"Vintage" Tabaróme (1875)
by Creed

Musty tobacco. Tobacco that's burly, even intimidating. Very heavy and off-putting if you don't know what to expect! Like Yatagan or Kouros, you need to know what you're sniffing before passing judgment. My judgment is this: old, musty and a little over the top. I'm afraid I do not like this. Perhaps I'm too immature or perhaps my nose just smells something completely different. I can appreciate the following of this scent. Manys positives here and elsewhere. The scent, on me, doesn't work. On the card, it smells fine and even from a distance it's good. Not on me.

This is one of the top 3 Creeds ever produced, along with Bois du Portugal and Acier Aluminium! I am undecided however on whether VT or Bois du Portugal takes first place, but perhaps they both can. Owning Vintage Tabarome is like owning a piece of history! It was originally commissioned for King George IV in 1875, not by Sir Winston Churchill (since he was an infant in 1875, though he did wear this later in his life). But the reason that this is a historical fragrance is that it is very much of its time; indeed, no company would dare to make a fragrance like VT in this modern day mass-market era of cheap, synthetic designer fragrances. Its potency and power lie in the simplicity of its composition and individual notes: green tea and pepper on top, with a heart of tobacco leaves over a base of ambergris. Today, fragrances pride themselves on having at least 10 (if not more) distinctive and individual notes, but one can barely detect any individual notes through all the synthetic chemical fireworks occurring. In Vintage Tabarome, one can clearly detect each of the four notes, bonding cohesively and effortlessly to create a warm and extremely masculine aura that truly and totally envelops the wearer. Tabarome offers a truly sublime experience each time I wear it. It is a very mature, older, elitist smell, so it certainly will not be to everyone's taste. As a young gentleman in my early 20s, I am sure some would say that I am too young to pull this off, but I care not. I wear fragrances above all for myself, which I believe is the golden rule; too often I hear other young people talk about bathing in their cologne in the hopes of 'scoring', with no independent thought going on in their heads. I am proud to be young and nonetheless able to appreciate such a mature and robust and elegant creation, and to wear it with the respect and integrity that this masterpiece deserves.

Originally commissioned for King George IV, and a favorite of Churchill and Bogart, Tabarome certainly has an impressive list of past patrons. Ignoring all that star hype and power, I can easily say that Tabarome is one of the most finely crafted fragrances I have experienced, with near perfect longevity and sillage.

Tabarome contains notes of tobacco leaves, green tea, pepper, and ambergris. It smells quite unusual for a tobacco fragrance in that it is quite fresh. Upon initial application, it exudes an uplifting and pleasant aura. It must be the green tea with some mint or lavender. A few seconds later, an exquisite tobacco note joins in. The tobacco is never heavy or overbearing, and never mutes the other notes. Instead, it flows alongside the pleasantly uplifting top notes to make this an extremely wearable and classy tobacco fragrance. Infact, this might even appeal to people who dont like tobacco - Creed has managed to to transform a (usually) powerful heady note into a note which works from all angles. The end result is a masterpiece which exudes power, grace and class.

Comparisons to "New" Tabarome: New Tabarome contains a prominent combo of ginger and tobacco. Compared to the Vintage formula, New Tabarome, while good, smells more brash and less crisp. If you want your tobacco well mixed and uplifting, Vintage is for you. For a dominant tobacco note (with some equally heady ginger filtered through a flacon of citrus and ambergris), "New" might be the way to go.

Rating: 9.5/10

This is not one for the young-uns. The smell is something like an old leather chair pulled out of an exclusive club, soaked with years of cigar smoke, and freshened occasionally with some sort of leather polishing cleaner. It is a tad dated smelling, and yet somehow still works, especially if you are going to be smoking cigars. Really, it's one of Creed's best. Give it some time to grow on you though.

Austere, classy, romantic, mature, knowledge.. all these words, and more, come to mind when wearing this. At first, the fragrance smells odd.. but as it changes, it becomes sweeter, less cloying, more like tobacco, with a bit of green tea and honey. Hands-down this is THE fragrance on which I get the most compliments. It's quite amazing something so old can still work in modern times. It's an amazing lemony, tobbaco, honey fragrance that reeks "gentleman has entered the room.." It's amazing, easily in my Top 3. I love this far more than the new version of Tabarome (call it what you will). Again, many many compliments on this fragrance.. even had a woman leave a restaurant lobby to come outside and ask me, "Pardon, may I ask what you are wearing????" Only to be worn with a formal attire, for the most special of occassions. I wish I could wear this all the time, but it's quite formal.. it's also just downright ENJOYABLE. I love this stuff.

Not a tobacco lover? Steer clear then, my friend, steer clear.

This is some masculine, tobacco-laden, commanding juice here, and far better than its modern Millesime namesake -- far better.

Definitely a try-before-you-buy kind of frag, though. I can't see but maybe one in ten liking this frag, especially in this age of aquatic hermaphrodites on the frag market.