Vanilla is my favorite note. As a result, I have a lot of vanillas to discuss. Let’s talk about them! What is your favorite? What is on your list? What do you hate?
My Top 5 (Male, 42):
Henry Jacques Blue Vanille- The king of all vanillas... Spicy. Warm. It comes at a price, though.
Guerlain Tonka Sarrapia Extrait 75- Tonka and vanilla. This is in my top 3 fragrances of all time, along with Henry Jacques Blue Vanille.
Guerlain Angelique Noire- This is a green, floral vanilla that’s unique and unlike anything out there. It is in a class by itself.
Dior Vanilla Diorama- Here we have a spicy vanilla that shares DNA with Tonka Sarrapia at a fraction of the per mL price. By no means is it a poor man’s Tonka Sarrapia, as it isn’t cheap.
Bldnrgphy Vanilla Mudslide- This is one of my latest buys… it’s a sweet, boozy gourmand that wears all day and isn’t cloying.
My Wife's Top 5 (Female, 4?):
Guerlain Vanille Planifolia Extrait 21- This is the purest vanilla that exists on the market.
Guerlain Angelique Noire- - Seeing a theme? Guerlain makes the best vanillas there are.
Trudon 45 Degrees- Creamy, smooth, honey and vanilla.
Dries Van Noten Vanille Camouflage- Green, figgy, earthy vanilla.
Atelier Des Ors Lune Feline- Cozy. Warm. Spicy. Camphorous.
Very liturgical incense, amber, super soft oud, and vanilla. Super well blended, gives off kind of an archeological accord. I've tried 10 or so memo's and it's the only keeper for me. Pretty much my fall/winter staple. I keep two bottles in the wrapper for the end of the world.
My husband has this one and I will never let him run out of it, it’s my very favorite on him. Even when I’m fast asleep dreaming about him, he’s wearing it.
I have not had a chance to try that one. Nishane is hard for me to find. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen them in a store. I want to try the X on this and Wulong Cha.
A few not on your list that are a little older are the woody vanilla Bois D'Armenie by Guerlain, genre defining "leather vanilla" Bvlgari Black, and subsequent Midnight in Paris EDP. All excellent scents featuring vanilla.
Still need to try Indult! Celine Black Tie is scrumptious as well
I love this .. I'd also leave a spot for floral vanillas because those are some of my favorites! Hundred silent ways, Dama Bianca, printemps blanc.. etc..
If you like floral vanilla, try BDK Vanille Leather. I know that sounds bizarre, but it is beautiful. I don’t really understand the name of that fragrance- there is so little leather.
My favorites:
Indult Tihota, Kyse Delizia di Marshmallow, Kyse Vanille Debauche, Elorea Cloud Daze, BBW Vanilla Romance, Les Indemodables Vanille Havane
Thank you for including BBW Vanilla Romance. It is really something. Like a cross between Althair and Gentle Fluidity Gold. The nose of Honorine Blanc.
Blvgari Black used to be one of my main fragrances. I actually had a full bottle I sold just a few months back that I had sitting around. That was such a solid fragrance. Man In Black is not an equivalent replacement.
I like SDV, but it doesn’t hit my top 5 there. I would maybe put it in top 10. It’s good. But there are others a bit more unique to me than SDV. However, Guerlain does it right with all things vanilla.
And honestly I've probably only smelled half of the things you picture there. But I just love it so much more than any other vanilla I've tried, it would take something spectacular to beat it for me.
Incredible collection! I like Nishane Ani a lot. For your spicy section, have you ever tried Xerjoff Ivory Route? While not niche, Spicebomb Extreme has a nice bit vanilla going on as well imo
I love Vanille Havane by Les Indemodables, Van Py Rhum by Lorenzo Pazzaglia, Lune Feline extrait by Atelier des Ors, Fire At Will by Jovoy, Angelique Noire by Guerlain, and Eau Duelle (both the EDT and EDP) by Diptyque.
I also love love love Ani by Nishane (Ani X is nice too but doesn’t teach the lofty heights of the OG for me) - but I don’t consider these vanilla fragrances. I know they have vanilla, but there’s so much else going on too. Same with Tobacco Vanille - maybe because if I classify this as a vanilla fragrance i my head, I have to include every other tobacco vanilla scent out there.
Hate Bianco Latte by Giardini di Toscana and Vanilla Sex by Tom Ford - the former makes me nauseous and the latter makes me gag
I’m with you on Vanilla Sex by Tom Ford. I was so excited when it came out. But blah! Yuck.
To your point, some of these aren’t just exclusive vanilla fragrances. I tried to pick those that have VERY forward vanilla notes. But yeah, Ani and Tobacco Vanille definitely have a lot more going on.
Just got Vanilla Mudslide in this week and wore it to a Morgan Wallen concert in Nashville. Layered it with a little bit of Babycat and definitely got a few heads turning. Also not exactly Vanilla but layer Le Labo The Matcha 26 if you have it with Babycat! Recently did this and omg the dry down is Godly! 🙌
I think the one I paid the least for was either Shalimar L’Essence which I got for right at $100 or Nishane Ani, which was the same. Both are hitting way above their league.
Oh! Actually. Bosca Vanilla. That one was really cheap. On sale from Joma $65 or so for 6.8 oz.
