Creed Vintage Tabarome

[daverasi]

Vintage Tabarome seems to come up frequently around here and at least recently has not been the subject of a thread. So why all the interest? My untrained nose doesn't care for the current formulation at all.

So what am I missing? Is it similar to anything out there that I may have tried?

BTW...I also plead ignorant to much of the reformulation regulation conversation but I don't want to hijack my own thread...

 

[tehtimmeh]

In before StylinLA and half the rest of the forum...

Just kidding. This is thought of as a holy grail in the world of scents of sorts. It's an "unattainable" luxury bearing pretty much no resemblance to the current Millesime version (which I also enjoy, but that's another thread).

It's a very rich, heavy old world tobacco scent. It gets leathery on me. Some pepper thrown in for good measure. There's nothing out there like it (that I have tried).

If you can even find it these days, it's $$$$$$$$. I bought about 50 ML a little over a year ago. I'm afraid to use it and run out, so it only sees the light of day 3-4 times a year.

IMO it is Creed's greatest creation which they claim to have been created around 1875 or some such. I won't get into the marketing.

Very much worth a sniff, but it is an old world, vintage yet stately and gentlemanly scent. They would never make anything like this today...

 

[BRuhling]

The modern Tabarome has nothing in common wth the vintage other than the word Tabarome in the name!

 

[professorchaos]

Owning a fair quantity of the vintage and having smelled the Millesime, the only thing they share are Creeds fug bottles.

 

[StylinLA]

Creed gets a lot of crap for crowing about "all natural" materials." At this point in time, many of the "natural" materials have been banned and replaced by synthetics (which are a benefit to perfumers kind of; much cheaper). I for one, tend to think Vintage Tabarome (aka Private Collection Tabarome) probably WAS made from a lot of natural materials. Not sure if I buy the 1875 stuff, but whenever it was created, it was very old, old school perfumery. That had to have been a formula from way back. No one would have created juice like that starting in the 80s I'd say.

It's the kind of scent a wet shaver can appreciate. Strong, somewhat peppery, good tobacco notes...more cigar like than pipe. Ultimate manly scent. The reality is that it is just not a scent that probably sold well for the last 10 years or more of its existence. The "average" fragrance consumer isn't going to go for something that makes that kind of statement. Having worn it a many times, it's not really that "old" smelling imo, but it has a major mature vibe for sure. But it's good enough to forgive it for that. In the time when it first hit my radar in the late 90s, it was only available to me in flacons, which is also a bit of a put off to the "average" consumer. When word leaked out it was being discontinued, everyone who knew of the scent and liked it went on a treasure hunt and snatched it up. Basenoters and dudes here probably led the charge. I think it had langusihed for a long time in many Creed retailer storerooms.

I was fortunate to get about 3oz from a guy here in BST for a not horrific price. Bear in mind when discontinued, Vintage Tabarome sold for $230-$250 or so for an 8.4oz flacon. Oh how I kick myself for passing it up back when...but when I first tried in late 90s, it just seemed to out of step with anything else I had ever used. The mature smell, along with having to invest in an atomizer put me off it (along with Creed Cuir de Russie). $230 was also a bigger sounding chunk of change for me back then than it seems now. 8.4 oz seems like quite a committment to a scent.

I love it, but don't wear it often. It's a great scent for sure. I wouldn't pay some of the outrageous prices being asked when I see it up for sale. If the opportunity arises, you might want to try it.

Sadly, I've seen the "what else smells like Vintage Tabarome" thread pop up at Basenotes periodically. I've never seen anyone come up with an answer that got any consenus. I would say that Guelrain Derby had a bit of the same strong manly perfumish vibe, but it certainly doesn't smell like VT.

 

[daverasi]

Well it sounds like I jumped on the frag bandwagon to late to experience Vintage Tabarome. I just can't see myself shelling out the money needed to experience this fragrance despite the fact that I am quite intrigued...and given your description above and the fact that this frag is incomparable so I'll have to live in ignorance...

 

[professorchaos]

Next let's talk about the Penhaligon's original LP No.9 for Men. I believe that is even more unobtainable.

 

[maxman]

Probably the best thing someone like me could do is not ever smell it.
That way I'll never know what I'm missing.
I can live with that.

 

[StylinLA]

Guys, while many of us with frag ADs certainly talk up the VT, it's not the be all, end all frag of all time. There's plenty of great juice to be had that gets discussed in here everyday.

Often when something gets discontinued, or is very hard to find, it can magnify the aura and mystique disproportionate to how good it really is. Don't get me wrong, VT is fantastic. As a frag head, it brings a certain level of satisfaction to have some and wear it from time to time. But I doubt it stops anybody in their tracks and it's sure no lady killer. I've got a lot scents I prefer to wear.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Guys, while many of us with frag ADs certainly talk up the VT, it's not the be all, end all frag of all time. There's plenty of great juice to be had that gets discussed in here everyday.

