Vetiver is one of the most versatile ingredients in perfumery. Depending on the source and/or the isolation method you can find any combination of effects. It has caused an increase in the kinds of perfume which contain it as a keynote. Perfumers tend to choose a characteristic or two while using it as the spine upon which to build a more complex structure. Vetiver is also a great choice as a soliflore ingredient. Anything which can have so many faces begs to be used as a single ingredient. This is the path independent perfumer Bruno Fazzolari follows with Vetiverissimo.
Bruno Fazzolari
I am calling this Bruno Fazzolari Vetiverissimo but there was another name on my sample “Fzotic by Bruno Fazzolari”. I don’t know if this is an overall brand change or whether Mr. Fazzolari is creating a different collection with a different name. Vetiverissimo is in keeping with his recent release, Unsettled, where he took another multi-faceted ingredient in sandalwood exploring its expansiveness. Unsettled was one of the few misses for me from Mr. Fazzolari because the other ingredients chosen clashed with the sandalwood in a demolition derby leaving a wreck behind. Vetiverissimo is like a makeover artist finding the hidden beauty underneath the rough exterior.
The vetiver used here has two very distinct impressions, the green grassy part and the earthy woody part. These are common to the Haitian and Bourbon versions of vetiver. I’m not sure if there is a sole source of vetiver being used by Mr. Fazzolari but my impression is that it might be a mixture of one of the fractions combined with one of the French-accented vetivers.
My reasoning for that is because the green part of the early stages has an edgier feel than either of the samples of vetiver I have. I was reminded of the sharp green edges of sawgrass in the Everglades instead of the dried brown aromatic strands of harvested vetiver. It is a transitory effect but one I found worth chasing by re-spraying to enjoy it again. Mr. Fazzolari uses some spices from the stronger side of the cabinet. It’s not named but there is a dusting of something like saffron dulling those sharper edges while also re-centering the wearer’s perspective towards the woody side of the coin. For this part of Vetiverissimo Mr. Fazzolari used cedar and sandalwood to frame the vetiver. It, at first, brings out the woodiness before the earthiness pushes back a bit in the later stages.
Vetiverissimo has 6-8 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
Vetiverissimo is a full-spectrum study of all that vetiver can bring to a perfume. It does what all soliflores should do enhancement through examination.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
