Comme des Garçons — Comme Des Garcons Series 4 Cologne : Vettiveru
Essence
Vettiveru is the standout of Comme des Garcons’ 2002 Series 4: Cologne trio, alongside Anbar and Citrico, a project that took the deliberately old-fashioned eau de cologne genre and rebuilt it around a single, near-raw vetiver. It is a bright-but-rooty vetiver cologne, citrus and neroli up top, a peppery-spicy middle, and a green, slightly smoky and inky vetiver-cedar heart, presented as if the perfumer received the essential oil and decided minimal fine-tuning was needed. It is widely regarded as a reference-grade, exceptional-value vetiver, sold historically in oversized splash bottles meant to be applied with abandon.
Scent Profile
It opens brisk and sunny, with bergamot and neroli and a faint peppery lift, a classic cologne sparkle. The vetiver arrives quickly and dominates, described consistently as dry, green, grassy, and natural, pitched right between brightness and smokiness, with a rooty, slightly nutty facet and a refreshing grapefruit-zest tang. White pepper, cardamom, and a whisper of clove give it a smooth spicy edge, while cedar keeps the whole thing crisp and dry rather than sweet. Jasmine and other soft white florals stay barely there, mostly serving to round the vetiver. The drydown turns earthier and peppery, slightly inky even, with a clean musk underneath. It is fairly linear and transparent, a true cologne structure with no heavy base. The most consistent framing is of a very peppery, fresh green vetiver whose drydown is earthier and less clean than Guerlain Vetiver. A dissenting minority finds the cedar mutes the vetiver into a bland middle range, and a few read it as thin or synthetic with a slightly sour late drydown.
Performance
Performance is the central debate. As a true eau de cologne it is by design low in projection and close-wearing, with one widely-echoed early report insisting it sits essentially on the skin, reframing the experience as the magnetic appeal of closeness. Longevity, however, is surprisingly favorable for the concentration: many wearers report faint wafts at seven hours, one even citing around ten hours with unusually strong sillage, while others find it burns off after a couple of hours of true vetiver before offering intermittent wafts. The lasting power tends to be better than expected even as the sillage stays minimal. The practical approach is to splash on generously and often, treating it as a personal, refreshing skin-cologne rather than a projector, and it is at its best in heat.
Wearing Context
This is a hot-weather workhorse, recommended for the hottest summer days when a strong perfume is out of the question. It reads as a daytime, casual, office and warm-evening scent, clean, classy, understated, and easy to wear. It is genuinely unisex, with the neroli and soft florals keeping it from reading aggressively masculine, and several women describe wearing it comfortably. It is ideal as a post-shower splash, for the gym or park, the summer office, or any time you want a refreshing vetiver without a footprint.
Comparisons & DNA
Vettiveru sits squarely in the vetiver canon. Lalique Encre Noire is its most cited cousin for the dry, dirty, rooty quality, though Vettiveru reads brighter while Encre Noire is cheaper and longer-lasting for a similar effect. Guerlain Vetiver, especially the vintage cologne, is the classic reference it modernizes, with one critic calling it the modern version of those pillars of masculine class. Wearers also draw lines to Terre d’Hermes, which is less sparkly, and to L’Artisan Timbuktu, which is less straightforward, for the earthy-smoky facet. Within CdG itself the vetiver accord recurs in CdG 2 Man. The later Vettiveru 2 is a very close sibling, a touch more rubbery and vegetal-green, with the original reading fresher and more conventionally vetiver-like.
Reception
Reception is strong and durable, with a clear fault line. It is broadly treated as one of the best-value vetivers, praised as a reference vetiver and a swiss-army vetiver, with frequent admiration for its price-per-ml, and it was singled out as the standout of the Series 4 trio. The criticisms are consistent: some wanted more projection; a contingent finds the vetiver thin, synthetic, or under-fine-tuned, only a shadow of vetiver oil, with a weak late drydown; and a few expected something more avant-garde from CdG and found it conventional. The verdict is well-supported for vetiver lovers who understand they are buying a true cologne rather than a powerhouse.
Versions & Reformulation
The Series 4 trio of Anbar, Citrico, and Vettiveru launched together in 2002, attributed to Mark Buxton, CdG’s foundational perfumer whose work with the house began in 1994. A later variant, Series 4 Cologne: Vettiveru 2, exists and is treated as Buxton’s last CdG work; the two are very similar, differing subtly in the vetiver’s rubbery-versus-green balance and saturation. Historically the line was sold in 125 ml and very large 500 ml splash bottles, and the brand later passed through marketing by Puig.
Acquisition Notes
Vettiveru is historically excellent value, with a 500 ml splash long cited at an unusually low price-per-ml that underpins much of its best pound-for-pound vetiver reputation. It was famously hard to find for a period before specialist niche retailers and CdG Parfums made it more reliably available. Counterfeiting is not a notable concern for this title. Buyers should note the splash rather than spray format on the large bottles, while some boutiques offered an atomizer option on the 125 ml.
Notable Facts & Lore
- CdG, a house known for the unconventional, deliberately tackled perfumery’s most conventional genre, the simple citrus eau de cologne, and Vettiveru is the entry widely seen as justifying the exercise.
- The name transliterates the Asian word for vetiver.
- Part of a three-scent Series 4: Cologne set with Anbar and Citrico, all launched in 2002.
- The utilitarian packaging, oversized splash bottles in fluted cardboard sleeves, reinforces the splash-with-abandon intent.
- A close sibling, Vettiveru 2, is regarded as Mark Buxton’s last work for the house.
- Several wearers wish CdG would reissue it in a stronger eau de toilette or eau de parfum concentration.