rogalal's Review of Black Vetyver Café by Jo Malone London

Black Vetyver Café is such a unique smell that I can understand why it developed such a cult following, though I can also understand why it's now discontinued. Yes, there's vetiver and coffee, but there's also a condensed milk smell and the smell of fresh fennel and some cinnamon-dusted pie spices. The coffee smells more like wood than coffee, and the vetiver smells more like sweet field greens than vetiver. And all mixed together, it all combines into a weirdly original smell, a captivating but oddly awkward fusion that's simultaneously green, milky, spicy, and woody.

To be honest, I disliked Black Vetyver Café for many years, though sampling it now, I find it much more fascinating than I did before. But it reminds me of that quote (which I am butchering) from the owner of Bergdorf Goodman, describing how he decided whether to carry clothes in his store or not - "Where would a woman wear that? Where is she going?" To that end, I have no idea where someone would wear Black Vetyver Café or where they'd be going smelling like it. But it's actually possible that's a good thing...

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