It's also very possible that Creed will bring it back in a form that at least closely resembles the vintage formulation before too much time passes. Nothing generates interest like scarcity and the folks at Creed are no fools.

 

[GreekGuy]

Next let's talk about the Penhaligon's original LP No.9 for Men. I believe that is even more unobtainable.

I've tried the current version and thoroughly enjoyed it. I take it that current production is nothing but a watered down shadow of its former self?

 

[blantyre]

VT is one of the best integrated scents around - possibly because several of the components are a quite powerful in their own right. However, the blend is complex but nothing really stands out on its own the way it does in many others. Applying VT is a significant commitment IMO. It lasts a very long time and it's very distinctive and projecting - mostly in a pleasant way. However, you will be smelling it for >12 hours unless you take a trip to the steam room at some point. I ran my stock down to about 50 ML which at the rate I use it will last me about 50 years.

I agree with StylinLA that it's not worth losing much sleep over discontinued frags because there are so many good ones about that are easy to buy. If you get a chance to try it, go for it, if not try something else.

 

[professorchaos]

I've tried the current version and thoroughly enjoyed it. I take it that current production is nothing but a watered down shadow of its former self?

I have no idea. The original was long gone before I heard of it.

 

[Isaac]

Next let's talk about the Penhaligon's original LP No.9 for Men. I believe that is even more unobtainable.

Call me crazy, but I don't really care for either and I have them both. I was lucky enough to stop in and take the last bottle of LP 9 when I was living in Manhattan. I stopped by the Madison Avenue store and picked up a 50ml bottle. I rarely wear it, and hardly ever receive compliments. I have approximately 1/4 of a Flacon left of VT. I occasionally sell it on the forums. The same thing goes for this, I just cannot bring myself to love it. With all the hype and talk, i did my best to buy it, and rarely if ever wear it. This is where it all comes down to personal tastes I suppose. Im still looking for that great tobacco scent. I have Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, but find it very sweet. Don't misinterpret that sentence, I love it, but its not that old smell I'm looking for yet.

 

[chicagotrim]

Call me crazy, but I don't really care for either and I have them both. I was lucky enough to stop in and take the last bottle of LP 9 when I was living in Manhattan. I stopped by the Madison Avenue store and picked up a 50ml bottle. I rarely wear it, and hardly ever receive compliments. I have approximately 1/4 of a Flacon left of VT. I occasionally sell it on the forums. The same thing goes for this, I just cannot bring myself to love it. With all the hype and talk, i did my best to buy it, and rarely if ever wear it. This is where it all comes down to personal tastes I suppose. Im still looking for that great tobacco scent. I have Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, but find it very sweet. Don't misinterpret that sentence, I love it, but its not that old smell I'm looking for yet.

And...This is right where Tim comes in and demands you package up the VT immediately and send it his way.

 

[tehtimmeh]

And...This is right where Tim comes in and demands you package up the VT immediately and send it his way.

I've already tried. Gave up. I still go to the mailbox every day hoping to see yours show up, but alas it has not yet arrived.....

 

[joshmpdx]

I need to smell it again, however although I very much appreciate 'sweet' frags, where VT goes wrong for me is the honey note.

 

[tehtimmeh]

I need to smell it again, however although I very much appreciate 'sweet' frags, where VT goes wrong for me is the honey note.

No need to try it again Josh, it will never work for you. Just take the lead, package yours up, and send it to me. The others shall promptly follow suit.

 

[ltjaw]

Resurrecting this thread because I had a very lucky experience this evening. I stopped by my local Neiman Marcus to pick up a bottle of Acier Aluminium they had found for me. The rep showed me a bottle of Tabarome she had discovered in the closet where they have placed some old, discontinued items. She knows I enjoy Creed’s more classic fragrances and thought I might like having a smell of this one. I don’t recall smelling Tabarome before. One whiff of this, and I knew I must have it. To clarify, this was a spray bottle, labeled “Tabarome,” not Tabarome Millesime. I have owned the Millesime version, and this was nothing like it. And the bottle was pretty much unused. Vintage Tabarome was sold only in flacons, but this was the spray bottle for customers to try the fragrance.

Of course, I asked if they would just sell the bottle to me, but they would not. So instead, I purchased one of their 50 mL atomizers, and they filled it with VT. They did not charge me for the 50 mL of fragrance.

Now I must fret about how often to wear it. I would like my scant 50 mL to last as long as possible.

 

[The Knize]

Wow, Andrew. That is an amazing story. VT is a fabulous scent. A legendary scent around here, or it used to be.