With the end of November here we are at the beginning of the Holiday Season and you know what that means….food and lots of it. As I write this on the evening of Thanksgiving (and Hanukkah) 2013 I, like many others, sit with a full; perhaps too full belly. Much like the character of Monsieur Creosote in Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life” the idea of one thin mint would just be one bit of gluttony too far; but I want something for dessert. Thankfully the Paris perfume house of Montale rides to the rescue of my stretched to bursting abdominals with Intense Café and Chocolate Greedy.
Montale and the enigmatic Pierre Montale have been producing some of the most fiercely extreme fragrances since 2007. Generally whatever is on the label you can expect you will get it, and in overdose, within the bottle. Depending on your tolerance for those notes really determines whether you are a fan of a particular Montale fragrance. For most of the line oud and all the myriad variations are what make up many of the fragrances. My two favorites, Blue Amber and Red Vetyver, don’t have a bit of oud but they both allow for the examination of the titular notes by giving one as much as you can handle. There are some who think that this kind of olfactory immersion therapy allows for extra insight. I’m not sure of that but I do know that sometimes I just want some of my fragrances as loud as they can get, when I’m looking for that experience I am usually reaching for a Montale.
With a name like Intense Café I have to say I was a little apprehensive about trying this I like my espresso strong but I was wondering if I would feel the same about a fragrance. Intense Café answered that query with a resounding yes, As almost all Montales are, Intense Café is a simple construction around coffee and rose. Add a pump of vanilla, a swirl of musk and sprinkle some amber on top and you have a luscious latte of coffee for your skin. What I like about Intense Café is the heightened amount allows for subtle nuances like the bitter oil, which coats a coffee bean; and the almost chocolate quality to show up without the necessity to add those notes directly. For the great duration of Intense Café’s development it was a coffee rose and it hit the spot.
Chocolate Greedy is a transformation of the darkest chocolate orange ganache cake into liquid form. It is so rich you think you must have eaten the whole thing but you don’t have a stomach ache. Chocolate Greedy doesn’t waste time as the early moments are a dusty cocoa coating a fruity berry cocktail. Foremost is a fabulous bitter orange which is as good a fragrant foil as it is as a savory one. The early going is this bitter orange and cocoa and then it gathers steam like a snowball rolling downhill as the chocolate becomes more and more prominent until like that proverbial snowy steamroller it is just rolling over everything. Chocolate Greedy ends up gleefully being on top of it all.
Both Intense Café and Chocolate Greedy have overnight longevity and sillage that just won’t quit.
I have to admit that even though I am not the biggest fan of layering I just had to do it with both of these to try and create a mocha on my skin. Learn from my experience as the collision of all that power led to a hot mess. Instead put one on each wrist and alternate between your coffee wrist and your chocolate wrist. Trust me in this Holiday Season, for which food plays such a big part, it is much, much better than “one thin mint”.
Disclsoure: This review was based on samples provided by Euro Parfums.
Thanks to Euro Parfums the US distributor of Montale we have a special draw for our US readers only. We are giving away a reader’s choice of a full 50mL bottle of either Intense Café or Chocolate Greedy. To be eligible leave a comment naming which one would be your choice and whether you live in the US. The draw will end on December 2, 2013.
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor