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Notes02/18/2021
JGatsby
11 Reviews
JGatsby
Helpful Review
2
Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. (Mozart)
As any story of true genius, the one of vanilla is I nevitably linked to love… and death.The first to cultivate vanilla were the Totonac people, who inhabit the Mazantla Valley on the Gulf Coast of Mexico in the present-day state of Veracruz. According to Totonac mythology, the tropical orchid that vanilla is derived from was born when Princess Xanat, forbidden by her father to marry a mortal, fled to the forest with her lover. The lovers were captured and beheaded. Where their blood touched the ground, the vine of the tropical orchid grew.
Just as vanilla was born out of love and blood and passion, so Tom Ford’s most outstanding masterpiece must have been born out of a thrill of profound genius. It is excruciatingly difficult for me to just objectively jot down a review of something I adore as much as this fragrance. Thus, it will be inevitable for me to pour just as much love, adoration, lust, fantasy, life, death and infinite passion into my review of a scent I consider the ultimate masterpiece of all ages in perfumery. No, I am not being hyperbolic here. Actually, describing Tobacco Vanille makes me long for the existence of a new, elven language. I’d rather die than desacralize this fragrant gift of the gods.
In spite of the name and bottle suggesting an Edwardian setting of respectable prosperity, with a couple of gentlemen playing cards in the dim light of wrought iron tripods and huge chandeliers, Tobacco Vanille is nothing close to even the shade o respectability. It is outrageously seductive, angelically satanic, and innocently profound. Just as indescribable as love, this scent evades any possibility of categorization. The only label which would perfectly suit it is “addictive”. I really wonder how come this stuff does not fall under the incidence of prohibited substance laws. Once you’ve smelled it you’ll sell your soul for a bottle. If you’re brave enough – this is a pact worth signing in blood.
In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers. I so agree on the aphrodisiac part (a sniff of this essence is a fragrant orgasm) – but forget about the curing of fever – if anything, wearing this will be the ultimate feverish sensuality you’ve ever experienced. The smootheness of the rich and creamy vanilla, the slight, alluring smokiness of English tobacco… imagine floating in a sea of silk and cashmere, enveloped by the kisses of an invisible lover. A giant fountain of sweetness, opulence, richness and liquid gold, in midst of a fragrant Oriental garden. An Aztec princess’ temple of spice and fragrant incense, with an altar of abounding flowers and offerings, the air soaked in smoking vanilla ascending towards the merciless gods. Licking powdered sugar off your lover’s fingers in Nurnberg or Frankfurt. Strolling the Christkindlmarkt in Vienna the evening before Christmas, bathing in the scent of gingerbread, candied apples and roasted vanilla almonds. Never in my life have I experienced anything as divine and overwhelming as this. It simply rips yout heart out.
As compared to Lutens’ Un Bois Vanille, which is a dark, sultry, smoky, love-at-second-sight scent, Mr. Ford’s take on vanilla is much more subtle, softer, more delicate – though its seductiveness is infinitely greater than Lutens’. Tobacco Vanille appeals to the deeply rooted childhood reminiscenses we are often completely ignorant of – and just as we are usually attracted by full lips, big eyes and velvet skin (baby attributes) – so the essence of this fragrance is an unconscious scented trip back into the childhood we might not even have had. It is flirtatious innocence it transmits, glamorous playfulness, sweet sobriety, incandescent reverie, and mind-shattering love. This perfume is love absolue.
Where the blood of Princess Xanat and her lover fell, vanilla grew. Where a drop of Tobacco Vanille falls, kashaya is born.
100 points out of 10
As any story of true genius, the one of vanilla is I nevitably linked to love… and death.The first to cultivate vanilla were the Totonac people, who inhabit the Mazantla Valley on the Gulf Coast of Mexico in the present-day state of Veracruz. According to Totonac mythology, the tropical orchid that vanilla is derived from was born when Princess Xanat, forbidden by her father to marry a mortal, fled to the forest with her lover. The lovers were captured and beheaded. Where their blood touched the ground, the vine of the tropical orchid grew.
Just as vanilla was born out of love and blood and passion, so Tom Ford’s most outstanding masterpiece must have been born out of a thrill of profound genius. It is excruciatingly difficult for me to just objectively jot down a review of something I adore as much as this fragrance. Thus, it will be inevitable for me to pour just as much love, adoration, lust, fantasy, life, death and infinite passion into my review of a scent I consider the ultimate masterpiece of all ages in perfumery. No, I am not being hyperbolic here. Actually, describing Tobacco Vanille makes me long for the existence of a new, elven language. I’d rather die than desacralize this fragrant gift of the gods.
In spite of the name and bottle suggesting an Edwardian setting of respectable prosperity, with a couple of gentlemen playing cards in the dim light of wrought iron tripods and huge chandeliers, Tobacco Vanille is nothing close to even the shade o respectability. It is outrageously seductive, angelically satanic, and innocently profound. Just as indescribable as love, this scent evades any possibility of categorization. The only label which would perfectly suit it is “addictive”. I really wonder how come this stuff does not fall under the incidence of prohibited substance laws. Once you’ve smelled it you’ll sell your soul for a bottle. If you’re brave enough – this is a pact worth signing in blood.
In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers. I so agree on the aphrodisiac part (a sniff of this essence is a fragrant orgasm) – but forget about the curing of fever – if anything, wearing this will be the ultimate feverish sensuality you’ve ever experienced. The smootheness of the rich and creamy vanilla, the slight, alluring smokiness of English tobacco… imagine floating in a sea of silk and cashmere, enveloped by the kisses of an invisible lover. A giant fountain of sweetness, opulence, richness and liquid gold, in midst of a fragrant Oriental garden. An Aztec princess’ temple of spice and fragrant incense, with an altar of abounding flowers and offerings, the air soaked in smoking vanilla ascending towards the merciless gods. Licking powdered sugar off your lover’s fingers in Nurnberg or Frankfurt. Strolling the Christkindlmarkt in Vienna the evening before Christmas, bathing in the scent of gingerbread, candied apples and roasted vanilla almonds. Never in my life have I experienced anything as divine and overwhelming as this. It simply rips yout heart out.
As compared to Lutens’ Un Bois Vanille, which is a dark, sultry, smoky, love-at-second-sight scent, Mr. Ford’s take on vanilla is much more subtle, softer, more delicate – though its seductiveness is infinitely greater than Lutens’. Tobacco Vanille appeals to the deeply rooted childhood reminiscenses we are often completely ignorant of – and just as we are usually attracted by full lips, big eyes and velvet skin (baby attributes) – so the essence of this fragrance is an unconscious scented trip back into the childhood we might not even have had. It is flirtatious innocence it transmits, glamorous playfulness, sweet sobriety, incandescent reverie, and mind-shattering love. This perfume is love absolue.
Where the blood of Princess Xanat and her lover fell, vanilla grew. Where a drop of Tobacco Vanille falls, kashaya is born.
100 points out of 10
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