Montale Paris


Brand Portrait: Montale Parfums

A touch of the Orient from Paris: Montale Perfumes

The oriental fragrance delicacy oud is on everyone's lips (and in everyone`s noses) in European perfumeries these days - but that was not always the case. At the turn of the millennium, the noble essence from the resin of the Aquilaria tree was only known to some connoisseurs over here. One man can claim to have successfully promoted them in Europe: Pierre Montale. The perfumer has more than 30 years of experience in developing fragrances and composing fine fragrances for women and men.

Montale - a Parisian romance that began in Arabia

The perfume house Montale opened its doors in 2003 on Place Vendôme in Paris, but its history goes back further - and is inextricably linked with the perfume creator Pierre Montale. He previously spent years in the Arab world: Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar. There, in the sun-kissed Arabian states, which are partly characterized by fabulous luxury, he provided noble and royal gentlemen with exquisite fragrance creations.

There are not too many details known from the life of Pierre Montale as a perfumer of the Arabs' beautiful, rich and powerful. No wonder: Discretion and secrecy have always been a matter of trust, especially with such highly exclusive customers. So amusing anecdotes about the Saudi royal family can hardly be expected from his mouth.

Fortunately, however, he brings us much more valuable treasures from the sunny countries of Arabia: an opulent selection of divine fragrances, above all the fragrant gold of the Orient - Oud!

What is oud?

The word oud is derived from the Arabic term for wood. The essence comes from the bark of the rare aquilaria or agarwood tree native to mixed forests in Southeast Asia. In the event of a special fungal infestation, this wood produces a dark resin. The precious fragrance essence is obtained with the help of distillation and has been used as a perfume for thousands of years; accordingly, evidence of the "black gold" can already be found in the Bible and in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.

Depending on its grade, the comparison with gold can be taken literally: Oud of the highest quality can actually achieve prices that exceed the value of pure gold. Especially in the countries of the Gulf region, where the noble essence is particularly popular, it was traditionally often weighed in gold.

Fragrant souvenirs from the Arabian Nights

After his time as a luxury perfumer in Arabia, the native French returned to his home country shortly after the turn of the millennium and brought wonderful gifts with him: unique fragrance compositions, exquisite perfumery products for women and men - and the noble oil from the resin of the agarwood tree.

It is no coincidence that Pierre Montale is also known as the "French ambassador of oud". Agarwood essence is found in a hundred of his perfumes. In addition, the perfumer's love for the Orient is noticeable and palpable in every Montale composition.

Oriental scent magic between Place Vendôme and Champs Elysées

After his return from the Arab world, the perfumer opened a new page in the book of perfume history and presented his creations in the heart of Paris. In the first Montale boutique on Place Vendôme, located next to branches of well-known luxury brands such as Dior, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels or the legendary Hotel Ritz Paris, he presented a new perfume label with exquisite fragrance compositions: Montale Perfumes. The perfume house later moved to Rue Pierre Charron, where it opened a boutique with an exclusive showroom not far from the famous Champs Elysées in 2015.

Parisian perfumes with oriental roots

From the beginning, the oriental inspiration of the fragrant elixirs from the House of Montale was unmistakable. A scent of the Orient flows from each of the products. Fascinated by its incomparable magic, Pierre Montale creates elixirs of sublime beauty, beyond short-lived trends, in which tradition and modernity flow into one another with an almost beguiling ease.

The vanilla magician

Characteristic ingredients in the fragrances are - in addition to the iconic agarwood essence - precious raw materials such as rose and cedar oils, incense, amber and noble wood essences. The perfumer also has a special love for a true classic among delicious perfume ingredients: vanilla. More than 30 of his fragrance compositions were composed on the basis of Madagascar vanilla (Montale: "the most beautiful vanilla in the world"). Several of the fragrances even have the “Queen of Spices” in their names: including the spicy gourmand fragrance Dark Vanilla - or Vanilla Absolu, in which Montale has refined the vanilla with sweet caramel, cherry and plum notes.

Almost 150 dreams in fragrances

The olfactory fantasy of the east-western scent magician is almost limitless. The sheer number of perfumes alone is breathtaking: the website of the perfume portal Fragrantica lists almost 150 fragrances in its database for the label.

