Vetiver pour Homme Cologne 
Roja Dove (2019)

It's a nice traditional vetiver. Solid.

Doesn't improve enough on Guerlain or Tom Ford's offerings to merit a purchase for me.

Not my kind of scent, not even a vetiver I like but this does smell clean and soapy, ready for a work environment. Isn't that what a vetiver should smell like?

Linear throughout for me with some of the harsher aspects softening into the drydown.

I get average projection and longevity. Again, perfect for work.

Roja Parfums Vetiver pour Homme Cologne (2019) is the only entry of the expanded "parfum cologne" range that took me by surprise with its inclusion, as I had not figured Roja Dove Vetiver pour Homme (2012) as being all that popular in light of other fragrances that get more talk. However, like all the other "parfum cologne" re-orchestrations, this replaces the discontinued eau de parfum versions (the formulas of which have been condensed into pricier extrait format) to become the new baseline versions of these scents. In all cases, the sliders have been moved towards projection, dynamism, and transparency of top and heart notes, which can only be a good thing for a vetiver perfume. Fans of the original Vetiver pour Homme liked the combination of old-school and new-school vetiver treatment on display, but detractors weren't keen on the smooth blended feel and density of the original eau de parfum. Here in "parfum cologne" form, all that has been fixed.

Roja Dove Vetiver pour Homme Cologne very much still opens with the litsea cubeba/may chang (mountain pepper) note that distinguised both the pour Homme and unisex extrait treatments of vetiver previously, so you have to enjoy that to like this version too. Lemon and bergamot join in the top, but the personality of this "parfum cologne" lives in the heart, where the addition of cumin alongside jasmine hedione sit over the rose and labdanum, not the other way around as before. The vetiver is sandwiched in the smorgasbord of notes that Roja Dove calls a base but it's there. The tobacco, galbanum, and oakmoss recall the more classsic style of vetiver a la Guerlain or Carven, with leafiness and nuttiness present, while the fresher Tom Ford style marries to it with cedar, Iso E Super, and pink pepper. Wear time is "only" eight hours but projection is actually higher than the original eau de parfum format, with Vetiver pour Homme Cologne being the most office-safe in the range next to Elysium pour Homme Cologne (2017), which started this madness.

Sadly, although among one of the most pleasant and versatile of the "parfum cologne" range, Vetiver pour Homme Cologne is also the hardest sell at $300MSRP because there are so many quality options for vetiver-focused masculines more easily-had that you really just have to be in love with the brand to choose this over them. One could buy both Tom Ford Grey Vetiver (2007) in eau de parfum and Guerlain Vetiver (1961) at full retail price and attempt to layer them for a decent approximation and spend less, although you don't get the seamless plush blending that Roja Dove enjoys without springing for his take on the subject. Vetiver pour Homme Cologne also seems the most timeless of the entire line, as everything else is either banking on trend (Elysium, Creation-E), or rose-tinted glasses for older near-extinct styles (Danger, Scandal), while Vetiver pour Homme Cologne exists on its own terms as a contemporary take on a perrenial subject. Is it worth the asking price? You be the judge, but as a perfume worth owning, there's so much choice in this style that I feel indifferent about it. Neutral