Neutral Reviews of Vétiver Extraordinaire 
Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (2002)

A woodier and drier version of Chanel's Sycomore. Sycomore comes across as more herbal and sweet, which gives it a bit more depth. VE comes off two dimensional once you hit the drydown. The opening is a nice blast of citrus, vetiver, and cedar but I think there are other fragrances that do better in the drydown. There isn't enough vetiver in the drydown to satisfy my cravings. Considering the price, I would expect it to focus on vetiver and keep it running into the drydown as long as possible. Unfortunately, vetiver feels like a middle note and it's trying to fight for attention with the cedar note during the drydown.

Performance is moderate but it could be better. Suitable for Fall and Spring. Not strong enough to cut through the cold. I'm slightly disappointed with this one.

The SA left me in no doubt about the quality (and quantity) of the raw ingredients used - proof then that high quality ingredients may be necessary for a great fragrance but are far from sufficient.

Some vetivers are spring (CDG Vetiverru) - fresh, bright green, invigorating. Some are Autumn (Encre Noire), rooty and smokey. Some are Summer (Mugler/Prada) : soapy and clean. This is unfortunately Winter: cold, grey, dreary.

Dark green and rooty, slightly mentholated. Vetiver teamed with Cedar almost reading as a bitter lime. A little cold and impersonal. Perhaps a good board-room scent.

Performance is hard to gauge as I seem relatively anosmic to it. If you want something in this genre perhaps also try TF GV EDP or TDH intense vetiver. I simply would never be excited or thrilled to wear this one.
55/100

If you like ozonic, airy scents with synthetic backbones, you like vetiver, and you want both of those qualities in one scent, Vetiver Extraordinaire is made for you. Be warned: this is not a natural-smelling vetiver, and the marketing claim of high natural vetiver oil concentation is questionable.

Personally, whatever aromachemical is responsible for that "ozone" effect doesn't work for me. It comes across as metallic, thin, a bit sour, and robotic, and frankly, I just prefer a raw, rooty, natural take on vetiver. If we're modifying the note, give me something less chilly and remote.

I don't think Vetiver Extraordinaire is a *bad* scent. It is a unique and memorable take on vetiver, and unquestionably fulfills an artistic vision. The goal here is to highlight the green and inky aspects of vetiver, and to paint that picture on a modern, angular, minimalist canvas. This is a sleek, atmospheric vetiver with more in common with Geranium Pour Monsieur than most other vetivers on the market. If that's the tone you want, to me, Geranium Pour Monsieur is the better option. But if those qualities sound good in a vetiver context, definitely check out Vetiver Extraordinaire.

Of all the important niche vetiver perfumes, Vétiver Extraordinaire is probably my least favorite.

I do love the smell of vetiver in general - the combination of grassy green, bright lemon, nutmeggy spice, inky undertones, and subtle iodine for depth makes for delicious sniffing. From what I understand, almost all vetiver perfumes use vetiveryl acetate, a derivative of vetiver oil that has all these qualities. Just to be different, Frederick Malle and Dominique Ropion decided to create their own chemical instead, derived from meticulously cleaned vetiver grass, in order to create the "purest" possible vetiver smell. And while I love their audacity and their gamechanging chemistry, I'm afraid I just don't like how it smells.

Somehow, the iodine facet is greatly exaggerated, so there's a very clear metallic twang, like licking a battery or the taste of blood. I find it kind of stomach-churning, actually. The whole thing is searingly sharp, almost surgical. For depth, there's a licorice/geramium element in there, as well as something that smells kind of like toasted bread.

I think this is probably required sniffing if you really want to KNOW vetiver, but I don't really like wearing it. In all, I can't give something this deeply thought out and interesting a full-on thumbs down, even if it makes me kind of sick, so I'll vote neutral.

Stardate 20170210:

This is a vetiver mixed with cumin, mint and woods. Maybe some other spices.
The vetiver is earthy but the spices throw it off and mint makes it a bit weird.
A little bit unconventional vetiver and not bad if it lasted but not worth more than $40 for what it is

Pass

I'm not a huge fan of vetiver, and this one sometimes smells sour and synthetic to me.

