Red Vetiver, from Montale was released in 2008. The perfumer behind this creation is Pierre Montale. The notes are Cedarwood, Grapefruit, Patchouli, Pepper, Peru Balsam, Vetiver.
Okay so I'm pretty seasoned in Montale fragrances now...I've tried a lot of them. Red Vetyver is one of the stragglers after working my way through various Aouds. Yes...I thought to myself...how much can this smell like Terre d'Hermes? Well... ALOT! is the answer. The opening is that gorgeous juicy orange tempered with dry earthy vetiver the spice of pepper and cleanness of cedar. It's a stunning fragrance done very well and it's the age old question..."who did it first?" or more ominously..."Who copied who?" (I don't believe in intentional copying in most cases BTW) well I think this was out in 2008 and Terre was 2006 if I remember correctly? But more importantly is there anything which sets this apart from TdH and the answer could well be starring me in the face. Recently I tried Terre d'Hermes EDP for the first time and pitted it against the faithful EDT. The main difference was that I prefered the 'ever so' slightly boozier, heavier and more fruity quality of the EDP in smell. However performance wise the EDT beat it hands down and the fragrance never changed from beginning to end, just straight delivers. I'd say positively Red Vetyver possesses the great qualities of both! The opening is exploding with orange fruit like the EDP, the bitterness of the EDT is there but it has the transitional drydown from the EDP. That drydown incidentally is really nice and long as I've come to expect from Montale. So Is it worth trading this for Terre d'Hermes? No. That's no offense to this fragrance but even if it lasts longer that has never been an issue for me. How about Montale make a copycat of D&G's the One that lasts 12 hours...then they'd have a winner on their hands!
Okay so I'm pretty seasoned in Montale fragrances now...I've tried a lot of them. Red Vetyver is one of the stragglers after working my way through various Aouds. Yes...I thought to myself...how much can this smell like Terre d'Hermes? Well... ALOT! is the answer. The opening is that gorgeous juicy orange tempered with dry earthy vetiver the spice of pepper and cleanness of cedar. It's a stunning fragrance done very well and it's the age old question..."who did it first?" or more ominously..."Who copied who?" (I don't believe in intentional copying in most cases BTW) well I think this was out in 2008 and Terre was 2006 if I remember correctly? But more importantly is there anything which sets this apart from TdH and the answer could well be starring me in the face. Recently I tried Terre d'Hermes EDP for the first time and pitted it against the faithful EDT. The main difference was that I prefered the 'ever so' slightly boozier, heavier and more fruity quality of the EDP in smell. However performance wise the EDT beat it hands down and the fragrance never changed from beginning to end, just straight delivers. I'd say positively Red Vetyver possesses the great qualities of both! The opening is exploding with orange fruit like the EDP, the bitterness of the EDT is there but it has the transitional drydown from the EDP. That drydown incidentally is really nice and long as I've come to expect from Montale. So Is it worth trading this for Terre d'Hermes? No. That's no offense to this fragrance but even if it lasts longer that has never been an issue for me. How about Montale make a copycat of D&G's the One that lasts 12 hours...then they'd have a winner on their hands!