Vétiver Nocturne Autumn ‘19
Bortnikoff (2019)

There is an apparent laundry list of impressive ingredients to Vetiver Nocturne Autumn '19, but honestly most of the notes are either too well-blended to standout, or used in such small amounts as to be near-undetectable to this writer. As such, I will skip the usual more objective note and development section of the review and instead just get to what *is* smelled and my opinion of it. Projection is average, as is longevity at 8-10 hours on skin.

When first applied on skin, the vetiver immediately comes to the fore with a sharp, piercing concrete-like green/woody quality that is super-hardcore and will scare away all but the most ardent vetiver lovers (as this writer confesses to without shame). What comes next was wholly unexpected (as I sampled the composition blind without looking at the note pyramid and never sampled the original release), as some real Oud, perhaps Thailand based, emerges in support of the hardcore vetiver. The combination is something one doesn't smell often, or in my case, ever. It quite frankly doesn't work, at least not here. The Oud used does not come off as barnyard, but has an off-putting animalic element that just doesn't quite meld properly with the piercingly sharp vetiver. At this point the composition would have been viewed as a failure, but luckily the late dry-down partially salvages the overall result. This is accomplished as the Oud vacates, leaving the sharp vetiver to now pair with softening dry real sandalwood through the finish, proving a far superior combination that is rather pleasant smelling. The bottom line is the $330 per 50ml Vetiver Nocturne Autumn '19 gets points for innovation, quality ingredients and daring, but just doesn't smell particularly good earning it an "average" 2.5 stars out of 5 rating and an avoid recommendation to all but those who *really* want to smell an odd Oud and vetiver pairing for themselves.