I find Vetiver Extraordinaire to be good, but nothing extraordinary. It opens up on the skin as a bright fresh fragrance; but not too fresh such as Creed or Tom Ford. The vetiver note in question is clean and bright; not smoky or earthy. The pink pepper accentuates the fresh quality with a shimmering effect; it is almost glowing. The fragrance projects moderately and dries down to a soft base of woods with hints of musk and resin.

My biggest disappointment was in the fact that this just seemed to sit on the skin and was very soft. The performance was sorely lacking. I don't know if it's the fragrance- I'm assuming it is my own skin chemistry.

I'd recommend people to try this one out, and watch out for the performance. I'm sticking with Creed and Tom Ford.

A smooth semi-floral vetiver scent with balanced notes of pepper, citrus, and woods, Vétiver Extraordinaire is undeniably a piece of high-quality craftsmanship. Nevertheless, it unfortunately fails to excite me very much. Moving from a pleasant citrus-dominated opening, it soon reaches middle and final stages primarily featuring vetiver and pepper supported by sandalwood, some musk and a discrete assortment of various resins. The over-all impression is balanced, old-school, and, frankly, quite unengaging.

According to the Malle house, Vétiver Extraordinaire contains an extremely large amount of vetiver oil, and, certainly, the vetiver comes through clearly enough, especially in the mid-stage. However and quite importantly, it is a stylized and prettified vetiver, tamed and stripped of its beautiful characteristic rooty-earthy qualities, which means that the scent – to my nose – never quite achieves the raw edge and distinctive character that one could reasonably expect from a scent purportedly sporting vast quantities of vetiver oil. The combination of vetiver, citrus, and aromatic woods places Vétiver Extraordinaire securely in the very large group of traditional-style fresh vetivers including scents like Guerlain's Vétiver, Vettiveru, Original Vetiver, Grey Vetiver and Lubin's Le Vétyver. I personally much prefer smokier and earthier interpretations of the note, and I somehow find it difficult to truly enjoy these fresh citrusy ones. However, no matter how indifferent I happen to feel about Vétiver Extraordinaire, lots of people clearly love it, and it is by no means a bad or uninteresting vetiver fragrance. It just doesn't move me.

Extraordinary. Earthy. A vetiver heavyweight. Highest proportion of vetiver essential oil.

I have no idea about the latter but, for me, this is none of the first three. It's is like no other vetiver I've smelled, and I really struggle to find any clear vetiver statement anywhere apart from fleetingly around five minutes after application. If anything, for me, it's a rather transparent skin scent which, strangely, puts me in mind of Isabelle Doyen's L'Antimatiere; admittedly a strange comparison for something which gets the sort of press VE does.

The first burst is a quite sharp but hesperidic affair towards the mandarin/bergamot/bigarade end of the citrus spectrum. The citrus is pronounced but quite colourless, if that makes sense - less an orange tinge, more a heat shimmer. This is soon replaced by pencil shavings - that cedar and charcoal edge which is the most distinctive note in the whole, fairly indistinct, evolution. This is where the vetiver sits, but it rapidly melds into an ambery skin scent which sits very close to the skin but becomes more and more the main show. Strangely I still pick up a vague hint of orange oil of some kind here.

At first I'd thought longevity was poor, but this was because I was looking for the wrong thing. Actually the amber-musk, while pretty low profile, lasts most of the day and could, if the wearer were so inclined, work as quite a distinctive "signature" - at close quarters.

For me, none of these various accords seem to me to really work together. It's interesting, intriguing even, but not something I would get attached to. However, while it doesn't suit me, I'd say to people rejecting it on first sniff, it really needs the whole course of a wearing and multiple wearing evaluate. I certainly see this differently than I did when I first tried it.

I am not a fan of Vetiver, unless it is subdued, as Mona d'Orio's Vetyver. This hides the vetiver in Lemon. A lemon and musty (NOT "musky") smell of an old cellar. Seems linear, and I haven't seen how long it lasts yet.

