Montale
Montale
274 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The plum crashes in immediately—thick, jammy, almost fermented in its intensity, like breaking open a tin of preserved fruit that's been sitting in a cupboard for years. Geranium's peppery-rose character appears within moments, its aromatic sharpness cutting through the syrup like a blade through treacle, creating an oddly compelling tension between sweet and green-metallic.
As the composition settles, the patchouli emerges from beneath the fruit, bringing its characteristic earthy mustiness—think damp bark and decomposing leaves rather than head-shop incense. The geranium persists, now more floral than minty, its rosy aspects mingling with the wood notes that begin their slow ascent, whilst the plum retreats to a supporting role, still present but less domineering.
The base reveals Montale's skill with musks and woods: the teakwood provides a dry, almost austere backbone whilst white musk lends a soft, skin-like warmth. Ambergris whispers its saline, slightly animalic presence in the background, and traces of patchouli linger like the memory of a forest walk, all whilst a ghost of that opening plum haunts the periphery, never quite disappearing entirely.
Dark Purple bottles Montale's signature approach to fruity orientals: bold, unapologetic, and radiating synthetic plum at full volume. This isn't the delicate drupe of a hedgerow in autumn—it's the syrupy, almost medicinal intensity of concentrated plum skin macerated in sugar, rendered in that unmistakable Montale manner where naturalism takes a back seat to sheer olfactory impact. The geranium arrives as both accomplice and counterweight, its minty-rose facets slicing through the fruit's cloying sweetness whilst the patchouli—earthy, slightly musty—grounds what could otherwise spiral into purple candy territory. There's a peculiar alchemy here between the teakwood's dry, splinter-sharp quality and the ambergris, which brings a subtle marine salinity that prevents the composition from collapsing into one-dimensional sweetness.
This is a fragrance for those who've made peace with the fact that Montale's aesthetic thrives on volume rather than whispered nuance. It suits the wearer who appreciates fruity scents but rejects the clean, watery interpretations favoured by mass market releases—someone who wants their plum served with a side of patchouli's damp forest floor and geranium's metallic bite. Dark Purple works in cooler months when its density feels appropriate rather than suffocating, worn by the sort of person who treats fragrance as armour rather than accessory. The synthetic accord listed at 52% isn't a flaw but a feature: this is modern perfumery that embraces its lab-created backbone without pretence.
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