Trussardi — Passeggiata In Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Essence
Passeggiata in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the standout hazelnut gourmand of Trussardi’s niche-positioned Le Vie di Milano (“The Streets of Milan”) collection, launched in 2020 and composed by Julie Masse. The concept is olfactory tourism: the scent evokes Milan’s grand 19th-century Galleria - the “salotto dei milanesi” (drawing room of the Milanese) - where cafe aromas of roasted hazelnut, coffee, and cinnamon mingle with the white-floral perfumes of elegant patrons heading to La Scala. It is widely regarded as one of the best realistic-hazelnut gourmands on the market, and the most acclaimed entry in the collection - a creamy, nutty, not-too-sweet gourmand with a surprising tuberose-jasmine floral spine. Identity is confirmed via,, and the WWD/ launch coverage.
Scent Profile
Thecatalogs’s gourmand-floral structure is accurate and very well corroborated by a large wearers. The opening is the headline: a strikingly realistic roasted hazelnut with coffee and a dusting of cinnamon - reviewers repeatedly stress it’s roasted/nutty rather than “Nutella,” with the sweetness restrained (“not cloyingly sweet,” “a hazelnut coffee frappe… thankfully not too much sugar”). Some read a chocolate/cocoa or “Tootsie Roll” facet by association, though there’s no actual chocolate note. The heart is where it earns the “floral” half of its family: tuberose absolute and jasmine sambac bloom up against the nuts, with coconut adding a soft, creamy roundness - several wearers find the white florals “ultra-feminine” and the key thing keeping it from being a flat dessert. The base is a creamy vanilla, white musk, and cedar; the cedar gives several wearers a “bread bakery”/“Cheerios”-like cereal nuance in the drydown. The signature accord is roasted hazelnut-coffee over creamy white florals and vanilla. Development is modest - many report it stays close to “hazelnut and creamy coffee from start to finish,” with the florals and coconut weaving through - so it’s relatively linear but rich. A minority find the realistic dry-nut/coffee effect “nauseating” or “spoiled milk” on their skin, indicating some chemistry sensitivity.
Performance
wearers signal is fairly strong and positive. Most reviewers report good longevity and moderate-to-strong sillage: aggregate scores both longevity and sillage favorably, withcomments like “very potent and long-lasting, it’ll fill your nostrils all day long” and reports of going temporarily nose-blind then being noticed “even far away.” one reviewer measured “8 hours on me with moderate projection.” The main dissent comes from hot/humid conditions and oily skin: onewearer sweated it off skin in ~2 hours on a hot outdoor job but still got ~6 hours on clothing. So the practical read: above-average performance in cool weather, somewhat reduced in heat; projects enough to be a “compliment-radius” gourmand without being obnoxious. It performs notably better than its designer-house origins might suggest, which reviewers attribute to the collection’s niche-quality positioning.
Wearing Context
Documented and wearers-supported: this is primarily a cool-weather, fall/winter gourmand - “fits like a glove on the nights around Christmas,” “Christmas markets, caramel crêpes and gluhwein,” “warm, comforting and old money type of a scent.” That said, a meaningful minority champion it in summer, citing the coconut and the non-cloying nuttiness (“a great summer perfume”), so it’s more flexible than a typical heavy gourmand. It’s fully unisex - repeatedly described as wearable by men and women alike, with couples noting they share it. Best for cozy, social, cafe-and-dinner settings and casual-to-smart-casual contexts; the realism makes it food-adjacent, so a few warn it can read as literally “smelling like food” or attract “aggressive wasps” outdoors in late summer. Not an obvious choice for formal or fresh-clean occasions.
Comparisons & DNA
The fragrance’s calling card is doing realistic hazelnut better than most, so comparisons tend to be about what it isn’t: reviewers insistently distinguish it from a sweet Nutella/chocolate gourmand. Within Trussardi’s own collection, the most direct relative is Hidden Corner of Fontana dei Baci (2023, also Le Vie di Milano), whose nuttiness reviewers call “absolutely the same as in Passeggiata,” but which adds black pepper, vetiver, and smoky resins for a drier, darker, less sweet effect (and which others compare - contentiously - to Maison Margiela By the Fireplace). For broad DNA, reviewers reach for Maison Margiela By the Fireplace (the cozy-nutty-sweet axis) and one likens it to “classic Juicy Couture with a hazelnut latte.” There is no widely cited cheap “dupe”; its appeal rests on the quality and realism of the hazelnut accord, which mass-market gourmands rarely match. A reasonable adjacent reference for nut-gourmand shoppers is the praline/hazelnut work in other niche lines (e.g., Trussardi’s own Champaca Edizione Millesimata uses a hazelnut-praline accord), but those aren’t the same scent.
