The Legend Continues

The Montblanc trademark was inspired by Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak, the name symbolising the height of quality. And since inception Montblanc has been committed to superb quality and craftsmanship, led by its now-famous luxurious writing instruments, the Meisterstück, launched in 1924 and the 1949 Montblanc fountain pen. Over the years the brand has added watches, fine leather goods and fragrances to its portfolio.

It was followed in 2016 by Legend Spirit, dressed in white this time – a balance of florals and woods. Notes of bergamot, pink pepper and grapefruit lead to lavender and cardamom, white musks, cashmere wood and an oak moss accord. Fresh but intense, it’s a fragrance that can be worn as easily in a boardroom as in a jazz bar.

Now the famous Montblanc Legend returns in a distinctive olfactory statement, in a lacquered finish flacon covered in Montblanc’s signature red – the same shade that characterised the 1906 Rouge et Noir fountain pen. Legend Red was created by perfumers Anne Flipo and Nicolas Beaulieu who have managed to capture a mesmerising complexity. Top notes include juicy blood orange, zesty grapefruit and spicy cardamom, while clary sage, cedarwood and juniper berry make up the heart and the sensual base comes from mahogany, Atlas cedarwood and tonka bean. It is as the brand describes, “an olfactory experience that evokes the thrill of speed and makes the heart beat a little faster!”

While this is undoubtedly marketed as a masculine scent (British model Simon Clark has continues his decade-long reign as the face of Montblanc Legend, reinforcing the timelessness of Legend), I have a feeling many women who prefer a charismatic woody perfume, will gravitate towards this fragrance too.