The best vanilla colognes are generally a bold choice. Sure, vanilla has become shorthand for can’t-fail, baseline appeal. Everyone likes vanilla, even if their individual favorite flavor is something different. Because of this, the word has now taken on new, less positive, meaning: plain, boring, safe, milquetoast.
But funny enough, vanilla is anything but safe in the perfume world: Some people loathe any fragrance with vanilla notes. (Usually the extends to anything that smells edible—a “gourmand” fragrance in the lingo.) But the best perfumers understand vanilla’s powers, and its ability to play well with hefty notes like patchouli, musk, amber, and wood. Even when they use vanilla as the pivotal note, it is delicately laced with these supporting players, so that it settles smoothly into the senses—rather than smelling like a sundae.
If you’re a fan of gourmand fragrances, or if you want to know where the real baseline is set in vanilla perfumery, have a look at out picks for the best vanilla colognes.
Best Vanilla Colognes, At a Glance:
Best Vanilla Cologne Overall: Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille
A true heavy winter pick, this is a genuine gourmand vanilla that, with cocoa, complements tobacco’s smokiness perfectly. It’s rounded by spicy ginger and sweet fruit notes, serving up dimension and richness like a top-shelf scotch.
Best Affordable Vanilla Cologne: Snif Vanilla Vice
Everything Snif makes, from laundry detergent to candles, smells good. Everything is meant to evoke a familiar aroma, whether it’s a dessert or a walk through the woods. Snif’s Vanilla Vice cologne is the sweetest of the bunch, getting about as close to having you smell like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a waffle cone (a very important distinction). It might be a bit too sweet for someone who’s more accustomed to smokey or woodsy scents, but it complements the notes of sweet vanilla sugar with an underlying hint of musk—just to keep things balanced.
Best Savory Vanilla Cologne: D.S. & Durga Deep Dark Vanilla
Vanilla doesn’t need to be all about sweets and desserts. D.S. & Durga’s Deep Dark Vanilla brings in heavier hints like patchouli, pepper, and leather in the mix that helps to accentuate vanilla’s underlying savory notes. It’s a bit like you sprayed yourself with some good rum, minus the smell of booze.
Best Crisp Vanilla Cologne: Diptyque Eau Duelle EDT
For something a little more crisp and refreshing, Diptyque’s Eau Duelle (French for “duel”) offers yet another dimension to vanilla that doesn’t necessarily play up its sweet aspects. We like this one because it has a clean cotton type of smell that’s evocative of clean laundry that you might have accidentally dripped some vanilla extract onto. This feels like a great scent to apply in the morning and have it linger throughout the day before transitioning to something darker and headier for the night.
Best Spicy Vanilla Cologne: Byredo 1996
Byredo knows that 1996 was a helluva year. The Yankees won the World Series, your vanilla cologne recommender was born, and apparently the year that Kirsten 1996—a picture by photographers Inez & Vinoodh—was captured. What that has to do with vanilla is anyone’s guess, but 1996 is completely grounded in the spice. The base of 1996 is pure vanilla, but at the top, you get a lot more spicy and dark notes like leather and juniper berries. As the scent wears throughout the day, it becomes slightly sweeter, offering a peek of what you’d expect from vanilla without being overly syrupy.
Best Luxury Vanilla Cologne: Guerlain Spiritueuse Vanille
It requires a specific palate to enjoy an old fashioned, but the smell of one has to be a universally beloved scent. That’s exactly what Guerlain’s Spiritueuse Double Vanille smells like, serving up vanilla like a double shot of whiskey. The cologne plays up the sweetness of vanilla, but hints of amber and cedar tone it down so it doesn’t smell like you drenched yourself in melted vanilla ice cream.
Best Woody Vanilla Cologne: Kilian Angels’ Share
When it comes to distilled spirits, “angels’ share” refers to the amount of liquid that evaporates during the aging process. In other words: It’s what the angels get for letting the beautiful magic of making booze happen. For Kilian’s Angels’ Share, it refers to how much this scent smells just like cognac. Vanilla is the star here, but nutty and wood notes complement it so it’s not too overpowering.
Best Vanilla Cologne for a Night Out: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir EDP
Grand Soir is about as much of a nighttime scent as it gets. Just like the soirée you’re about to attend, this scent from Maison Francis Kurkdjian hits all the right bases, from its warming baking spice aromas to the more mysterious and intoxicating amber and woodsy notes. The vanilla is more low-key here, but it’s definitely around if you open up your senses (and nostrils).
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