Sycomore Eau de Toilette 
Chanel (2008)

Opens up with soft floral-aldehyde touch which in fact stays longer than I previously thought, moves back to background though.

This is pretty linear on me. After that floral beginning it changes into vetiver, maybe with a hint of pepper and a pinch of tobacco pipe.

However - yes - I do think it's classy. It's a black tuxedo fragrance. Although linear, it is more complex than Lalique's Encre Noire. Both are good, however to me Encre Noire is more like a mainstream (but not a stereotypical everyday!) fragrance.

Longevity is 6-10 hours. Sillage is medium to good.

Chanel Sycomore EDT vs Dior Vetiver:

Chanel opens up with a cloud of aldehydes which actually quite fast fades away. It dries down to woody, quite smoky and earthy vetiver with a lot of dark nuances and a hint of incense in the background.

Dior opens up with a sparkling, effervescent and fizzy load of citruses with a detectable green vetiver. While it dries down it gets woody and the citruses fades away. It is nowhere as smoky as the Chanel is.

If you prefer darker vetiver, choose Chanel. If you prefer green vetiver, go for Dior.

Around 2-3 years ago I was lucky to get a bottle, partially used, of Sycomore's EDT original formula from September 2008 (I guess, the code is 0601), so that basically means it is one of the first releases of this perfume - not only initial year, but also initial month after its release. I've had few mililiters from this particular bottle already, so my review below is up to date.

However, I wanted to compare it with another fragrance so here it is.

Chanel Sycomore EDT vs Lalique Encre Noire a L'Extreme EDP:

Chanel is more sharp and woody, definitely a lot more on the rough side of vetiver. Despite the aldehydic opening I would rather compare it with Encre Noire EDT with tobacco added.

Lalique is softer, also more smoky hence it's got insence in it. It also lasts longer on my skin.

My final vetiver rating incl. price/quality ratio and my preferences:

1. Dior Vetiver
2. Lalique Encre Noire a l'Extreme
3. ex aequo Lalique Encre Noire EDT and Chanel Sycomore EDT
4. Chanel Sycomore EDP

Chanel Sycomore EDP is still a good scent, but my least prefer option out of these.

A lovely vetiver with some real "oomph" behind in from the woods. While technically "masculine", I have not problems wearing this as a woman. I like it a lot, and happily finished my decant. However, I like it only in the fall/winter, as it is too heavy the rest of the year, and I don't need 100mL of this. If it came in 15/25/30, I'd repurchase.

No need to write too much here. The Guide has it as a "smoky vetiver"; it could easily have been "reference vetiver". It does that clever thing of being smooth and smoky at the same time, both edgy and natural. Brilliant and "essential", in the ways that a £300 bottle of perfume can be.

The quintessential vetiver/cypress/tobacco scent. With a sparkly opening and semi-sweet drydown. Nothing much more to say, as this has already been established as a reference-level vetiver scent, which I agree with.

Ah, Sycomore. I bought myself a bottle of this elixir (EdT) around 2012, and now I find myself carefully rationing the stash. Delicious; this scent is a gift to the nose. The first whiff is of cigarette smoke. Not wood smoke; mellow cigarette smoke. This recedes within the first 15 minutes, and vetiver puts a foot forward. Then vetiver mingled with cypress notes lasts for a heavenly 3-4 hours, and slowly melts into a sandalwood hum interspersed with the faintest spikes of pepper. When wearing this, every so often a movement releases a puff of scent and I am delighted with it, and myself for wearing it. For me, it is happiness in a bottle. It is smooth, heady, and elegant. I find its sillage to be considerable, and longevity runs about 7 hours before I feel the need to re-spritz. This is a tie for my "desert island scent", and for those concerned with such things, this is one of my "most compliment getters". I tried Encre Noir because of the comparisons here on BN and although I enjoyed Lalique's offering, Sycomore has an effortless polish to it that Encre Noir never achieves. Simply love it.

This is Paris in the winter.
This is fragrance perfection.
I own and am cherishing the last few drops of my large EDT bottle. Much more subtle as an EDT (from 2008) than the newer EDP.