Tobacco Vanille honest review

Tom Ford’s fashion philosophy is perfectly encapsulated in the bottle of Tobacco Vanille. For him, fashion mustn’t be too abstract, inaccessible, and incomprehensible. Fashion, like perfumes, must be imbued with human passions, instincts, sexuality. Perfumes must be full-blooded, pulsating, strong, and penetrating. When they show up in the room they have to let everyone know that you are present and ready to play. Just like Tom Ford sunglasses, just like Tom Ford tuxedo, and just like Tobacco Vanille. When you put them on you are telling the world: Look at me! And indeed, the world looks back.

I’ve been searching for the intoxicating smell of tobacco in perfumes since my obsession with Versace Dreamer. I wanted wet, juicy, almost fermented, well-aged tobacco, similar to good cognac, rather than the dry, spicy tobacco found in many perfumes of today. And that’s exactly what Tobacco Vanille gave me. Combined with vanilla soaked in dried fruit and cinnamon, it creates a scent that is very personal at the same time, and intended for intimate enjoyment (like Frapin 1270), but also luxurious, sophisticated, and perfect for going out and parties that last until dawn.

The first encounter with Tobacco Vanille

My first encounter with TV took place in Milan more than ten years ago, when these perfumes weren’t really detectable at every step. I shyly walked into Rinoscente and asked if I could try TF perfumes. A kind salesman referred me to the collection, and Japon Noir and Tobacco Vanille took my breath away on the first sniff. I did not buy it only because of the promise given earlier that I would not spend 250 euros on a 50 ml bottle of perfume. Later, I learned how to overcome this obstacle in my head, to the joy of perfume sellers, and the deep sorrow of my household budget.

Tobacco Vanilla is quite linear and the rule applies: What you see is what you get. It’s not the most exciting concept in the world, but it’s fair. And what you get certainly exceeds all expectations. For my nose, it is everything that perfumes with dominant vanilla and tobacco should be: warm, thick, deep, refined, and a bit mysterious, like a guy sitting alone at a table in the middle of a noisy city cafe, reading an old book and drinking mulled wine.

Does it smell like scented candles?

Many resent this perfume for smelling like scented candles. I can understand that association because many scented candles really smell like that. But TV doesn’t smell like scented candles, scented candles smell like TV. It is common practice in the perfume world that when a perfume experiences phenomenal success, as is the case with Tobacco Vanilla, companies want to take advantage of it through secondary perfumed products such as soaps, candles, shampoos, and make fragrant products similar to those who achieved astronomical success.

Tobacco Vanilla is indeed sweet, almost honey-sweet, but, unlike scented candles, it never becomes cloyingly sweet like all those celebrity perfumes with a base made of cotton candy and syrupy fruits.

If you like Tobacco Vanille, you will love…

If you like TV but are put off by the high price, Chergui by Serge Lutens would be a fine replacement. It has, dare I say, higher quality ingredients at an incomparably lower price. Chergui, like Tobacco Vanilla, is a superb harmony of tobacco, vanilla, cocoa, and honey-scented notes that linger on the skin for a couple of days. That is why, in my opinion, you should never use more than two sprays; sometimes one is more than enough.

It’s easy to hate Tobacco Vanille, but not because of what kind of perfume it is in itself, but because of the attitude people have towards it. Yes, this perfume brings compliments, but you will not get 100 times more compliments if you apply it 100 times more. The equivalent of that mindset is when someone speaks 100 times louder to sound more convincing. No, people will shy away from his voice, just the same with an excessive application of TV.

The final verdict

To summarize, Tobacco Vanille meets all the criteria of BroScience. Smell – check. Projection – check. Sillage – check. Durability – double-check. Universally likable – Head explodes. But if we ignore the laws of Dudeverse and the huge popularity that this perfume (justifiably) has in all strata of the middle-upper class, from yuppies and Henkel managers to one-hit-wonder singers, it is a truly high-end product that could be found in the collection of even those perfume lovers with hearts as rock heard as Roja Dove’s diamond ring.

POSSIBLY OF INTEREST: Find out all about warm and aphrodisiacal vanilla note HERE.

The creator of the perfume is Olivier Gillotin.

DO YOU LIKE TOBACCO VANILLE? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TOM FORD PERFUMES? PLEASE LEAVE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW. KIND REGARDS, IGOR.