I agree with most of the headings of existing reviews here: this is a lovely vanilla - luxurious, grown-up vanilla, not too heavy - but redundant at least in my collection as well.
Especially in the opening it smells like a more sophisticated version of real, true vanilla, powdery and sweet, a little boozy/fruity, as intoxicating as any good vanilla scent. It's pretty smoky at this point, a kind of caramel aspect which makes it more interesting. But in some rare cases, from the wrong angle, this smokiness unfortunately translates to faintly "barbecue flavor-like" on my skin/to my nose - a lot less than this kind of combination usually does, though, which confirms the impression of really high quality. Most of the time it smells wonderful to me.
What makes it redundant isn't that, but indeed the high price - not that it's too high, I've paid more for a really good realistic vanilla (Tihota), and if I'd discovered this one when my collection was smaller I think it would have gone straight to my wish list (at least for a decant). But the very lack of heaviness that helps make it so mature and luxurious is also its weakest point for me- when I'm in the mood for vanilla, which is usually in the winter, I want to be enveloped by a comforting cloud of it, and that's just not the case with this one. Even with more (expensive) sprays than I'm used to, I'm barely aware of it throughout the day except when I purposely sniff myself (undoing any impression of elegance, incidentally). It does last all day, close to the skin, but I'd like it to be a bit more powerful.