This is one of those cases where I'm always a little disappointed that I can't get on board with the rest of what seems to be a rather large contigent of Vetiver Extraordinaire admirers. It might be such fun to be a part of that crowd I keep thinking. The late night soirees. The laughter. Ohhh the raucous laughter. The contentment. But I can't. I'm resigned to be always looking in through the party train window my nose pressed up against the glass thinking, "Why do I have to dislike this stuff so much?" Smells kind of nice at first. Crisp. A little smoky. Something green. An almost unoffending aquatic quality. This to me is NOT some big earthy trip to Rootdom.
Not unpleasent. But as it progresses (or doesn't) it seems to lose what little smokiness it started with and leaves behind something that to me ends up smelling like nothing so much as the smell of a dental office. There's that mild rubbery smell overlaid with perfume. Like the plaster an orthodontist uses to make an impression or some adhesive. The smell of dental materials made to be more pleasent smelling with the addition of fragrance. Not unpleasent. But this is one I'm always happier with when it's gone. Kind of like leaving the dental office.

I found Vetiver Extraordinaire to be nicely balanced, but ultimately too uneventful. The opening is undoubtedly the highlight for me, with the early presence of vetiver a masterstroke. It fuses with the citric top notes to create a delightfully fresh and delicate accord. Although the light and playful characteristics are endearing in the beginning, the coyness and timidity soon become a little tedious. I waited patiently for VE to show me intrigue, depth, or indeed a little personality, but it never really delivers. This is really no more than a series of pretty cloud formations represented as works of art. By all means show the lighter and vivacious side of vetiver, but give it better accompaniment than is on offer here.

Lighter fluid at the start? Ok, yes.Acrid throughout? Ok yes.Well made? OK, yes.Better than Guerlian? No way. This one's too pretty for me.

This one is very peppery to me, and after a few hours I'm unsure whether I like the dry down or not. It is strong and the silage is good, for a vetiver this may be my least favorite.

I was really excited to smell this at first. It's such a different interpretation and the vivid first impressions stuck: leaves and needles frozen in ice, or freeze dried, or laminated. I also smell water which is quite fantastic. I don't know many vetivers yet but I'm surprise there hasn't been drawn the comparison to cdg vetiveru, both are kind of like pale washes. this one is so elusive though, you could spray the live long day and nobody would be any the wiser. discreet. private, kind of repressed!It's a beautiful scent but before that it is a fragrance that says, "oh no you don't". Which is alluring, but. . .. I don't want to be denied satisfaction. At least its titties and balls are not all hanging out like Musc Ravageur!

Funky. It takes a while for the other notes to disappear. They smell nasty to me. Someone said lighter fluid and I think that is pretty close. Then the funky bad vetiver from testosterone hell kicks in and stays.I wouldn't wear it out but sometimes a few drops at home to round off a few days of different vetivers........OOOOwwwwwww!!!! Baby!!!! Get on down!!!

VE is a very nice vetiver rendition, but I can't help but feel there isn't much to it. I mean, I don't feel VE is much different from vetiver in EO form. It's got a few twists and additions here and there, but I don't really feel like it's very complete or well done. I do, however, love Vetiver, and this is the closest you can get to Vetiver EO in a fragrance.

Vetiver Extraordinaire is one of the strangest fragrances I've yet encountered. The first minute smells like a BBQ grill that badly needs cleaning. In the beginning, it has a potent cumin note that really gets to me, but it does diminish quickly. I am also not a big fan of the bitter bigarade orange note that Frederic Malle uses in their fragrances and this one has it strong. The bitter bigarade oranges mixes with the strange musty ozone note and gives it kind of a dank, sour feel for the first few minutes. Afterwards, when the uber-strong bigarade orange and spice rack cools down a little, the vetiver shows up along with lovely fellow base notes of musk and amber. VE is sharp bigarade oranges, hot spices, smoky cedarwood, a dank, musty ozone note, grassy vetiver and a warm amber and musk base. It is very smoky and I still get teriyaki chicken cooking on the backyard grill out of this one, but I still like it a little for some reason. Maybe because it is so different and yet still okay smelling. Though kind of nice it is still slightly novelty and reminds me a lot of a less sweet version of the sickening Gobin Daude Biche dans L'Absinthe. It's kind of fun to wear out but only when you want to be extremely different.NOTES: Bergamot, Bigarade Orange, Pink Pepper, Nutmeg, Floralozone (muguet ozone),Haïtain vetyver, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Oak Moss, Myrrh, Cashmeran (synthetic spiced floral), Muske-tone (synthetic musk), Tonalide (synthetic musk)