Reception
Reception is strongly positive and Passeggiata is consistently named the best or among the best of Le Vie di Milano ( wearers score sits around qualitatively across hundreds of ratings). Praise: the “remarkable,” “most authentic hazelnut smell,” masterful blending, classy non-gourmand-messy execution, and luxurious presentation (“best in class… nutty, creamy, but not overtly sweet”). The white florals balancing the nuts draw specific admiration. Criticisms cluster on (1) value - multiple reviewers find it “a bit steep” / “affordability qualitatively” / “leaning mediocre… considering its price and fancy presentation”; (2) the realism itself - a subset find the dry roasted-nut/coffee effect off-putting or “too sweet”; and (3) some find it simple/linear (“monotonous and intrusive” to one ex-owner who sold their bottle). Blind-buy verdict: reasonably safe for confirmed hazelnut/gourmand lovers - several reviewers explicitly blind-bought and were thrilled - but sample first if you’re sensitive to sweetness or to hyper-realistic food notes, since a minority get a sour/“spoiled milk” turn.
Versions & Reformulation
Single composition, no known reformulations. It is one of the original six unisex fragrances of the 2020 Le Vie di Milano launch (alongside Limitless Shopping Via della Spiga, Behind the Curtain Piazza alla Scala, Aperitivo Milanese Porta Nuova, Vicoli Via Fiori Chiari, and the Musc Noir enhancer); the collection later expanded with international, Middle East, and Far East sub-lines and a limited “Edizione Millesimata.” Passeggiata itself is sold as a 100ml EDP and has not been reformulated. (Catalog notes match all whitelisted sources; classifies it variously as oriental-floral/amber-floral, while thecatalogs’s gourmand-floral framing aligns with “gourmand-sweet.”)
Acquisition Notes
Le Vie di Milano is priced as “niche without being a niche line”: WWD reports it as “Retailing at 165 euros for the single, 100-ml. format,” available “in Trussardi stores as well as a selection of perfumeries worldwide,” with Angelini Beauty CEO Lluís Pla comparing the scents “to niche fragrances without this being a niche line.” The standard and essentially only size is 100ml EDP in the heavy colored-glass bottle topped by the gold-tone Trussardi greyhound-head cap (a collection signature). It is marketed under license by Angelini Beauty / AB Parfums. Availability has been intermittent - multiple buyers describe hunting for it and finally finding stock at discounters (FragranceNet, etc.) - so it’s sometimes scarce at retail but not officially discontinued. Decants and samples are widely available (The Perfumed Court, ScentBee, and others), the recommended route given the price and the realism that doesn’t suit everyone. No specific counterfeit or batch-decoding guidance is documented; buy from authorized perfumeries, Trussardi Parfums directly, or reputable discounters.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The whole collection is a deliberate “olfactory love letter to Milan” (WWD’s phrase), conceived by Angelini Beauty as “Angelini Beauty’s contribution to the relaunch of the city” - perfumers were commissioned to draw “an olfactory map” of Milanese landmarks and lifestyle.
- Passeggiata’s specific muse is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the iron-and-glass arcade built in 1865 that connects the Duomo to La Scala and serves as the city’s “salotto.” Julie Masse’s stated intent was to translate the cafe-and-evening-dress atmosphere of that arcade - “the aromas of coffee bars and tea rooms blend with the expensive perfumes of ladies in evening dresses and men in tuxedos.” A nice piece of trivia surfaced in the collection’s launch copy: the Galleria was “faithfully reproduced 15 years later at the behest of the Tsar in the GUM department store on Red Square in Moscow.” The bottle’s greyhound cap references Trussardi’s historic logo (the brand began as a 1911 glovemaker).
- The fragrance’s main “viral” identity online is the endless wearers debate over whether it does or doesn’t smell like Nutella - the consensus landing on “no: roasted hazelnut, not chocolate-hazelnut spread.”