Artic Palace by Montagne

Today I review Arctic Palace, a play on words that is descriptive of its inspired expression, Winter Palace, by the French niche house Memo Paris. The OG, released on 2019, was concocted by Alienor Massenet , same nose behind Replica Jazz Club, Emporio Armani Night and many Memo Fragrances…. suffice to say, the DNA and the history is there.

The Opening

Arctic Palace (AP) opens with a strong citrus, it does not have an Italian vibe though, for me it’s the citrus you would expect from a great mixed drink or great appetizer, a different take on orange, perhaps more orange peel to me, darker orange if you must, oily, earthy. I get grapefruit as well and it’s intoxicating… because that grapefruit never truly dominates. At the back of it all, there’s a beautiful medicinal wood that sits with a tea scent, there’s so many things you get from sniffing this and every time I sniff during the opening one of the notes comes sharper, the scream and then retract. Note: I thought this fragrance would be challenging for people that aren’t as involved with fragrances and I tried with at least 10 different individuals (at a party), they all liked it but none of them could describe it to me, many of them mentioned oranges while 1 person described a tea note, however, they all loved it the more they tried it. I was wrong, this is a crowd pleaser.

Mid

You beautiful beast. After 5 minutes on your skin, the slight sweetness of the opening all but disappears and the grapefruit now plays together with a resinous note, a little bit of bergamot as well, I would say the mid is a “fruity amber”… but please, don’t think of fruity as sweet, just as “coming from a fruit”.  The amber on the mid is marvelous, no other word to describe it. The mid, in this case, lasts for about 1-1.5 hours for me, it’s amazing.

DryDown

I’ll be honest, I wish the Mid was the dry down, it’s so potent! Arctic Palace moves into musk and resin for the drydown and those stay with you for a very long time (10+ hours), for me, the dry-down is unique enough because of the tea note that seems to have great duration and what I can only describe as a Yerba Maté note as well, it’s very slight mind you, but I can detect it, it gives the drydown a earthy tea note, it’s very complementary.

Compared to the Original

The openings, as it tends to be the case with inspired expressions, are not the same, the OG is more rounded in the opening, less citrus explosion and more bergamot/ambery opening to my nose, the tea note is prominent faster on the OG for me as well. On drydown, it’d be hard to tell them apart unless you constantly sniff looking for a difference, for example, I think the OG has a more detectable vanilla…but again…only when you really look for it.

Who should wear this?

I think this is perfectly unisex and something I’d wear with a t-shirt and shorts, or, with a slim fit white linen suit… which is my way of saying, it’s fresh …but it has character.

Conclusion

The world is in love with fresh fragrances, we see them everywhere, but, they all tend to blend together after a while, all the “acqua” based scents have created a boring world for those looking to stand-out, the Italian inspired citrus scents are never as sharp as you want them to be, I thought that was the way it is. Enter Arctic Palace, I now have a fresh fragrance that stands out and claims a place on my collection…and it stands there by itself, by it’s own virtue. My dear reader, I’d advise 2 things though: First, let it sit after you order it from Montagne, perhaps give it 2 weeks once you spray it a couple of times, you will notice such a difference on the fragrance! (My written notes from first sniff and the notes now are fairly different!) ..and Second thing, this might not be love at first sniff for you, it might seem “ordinary” but I assure you, wear it a few times, let the scent round up on your skin and I think you’ll be in for a surprise, catch sniffs of it during the day and realize how the notes become sharper for you with time, note how they complement you, let the fragrance do it’s thing while you sit back and enjoy the ride. I think this is a solid 7.5/10 and one Montagne needs to be proud of.

As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.


X.


Artic Palace

Mystic Oud by Montagne

Mystic Out is an inspired expression of Oud for Greatness, a 2018 composition from Initio Parfums
Prives. As part of my review, I wanted to see when Initio Parfums started (as a company), the scent is so well composed that I was sure it was an established house…I was wrong (and surprised), Initio started on 2015 and in that short time it has cemented it’s way into the niche perfumery world, Oud for Greatness is a force to be reckoned with but it’s price makes it un-attainable to many folks, enter Montagne and their expression called Mystic Oud.

OPENING

Saffron medley with Oud, at first sniff, the dirtiness of Oud comes through, that medicinal strain appears if only for a second and quickly gets put into place by the saffron, it’s something to marvel really, your brain is prepared for the Oud to get darker and stronger but instead it’s like it gets punched into submission by the saffron and a little bit of the nutmeg.  The top notes include Lavender, I can’t pick it apart by itself but I know something on the notes keeps it cleaner than just saffron and nutmeg so I attribute the Lavender to that. The opening is complex for the first few seconds and then becomes more linear, but, linear is not a bad thing… linear for me means that it keeps its head and doesn’t change constantly on you, allows you to appreciate it better. The Oud is still there, I can feel it, however, it’s a wearable Oud.. I need to pause here: What is wearable Oud? Well, Oud is very polarizing, for those of us that didn’t grow up with burning Oud at our houses find Oud to be a little too strong, specially the first few times you smell it, Oud after all comes from a sickness that the tree gets and the tree’s defense system creates what we know as Oud, therefore, it’s strong, it’s pungent and medicinal and most new-comers to the fragrance game call it “too strong to wear”, I believe Montagne has created that wearable Oud, something that even the un-initiated on Oud can appreciate and perhaps be that stepping stone for them to get into real Oud. My conclusion on the Opening? If you like Saffron and Oud, this is not to be missed, heck…if you like Saffron and Wood, this is not to be missed. I find the opening to remain for at least 5 minutes before the Mid kicks in.

