TOBACCO VANILLE

Eau de Parfum

BY TOM FORD

Tobacco Vanille was the first Private Blend fragrance I ever purchased from Tom Ford. In hindsight, I am thankful that my first experience with the line was catered by such unmitigated profusion. But seriously, had I begun with, oh I don’t know, Black Violet, I may have not been as interested in exploring the full array of Ford’s scents. Although not my favorite of the Private Blends, Tobacco Vanille is certainly up there with a few of the best, and it has certainly found its place in my fragrance catalogue.

Tobacco Vanille is described as, “A modern take on an old-world men's club. A smooth oriental, Tobacco Vanille opens immediately with opulent essences of tobacco leaf and aromatic spice notes. The heart unfolds with creamy tonka bean, tobacco flower, vanilla and cocoa, and finishes with a dry fruit accord enriched with sweet wood sap.”

One moment, Tobacco Vanille strikes me with its punch of ‘good old country living’, but in a type of blow that is quickly unsettled by a conflagration of tobacco leaves fastidiously dunked in the finest (and thickest) of vanilla syrups. In mere moments, I envision myself seated around a campfire toasting marshmallows, but in a campsite closed in by the same urban jungle that had made Tobacco Vanille such a suave and gourmand blend. Proving itself to be greatly dissimilar to countrified living once again, Tobacco Vanille has a point to make, and though this point is perhaps unremittingly dense, the point is made with great haste.

Tobacco Vanille’s two powerhouse ingredients unite to bring about a robust, authoritative, and dominant chord, sending one through a rayless and humid tobacco cellar, only to turn up in the warm and vanilla laden tract of cherries, prunes, and figs. The entire journey almost seems to be a moist one, and it is difficult to descry any smoke apart from the initial flare-up. For this reason, one may be led to believe that this is a year-round fragrance, but it quickly transforms into something tremendously synthetic when any heat is applied. Living in Southern California, I find that this scent sits on the shelf day after day. But when the weather takes a dive, I am eager to grab for this honey-colored brew. If you choose to purchase Tobacco Vanille, go for the smallest bottle offered, and still be prepared to have it a part of your fragrance collection for decades to come.

*Price: 
3.4 oz. - $260.00

8.4 oz. - $465.00