Marie Salamagne signs this 2026 masculine for Valentino, a woody spicy according to the house as well as Fragrantica. Peruvian ginger at the opening, a cinnamon liquor accord unique to the brand at the heart, patchouli backed by woods in the base. The name comes from a Vendetta Uomo from 1991, leathery, created by Édouard Fléchier: the house revives the name without replaying its formula. Launched as a duo with Vendetta Donna.
Vendetta Uomo rests on three raw materials, and that is a deliberate choice. Where a mass-market woody spicy would readily line up a dozen, Valentino communicates only three. Marie Salamagne, who signs the formula, says she sought masculine sensuality in the contrast and relief of materials rather than in their number.
A Peruvian ginger, captured by carbon dioxide extraction
The top belongs to a Peruvian ginger. The house calls it sparkling, with a freshness it describes as aphrodisiac, and compares its effect to that of a ginger shot, the sharp, rasping drink. Launch communications add that the extract is obtained through high-definition carbon dioxide extraction, a process that works cold and retains facets that steam distillation leaves behind.
A fashion magazine described this opening as a blend of ginger and Italian citrus. It is the only source to do so, and no communication from the house names any citrus. The pyramid on this page therefore carries none, and the mention is reported here without being retained.
An accord no one can verify
The heart is not a raw material but a proprietary blend, which Valentino names Cinnamon Liquor and describes as a spicy, gourmand warmth, deliberately addictive. An accord of this kind is by construction beyond cross-checking: it has no botanical origin or public supplier, and no one outside the house is in a position to verify its content.
Descriptions do not treat it the same way, moreover. Fragrantica splits it into two distinct notes, cinnamon and liquor, whereas the brand treats it as a single entity. This page follows the brand and carries cinnamon alone: the liquor is named only as a descriptor, and the accord itself is not a raw material.
Patchouli, the only material the perfumer has commented on
The base belongs to patchouli, and this is the only point on which Marie Salamagne has explained herself publicly. She reports having chosen an essence of great purity, whose raw character she kept to give it more depth, aiming for a fragrance that is assertive yet kept close to the skin.
The house adds that this patchouli is enhanced by woods. It names none. Sephora repeats the formula without further detail, and a magazine speaks of woody notes without specifying species. Three sources therefore agree on the presence of woods and not one says which: for lack of an identifiable material, the pyramid carries none.
One fragrance, three neighboring labels
Valentino announces a woody spicy. Fragrantica lists Woody Spicy on its product page but speaks of a gourmand woody spicy in its launch article, and Sephora classifies it as Warm and Spicy, under the Woody Spices subcategory. The three designate the same thing, save for one adjective, the gourmand quality coming from the heart accord. This page carries the woody family and the spicy facet as secondary.