MID

Hey Patchouli! That’s my first thought. Oud remains on the background and saffron starts mellowing out, I can’t feel the nutmeg anymore but ironically, can feel the lavender now as the patchouli kicks in as well. The mid for me is sweeter than the opening although that’s a hard word to use because sweet is not how I would describe this fragrance, however, if it ever feels sweet… it’s only at the mid.

I love barbershop/fougere scents…heck, I adore them, and this …during the mid only, it’s like a grown up barbershop scent, it’s very strange, like a hipster version of a lavender scent, like Jameson aged in Stout barrels, replacing the softer woods on those fougeres we know by a strong pungent wood, it’s very strange and fascinating. It’s something you want to keep smelling, it draws you in. I went through many of my bottles trying to see if the mid of a different fragrance beats this one, I tried Bois du Portugal by Creed, Plum Japonais by TF, Oud Wood by TF, A-Men by Mugler (my signature scent), Bottled Oud by Boss, Essence #4 Oud by Elie Saab, Versace Oud Noir… none of them touch this on the mid. I love how the Patchouli feels so different from the others but its still recognizable.

DRYDOWN

Off with the saffron, nutmeg and the lavender. Enter musk. Patchouli and Oud continue to be present and the Oud never goes medicinal, never goes pungent or too “earthy”, however, it does remain “oudy” if that’s a word. The drydown is all about that Oud and the patchouli,  which creates this soft note on top of the Oud and it remains like that, its a strong fragrance that has a softer lingering note on top, simply called…it’s amazing. I’m not an expert on types of musks but on this case, I believe it was used to keep the Oud from going too medicinal and it works. This remains a wearable Oud, perfect for colder weather, perfect for date night, perfect for wearing a suit-no-tie with a clean shave. I assure you, once you wear this, you won’t resist the temptation to continue to catch sniffs of it during the day, it’s fascinating.

PERFORMANCE

Projection is around 1 feet for the first 30 minutes or so, after, people would need to be closer to you to detect it. Longevity is 22+ hours on my (hydrated) skin, I’ve yet to wear it and have it disappear w/o showering. Scent Bubble (the one YOU feel), is strong, I feel this fragrance on my for at least 15 hours before I have to look for it on my skin. I love wearing this.

THE BOTTLE AND THE SPRAYER

A new section on my reviews will include comments on the bottle itself and the sprayer. Montagne’s bottles are all the same so if you’ve tried one, you’ve tried them all. They have good weight to them and remind you of the bottles used by Le Labo, a single white label with black letters on front display the name of the fragrance and a customized note (if you choose to customize it). The bottle is nothing special but the minimalist approach can be a winner for your collection.


Let’s talk about the most ignored thing on frag reviews, the sprayer, I have a mental ruling with sprayers that go like this: Dior and Creeds are the ones I used to measure all sprayers, Dior has that regulated sprayer and Creed has that wide spray, both are the best of the best I’ve tried. Montagne’s is not great but its not horrible either (I’m looking at you Mugler), so, where Mugler is 0 and Creed is 10, Montagne is probably a 3.5 to 4. Would I pay way more for Montagne to have a better sprayer? I wouldn’t, but that’s me, the one it has works just fine.

COMPARED TO THE OG

The OG has a great opening with more saffron, it’s almost reminiscent of BR540 for me, a great opening without a doubt. The Montagne is less saffron heavy and the Oud comes into play sooner, in simple words, it goes stronger faster.  Although the dry downs are not exactly alike, it’s tougher to note as time progresses, 1 hour in, you’d be hard pressed to either tell them apart…or….pick a favorite. Now, I’m not saying “don’t buy the original”, the original is a great fragrance with amazing performance, its a work of art both from the fragrance itself down to the bottle, I’m saying, if you need this scent profile in your life, the Montagne version will bring it for a lot less money, if however, you need that beautiful bottle and the original scent untouched….only the OG would do. Me? I can see myself getting the original eventually and reserving it for special occasions …but wearing the heck out of Mystic Oud!

CONCLUSION

Oud is polarizing. If this is your first Oud fragrance, Mystic Oud will start your journey into Oud in the best possible way and I envy you! If you are looking for a sophisticated and complex scent to add to your arsenal, this needs to be on your short list. Is it Unisex? Totally. The opening is beautiful with the Saffron and the nutmeg and the drydown is not only long lasting with the Oud, it’s potent and complex with the Patchouli and the Musk, it has a presence that will stay and complement you all day. This, for me, requires a certain confidence to pull off as you are not wearing a necessarily crowd-pleasing-scent but you are wearing a fantastic scent, make no mistake. Is this blind buy worthy? If you already have some strong fragrances on your collection (or are into those), I would say yes, you will like it, if you prefer airy non-wood-heavy scents, I would get a sample before committing. Mystic Oud is a solid 8/10.



What do you think of this fragrance? Let me know on the comments below!





X.


Get Mystic Oud here: https://www.montagneparfums.com/fragrance/mysticoud
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