To make a selection of the best from this seems almost impossible. Nevertheless, we would like to present some remarkable fragrance compositions as examples below:

Two Thoroughbred Arabian Horses with temperament: Arabians | Arabians Tonka

Two powerful perfumes, which are dedicated to the "King of the Desert": a tribute to the beauty and temperament of the noble thoroughbred Arabian horses!

Arabians celebrates the charisma and elegance of the proud horse with a blend of lavender, leather, thyme, cardamom, patchouli, agarwood essence from Malaysia, vetiver, rose, amber and animal musk facets.

Arabians Tonka is a fiery homage to the thoroughbred Arabian Horse, in which enchanting roses, sparkling bergamot and the warmth of tonka beans meet the animal temperament of amber, musk and agarwood essence.

Delicate rose meets sensual musk: Roses Musk

She is the queen of flowers: a beautiful rose, kissed by the morning dew, in full bloom, gently caressed by a soft, pure musk note. When the aromas of rose and musk meet on the skin, something truly wonderful happens.

Totally coffee: Intense Café

A warm scent of freshly brewed coffee in the top note - accompanied by a delicate rose scent. A vanilla-like note of white musk adds a heavenly creamy sweetness to the coffee aroma, which gives the coffee an intense presence right up to the amber finish of the perfume.

Sweet dreams of the Orient: Sweet Oriental Dream

Sweet Oriental Dream: The name could be the headline of the entire life's work of Monsieur Montale. Or what else than a “sweet oriental dream” are his perfumes? In this one, he mixed the loveliest of all French roses with the delicious temptations of the Turkish-oriental dessert Lokum - and dipped a noble centifoil in honey-sweet almonds.

Sun over Capri: Soleil de Capri

This fragrant dream from the summer season is less oriental than rather wonderfully Mediterranean: with Italian citrus fruits, grapefruit and kumquat oranges, aromatic spice aromas from the Mediterranean and a magnificent bouquet of white flowers, Montale makes the sun rise over Capri.

The Montale signature

“Exquisite raw materials are the secret of wonderful perfumes” - this is a credo of the Montale Parfums brand. Thus only high-quality ingredients are found in the fragrances, which are composed with the highest possible concentration.

The Montale signature notes

But Montale would not be Montale without typical fragrance notes that recur in the luxurious creations. Two of these key components (vanilla and the agarwood essence) were already mentioned in this article. In addition, a few other preferences of the perfumer can be identified:

Rose

Montale and the queen of all flowers - this is a wonderful romance. For him, the sensual rose blossom stands as a symbol for the beauty of oriental gardens. Thus he generously uses roses from all parts of the world in his creations: from France, Bulgaria, Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia.

Patchouli

There is hardly a Montale fragrance without patchouli oil. The classic oriental plant fragrance, which is traditionally particularly popular in chypre and oriental perfumes, is obtained by steam distillation from the leaves of the patchouli plant. According to information and data from Montale, around 95 percent of all perfumes in the collection contain patchouli.

Flowers

The “floral fragrances” category is also a classic Montale subject. The number one flower in the Montale fragrance universe has always been the rose. But other flowers also find their way into the bottles. Whether jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom or ylang ylang: The perfume creator is particularly impressed by white, intoxicating flowers. Incidentally, their fragrance essences are all obtained in Grasse, the famous (secret) world capital of perfume in the south of France.

Citrus fruits

A wide selection of citrus fruits is also part of the Montale perfumer's range. They are often found in the top notes of the Montale fragrances, where they exude invigorating power, vitalising energy and tingling freshness.

Iconic metal: the aluminum flacon

The iconic flacons of the Montale collection also have a high recognition value: They are not made of glass (as is usually the case with almost all other brands in the industry), but made of aluminum. Similar to the flower essences in the Montale flacons, the inspiration for this product design comes from Grasse.

Large aluminum bottles are often used there to store precious perfume concentrates. For Montale, the extraordinary fragrance bottles embody a “combination of luxurious modernity and the preservation of traditions”.

Order the fabulous fragrances by Montale now in our online shop Essenza Nobile. Free of shipping costs for orders with a minimum value of 50 euros (shipping within Germany).