$160
The Scoop
Smooth and sweet, silky and enveloping, Vanille Absolu is everything you could ever desire in an upscale vanilla: swirly folds of boozy vanilla are set off and enhanced by soft woods and a touch of cinnamon and clove. It's more like the pure distilled essence of a true vanilla bean pod than the wafer cookie vanillas that have flooded the market in the last few years, but make no mistake: this beauty flaunts its sweet depths with wild abandon and really doesn't care who's looking. A refined vanilla without being snooty, we can think of several perfumes that trumpet “vanilla” in their name then try to bury the note under a pile of florals or other notes in an effort to be “classy.” Montale got it right – there's a reason so many of us love the smell of vanilla, and Vanille Absolu is it. It's one of the best pure, elegant vanillas on the market. Period.
