Maybe its just my area then (Salisbury/Southampton) where V. tinus is getting totally dessicated. I'm a landscape professional, I don't like spraying herbicides as they are indiscriminate. I wouldn't plant a V. tinus hedge in an urban environment, where a lack of predators (Bluetits, wasps, hornets etc.) and warmer ambient temperatures let the beetle move to the top of the food chain. I do have a couple of 10 year old shrubs at my home, I've noticed in the last couple of years a few bit marks from beetles but as its a rural location, I think the amount of predatory insects and birds etc are much more in abundance to keep it their numbers in check. I'd keep it for myself, and plant it at the back of borders, but I just won't be planting it specifically as a hedge for other people.

Regarding the smell it comes from the dead leaves hanging on the branches, and then only some of them it seems. This would explain why infested plants probably reek more. I had a theory that an insignificant smell V. tinus secreted attracted tomcats and foxes etc to mark their territory, but some of the dead leaves are out of reach so some theory!