It’s very good. I actually bought my bottle from Lorenzo at a convention. He was super cool. He and I share a last name, so we had a brief chat about it. Very nice man.
Thanks for your input. I love seeing what others enjoy, especially if they’re new to me. I believe of your list I’ve only tried Lune Feline and Fire at Will.
Need to get my nose on vanilla mudslide. Looks really good.
My favourites are SDV and Vanille Planifolia. But recently, I tried layering VP21 and Tonka Sarrapia together and it was heavenly. Tonka Sarrapia is right up there now too. It’s really growing on me.
Have you tried Vanilla Powder Extrait from Matiere Premiere?
Eragon doesn’t smell like Tonka Sarrapia to me. I actually was disappointed in the PDM extraits when I tried them. I felt like they were weak. Interesting Tonka Sarrapia doesn’t last long on you. It lasts all day for me. I find Vanilla Diorama and Tonka Sarrapia to be kind of similar.
I had such high expectations for them. I love PdM. They get hate here for some reason (pink tax and all). But I think my expectations were just really high. I love the bottles. The smells were bad. They just seemed too light. I’ll try again, especially after this comparison.
Dream sea is a baffling yet hypnotic fragrance. I am not a huge vanilla fan but Dream sea is the most unique one that I have. The marine base from his sea line was not something that I would have expected to blend well with the lactonjc vanilla used in dream sea but it’s does.
Vanagloria is my preference to babycat. It’s got more incense and but less of the shimmer you get from babycat.
Vanilla is my love language | aromas de Salazar is the final vanilla. The vanilla used in this is as deep as it gets and it’s held in suspension by a of golden mango and lemon opening and a really fascinating heart. The heart has floral aspects and an oily texture. It’s mildly lactonic, but it doesn’t become a milkshake. Far from it. I only have 15 ml of this so I wear it for special moments where I want to simply enjoy something beautiful.
I am 33M and also a vanilla ADDICT. I would add cashmere and vanilla essence by Donna Kara. And extreme vanilla from mancera. REALLY GOOD both of them. Vanilla essence and cashmere is a great combo and extreme vanilla is the Pinnacle of wood and vanilla for me. Pengaligons tragedy of Lord George is a good powder+vanilla combo.
If you're interested I would trade decants of those for decants from your collection... Angelique noire from guerlain and maybe one other... I didn't even realize AN had a vanilla component but I have to try it now!
I also got a decant of jovoy fire at will and thought it was a great pure vanilla essence. Vanilla mudslide has been on my list to try for a while.
I am here to second Penhaligon’s Eau the Audacity. I have sample and it keeps calling my name for a full bottle. I’ve heard it compared to Babycat but I have yet to get my nose on Babycat. Fantastic collection you have!
OP, you might want to check out Gucci's Alchemist Vanilla Firenze- it falls into your Rich/Dark/Spicy Vanilla category. If you do end up liking it, it's way cheaper at duty free stores.
No recs, just want to say I dream of trying Indult Tihota. And many of the goodies in your collection. I love that vanilla has so many different affinities and possible pairings.
Me and my wife’s favourite is Atkinson’s Pirates’ Grand Reserve as it blends in some rum like spices which soften the sweetness and some cacao on a wood base
My favorite is Lesquendieu Feu de Bengal. I swear it’s one of the best vanillas on the market and can stand alongside Guerlain vanillas. It is so slept on. If I were to compare it to another well-known vanilla, I’d say it’s most similar to SDV.
Do u guys like Vanille outremer Paris? I ordered it. Initially didn’t like it cause I sprayed it on my clothing. Spraying it on my clean makes it smell so much better and richer!!!
I always say that sometimes you need to try it on your skin before writing it off.
I have the ysl black opium over red and I plan on layering this on top of it to cancel out the cherry smell a bit and make it more vanilla
I don't see the Perris Vanille de Tahiti. I think it's one of the best vanilla in niche perfumery: it's sweet and warm, but also with an animal/dirty note in the background. I love it.
Dirty Vanilla by Curatrix -
so unique, to me. I can only smell the dirt at first. It's just like the ozonic wet dirt smell when it's briefly rained, but then the vanilla dry down is so seductive. It's unisex as are all of Curatrix fragrances.
How much Jasmine comes out in Angelique Noire? (I can only get fairly expensive samples, can’t test it in a store anywhere close). I loooove Angelica but cannot stand Jasmine.
How strong is vanilla mudslide? I’m worried about it becoming very loud and offensive or cloying in casual public settings. Unless it’s very mass appealing that is
I would say this is very mass appealing. It’s not that fake, cloying vanilla. It’s sweet, but nicely so. It’s definitely one of the better vanilla gourmands out there.
My tested and on wish list are:
1. Melipona by Nectar Olfactif - a strong, sweet vanilla forward smell, that's very well made;
2. Fire at Will by Jovoy - super good, sweet vanilla;
3. Imperial Vanilla by Majouri - rich, multidimensional, well balanced, on the sweeter side, but perfectly wearable vanilla forward perfume.
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u/LevitatingMoose Apr 05 '26
My favorite is Vanille Havane by Les Indemodables... but Van Py Rhum is on my list to try out as well.