As one who does not subscribe to the Jo Malone "the solution is dilution" aesthetic, I never approach the fragrances of this house with much hope. I really do prefer perfume to cologne and I find it absurd to pay perfume prices for a tiny bottle of weak cologne that would last me maybe a week.
That said, BLACK VETYVER CAFE certainly sounds like an excellent idea to this coffee lover. What I find, however, is that this is not really very black at all--again, a result of dilution. Take a black elixir and add a ton of solvent, and it will be a pale shade of dirty gray. This fragrance does not smell dirty, but it does smell like weak coffee sweetened with sugar and seasoned with vetiver.
Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a taste for sweet vetiver (I'm also ambivalent toward Hermessence VETIVER TONKA...), so I'm afraid that BLACK VETYVER CAFE will not be the first Jo Malone to grace my collection... I would recommend this fragrance to people who think that Thierry Mugler A*MEN is way too thick and synthetic. This composition, while thin, is also natural smelling.
