Vetiver Just There

As a lover of scents, I always say that no fine lover of perfume should be without Guerlain Vetiver: it is the master of all vetiver scents, and s the yardstick that is measured against all others. But even though I love it, it isn't my favorite vetiver of all time (that would be MPG Rue de Vetiver) I tend to like my vetivers on the raw and dirty kind, with some soil and dirt mixed in with it. In 2009, Tom Ford launched Grey Vetiver, and it became a best seller for him. And even though I liked it (and I generally like the Tom Ford house, scent-wise) I never owned it until recently, when I chanced upon a seller selling testers dirt cheap. I had liked it fine when I first sampled it, but never enough to crave a bottle. I have been wearing it all week, and still feel the same. It is a polished, well-rounded, well-blended fragrance. The vetiver is a nice, clean, crisp one. There is a citrus forefront that puts it forward, then it turns sweet (tonka bean?) and has an ambery/oakmoss-y base. It's fine, and I think that may be its biggest fine. I like it, but not in love with it. I could do without it, but feel it's a great addition to my vetiver collection. It's that kind of effortless choice on mornings you can't be bothered to think about what to wear. I used to wear suits and neckties to work, and I kind of think this would have been a perfect choice for that kind of get-up. A lot of people say this is a more modern take on Guerlain Vetiver, and yes, I guess I would agree. It does smell like a "modern classic," which means teh citrus is appealingly synthetic and it's certainly longer lasting, and the sillage is "safe" enough to wear to the workplace. It's the kind of fragrance I wear, and I am happy wearing, but I don't fine myself trying to sniff my arm throughout the day. It's just there, and that's where it is.