The warmer the weather gets the more vetiver I want to wear. From the earliest days of my fragrance obsession vetiver-centric perfumes have been a staple of the days of summer. I have a disproportionate amount of choice when it comes to this section of my collection. There has been every variation under the sun produced and yet I still find admiration for a new version. This is why I have been enjoying Mad et Len Vetyver Bucolique on these first days of the summer.
Vetiver
Mad et Len is a niche brand which obfuscates the creative team behind the fragrances with a bunch of PR mumbo jumbo. Secret workshop in the mountains of France overlooking Grasse where the air clears one’s mind to allow creativity to flow. That previous sentence is not actually part of the Mad et Len press copy but it easily could be. The press release tango also gets in the way of a collection which tends to keep it simple; for the better. So while I don’t know who the cabal of creatives behind Vetyver Bucolique are the perfume itself is a vetiver and hay construct.
Hay
Vetiver and hay as a combination is not new. The hay is mostly due to the use of coumarin. The perfumer will dial it up or down to achieve a desired effect. In Vetyver Bucolique the coumarin level is dialed way up. That has the tendency to make it more tobacco-like early on before softening into sweet hay. It is this transformation of the coumarin which has added Vetyver Bucolique to my summer rotation.
The vetiver being used here is the greener version where the woodiness is second to the grassier nature. There is also a subtle spiciness to the vetiver which is what I smell in the first few minutes. Then the coumarin arrives in a walloping amount. At first it is the golden, slightly honeyed, version of dried tobacco leaf. It lacks some of the depth a true tobacco accord usually presents. For the next hour or so it is vetiver and tobacco. After that time, the honey facets move forward and the green of the vetiver also becomes more prominent. Once this finishes evolving, the coumarin and the vetiver have found that midsummer balance of green hay.
Vetyver Bucolique has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
What separates Vetyver Bucolique is the metamorphosis of the coumarin overdose on a backdrop of green vetiver. It captures the smells of midsummer in a refreshing way.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Mad et Len.
–Mark Behnke
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