Dark Vanilla

This is one of those fragrances that you want to hate. I hate the bottle. I dislike the packaging. I dislike the fact that it feels cheap and lightweight in the hand and I dislike the fact that a house of the status of Montale chose this. It looks cheap, girly and a bit tacky. I had it thrust under my nose on a sample card at LHR last night and the chap helping me was more east end drug pusher than west end fragrance advisor. I liked him, he was super friendly but had showed me a couple of fragrances I wasn't a fan of, so when he thrust this under my schnozz last night I was expecting to dislike it. On some level I think I wanted to hate it. And at first, all I got was a slightly cloying, overpowering, custardy vanilla essence. I waved the paper in the air a few times and blew on it to hasten the dry down and went back to it and it was shockingly better. The spices and leather do a lot of heavy lifting here and the sandalwood is delicious. I found myself reaching for the God-awful metal tin to apply some to the back of my hand and went back to it in about ten minutes to find it a genuinely lovely concoction that smells wonderful on my skin. The vanilla is in strong evidence throughout the top, mid and bottom but it is dark and leathery, dare I say a bit more manly? What on earth is THIS frag doing arriving in THAT cheapo monstrosity of a tin container? The dry down is still the vanilla notes but they are part hidden in the spice and woodiness of the bottom notes and the intensity of the vanilla goes away very quickly. Nonetheless, performance is respectable and it does die down gently but not die off if that makes sense. I would wear this to the office or a dinner out, but it is undeniably a later, more night-orientated fragrance and the drydown makes it suitable for a date night too. With a discount and a voucher I paid GBP80.40 for the 100ml bottle/tin and felt this was superb value for the fragrance you get, though as stated I do think the bottle is a real weak point. At the end of the day I'm not really a collector and I bought it because I will wear the fragrance not because it will look cool in a display or something. I'm not sure it is a traveling fragrance really but if it was, the metal tin bottle thing probably makes more sense. I'd recommend this one. It has a nice darkness, woody heaviness to it that makes the vanilla a lot more enjoyable to my nose. Scent - 7/10 Sillage - 8/10 Drydown - 7/10 Packaging/bottle - 4/10 Performance - 6/10 32/50.

ok, after 2 months of having this as a 21 yo, this is not for an unconfident person, you need to own this scent or it will call your bluff, it smelt like gasoline at first ,the batch code said it was made 3 months ago, i let it mature for 2 months while using it, it changed to a perfect leather, new bmw, rich, old money leather smell, in the first month, but now it smells a lot like cumin for a longtime, like its winter, and the cumin doesnt leave the skin for atleast 2 hours, you have to spray this atleast an hour before going out, max 3 sprays, and max 2 spray if you are gonna go to a closed enviroment during the day, this sillage is insane, you fill up a room, you will not go unnoticed, it depends on the skin of the wearer aswell, i like to make an impresion so i wear this every once in a while to college, made the mistake on the first time using it, went nose blind and OVERSPRAYED, regret it heavily, you will definitly smell sexy, if u find out how to spray depending on your skin, like a macho man, bruce wayne would wear this to a millionaires charity event, this scent is for someone who knows how to be themselves, you smell it and you imagine someone very tall, with a blue expensive peacoat bumping into you, and leaving you thinking, who tf is that guy, would not recommend blind buying, but if you wanna be surprised by this really unique scent, have a go at it, this is my signature fragrance specially for special events and parties, has a similar dry down to celeste by giardini di toscana, PS: and spicy at first spray give it a chance, UPDATE, 3 month maturation, perfect dark vanilla vanilla, leather note slowed down, spices super toned down, cumin gone essencially, which was my complaint now its a dark vanilla in full effect, got 3 compliments yesterday, it was a 10 people get together, super wearable now even in daytime winter and fall, 10/10 would reccomend if you like to stand out and be the man

#1276 in my "Tour de Fragrance" You can get this note combination from literally everyone, except that you cannot get it without rose except with this scent and Lataffa's "Qasaed Al Sultan" which I also love. Qasaed is much sweeter and has bergamot, so for me, this Montale has a darker and more masculine vibe. [Frankly that rose note gives most oud and leather scents an old lady vibe that I am completely done with]. Both this scent and Qasaed could be improved with some myrrh and/or olibanum, but we have Amouage "Interlude Black Iris" for that. A more powdery-musky version of this marketed for women is Narciso Rodriquez' "Ambre Musc", though I find that scent very unisex and think labeling it "for her" narrows their market needlessly. I can certainly wear it. This scent will last through the business day and projects well for most of the morning. I think it's masculine leaning but still unisex. Business or casual wear. Not summer wear. Car pool, elevator and small office safe, not because no one will notice. Everyone will notice, but without a rose note it doesn't get cloying and offensive in tight spaces. As with most oudy scents you probably want to try a decant before deciding to own this. And if you like it a little sweeter and brighter, the Qasaed Al Sultan is dirt cheap at $24, whereas this Montale goes for $70.

I had been searching a union of the vanilla & softer oud and after a long investigation I ended up blindly buying this, and oh boys, no matter how right I was! The leather may be "ashy and pungently uplifting" like Caborchard or TF, but here leather is more like suede, very smooth and comfortable. Current performances of Oud can be hard, gasoline-like, very dry or very woody. Here, Oud's interpretation is not like that. I definitely get that Cambodean oud, very smooth, like suede. With intoxicating Montale's vanilla. The opening is beautiful, uplifting and minty, the scent lasts all day, the sowing is just right, strong but non-superior, pleasant.This is beautiful in itself, but excellent for layering too. Watching reviews and videos of this, I was a little puzzled by the really divisive opinions about the masculinity / femininity of the scent... But having smelled this, I don't wonder it at all. This is a great example of a truly unisex scent; the leather here is very visible (masculine) but very soft (feminine) and then that vanilla. There is nothing offensive about this scent, yet this is very interesting. If you love sweet vanilla, but are unsure about leather scents, this may be the right choice and your new love! Personally, I am completely enchanted by this scent.

Hardcore. I’m feeling this. I’m feeling it a lot. It has a pungent opening reminiscent of red tobacco (mancera) - with a slight medicinal touch. The opening isn’t why I’m here. It’s the rest of the story...5 minutes in and you have a spicy, semi-sweet, ultra dense concoction. The more I think about it...I feel like this could be a red tobacco eau fraiche...or something. I don’t think it smells like anal glands at all - but if it does, spray that ass juice baby. I think there’s a little bit of a learning curve to this one, as it is pretty intense. If I smell closely - I do find the the vanilla. This is more of a robust - cake like vanilla - but it takes a backseat to the spice and leather. This is a daring - yet wearable - scent. If you’ve never dabbled in mancera/montale, this may not be the best starter kit. At any rate, I appreciate this one very much. I find it to be fairly unique - especially as it mellows out. I think (when it mellows), most people will find this enjoyable. Again - the opening, not so much. I definitely don’t think this is a good fit for warm days. It would make me sick. Likely not a good office scent either - as I think some people will think this smells a little too intense. Regardless - I think it’s a winner.