scents (Bogart by Bogart (Signature), R de Capucci, Basile Uomo, Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, Azzaro, Quorum, etc.). If you like any of these, I think you'll like Vendetta Uomo. Ancillaries: strong performance, prices are pretty good, bottle is unique, and the sprayer is nifty and works well.

Primo juice. The blast of labdanum, benzoin, and cinnamon in the opening was unexpected but drew me in like few scents do. The leather surfaces shortly after the opening as the resins and balsams weave in and out of the foreground, giving the suggestion of smoldering, sexy incense. This is truly mesmerizing and for a fragrance that was released in 1991, I am shocked by how timeless it is. It really is reminiscent of something that would be released by CDG or Serge Lutens. It's surprising that it is so under the radar.

A high-quality resinous leather fragrance of the kind designers just don't make anymore. The juicy bergamot plus the geranium and oakmoss give this very much a fougère structure which I could identify right away. This is one of those complex men's fragrances from the 80s and early 90s that have mostly gone out of fashion, but are such treasures when you find them if you have more retro tastes. This is very masculine, and oh-so dashing.

They just don't make em like this anymore.......!!!........A GEM. Finally got a bottle of this gem. Although not a "powerhouse"....it still performs decently on my skin. What a great great scent. Mossy...herbal...woodsy....green....citrus...light smooth patchouli/leather vibes. Soft and smooth.......A+ IMO Need a back-up bottle for sure!! I also got a 6.8 oz shower gel.....sealed NIB. Bravo !!! Valentino.

World class spices with a hint of juicy lemon which all develops into a blend of utter pleasure and sophistication. Cinnamon, leather, moss....matched only by a very few. Yet its more than just a heavy hitter, because at its dry down it develops into a unique, classy aroma.

This is really lovely stuff. I have an old bottle don ́t know if reformulated afterwards. Most similar I know of would be vintage Dunhill. 9/10 Slightly similar also to vintage Gucci pour homme.

Oriental Gold, 5/5. Really a PowerHouse Masterpiece, Vendetta makes me always HAPPY.

Distinct aromatic mix of resins and balsams, mossy woodland greenery and almost perfectly blended spices. A little of everything in here. Has the charm of a barbershop fougere with a little more depth. A refined, masculine gem from the house.

This has a lot of similarities with Tom Ford, Italian Cypress and Roja Apex. I think it smells great. However, this is not a mass appealing fragrance. Try before you buy.

A good acquaintance let me have a few sprays from his bottle. I was told that It was quite like Italian cypress from Tom Ford, but what a disappointment, This is seriously one of the few most foul smelling frags I have ever come across. I literally said: 'Yuk, WTF is this stench?' only a few seconds after application. As we sat in the car discussing frags the scent worked vigorously on my skin a gross and dirty experience indeed. Like meting a hobo in the stairway that has pissed himself and hasn't showered for several days. Not fit for human usage.. Overall Rating 1/10

I got a miniature a year ago, at first application I was totally disappointed and somewhat sickened. I'm not kidding, maybe it's a bad batch/bottle but it smelled to me like the acrid smokey smell of recently heated solder. Solder, the soft metal that easily melds components in electrical equipment. I'm actually afraid to try it again and risk getting that headache inducing smell into my nose. Sorry, I would not recommend this.

This was my 1st and worst experience with Valentino, 1992 at the beginning you can smell the Geranium and the Amber but as its developed it become too Tonka & Vetiver, the fragrance is too bold too heavy ended up by giving me a headache, not for average age or young men, only for winter maybe for those who like the strong Vetiver / Amber scents, ( My personal opinion, This is a failure, and I don't recommend it for any one)

I became acquainted with Vendetta in the distant fall of '93. Cool Water had already flooded the market and CK One was around the corner, so, needless to say, I did not have the nose nor the right context to appreciate it. I recently rediscovered Vendetta again, and like many beautiful creations of the time (Zino, Versus, etc) I have been been able to give the juice its proper respect. This stuff is niche nowadays. You r greeted first by aldehydes, mint and a very subtle jasmine. And then, the magic happens. The combination of leather, labdanum and oak moss creates one bitter, but absolutely beautiful juice. You truly experience the potency of fhe labdanum/oakmoss union, in a way that is truly unthinkable nowadays. The juice smells borderline incensey. A point of reference is AG Sables, but they r by no means similar. It is fresh in a way that is not understood now, it's potent but discreet at the same time, it is simply a beautiful juice that I am happy I rediscovered. Smell great my friends.

I agree with those who view this as a smoother version of Z-14, at least once you get to the drydown. This is also lighter than I thought it would be, which is fine in this case (and may be preferable). A wood note provides an incense-like quality (along with some other notes involved, obviously). It's not too musky and it's just got a touch of sweetness. Overall, it's a complex scent that is of the period (in particular, the lavender, oakmoss, and geranium). What you get here is a gentler presentation of that kind of scent, without anything lost in the process, so if that's what you want, try to sample this one at least.

This is all about citrus basil on an oakmoss and vetiver base! It has coriander, geranium, lemon, cedar, and settles a bit on soap and hintly aquatic mint. Patchouli, & cedar appears after about 10 minutes in and i begun to sniff some smoke or incense maybe and i believe it's from the cedar and labdanum. It begins awful like a plastic bag and go through soapy aquatic mint, then settles on a smokey and kind of leathery essence! i am surprised how this one settled and resulted in that leather smoke! never thought that it would turn into something quite interesting!

This is about as close to the original Halston Z-14 as your ever going to find! A rare find, it's so juicy, tantalizing Cypress and jammy, oh man! It starts out musky, funky and then the Cypress, spices and blackberry essence jam with the cinnamon and oakmoss come through. There's a champagne type effervescents that comes to the the top in all of this. If you can't afford Tom Ford Italian Cypress, then this is it!!! A real gem. Buy it, you won't regret it.

This is like Tom Ford Oud Wood's sexy older brother. He's quiet with dark soulful eyes you could swim in. When you get close to him, his skin smells like warm cinnamon. You want to reach out and touch him, you can't stop thinking about him. His lips are moving but you can't make out the words because you are too under the spell of this cinnamon and leather emanating from his being. He is like the incense of a church that exists only in your loins.

Great fragrance, sold my bottle due to the fact it is very close to TF Italian Cypress which I have a flacon of. If you do not have TF Italian Cypress this one is worth picking up. Also similar to Z-14 and Roja Apex. Citrus opening following by resinous and wood/pine coniferous scent. A little smoke in the dry down.

Vendetta pour Homme is yet another Eduard Flechier marvel. An astonishing, early take on a resinous, labdanum - benzoin driven spice leather. Simply brilliant. For anyone who is into Ambre Sultan, Comme des Garçons' first release or the other Flechier masterpiece, Montana Parfum d'Homme, this is a top timeless gem !

speziata, intensa, orientale e una notevole imposizione delle note ambrate. una fragranza complessa e completa, . non e comparabile con nessun altra essenza, unica come solo la maison Valentino sa fare

@Glyph This isn't a fougere. It's closer to a leather chypre, alla Z14 (Which should be classified like that) or Hermes Bel Ami.

A superior and perfect Z14 with frankincense that comes out when colder, beautiful! 9.5/10

Its close to vintage z14..90% Less musk and cinnamon more resin