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Black Musk Montale 2010

6.8 / 10 127 Ratings

A perfume by Montale for women and men, released in 2010. The scent is leathery-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Leathery

Spicy

Woody

Animal

Smoky

Fragrance Notes

Leather

Musk

Sandalwood

Ambergris

Patchouli

Black pepper Nutmeg

Nutmeg

Teakwood

Ratings

Scent

6.8127 Ratings

Longevity

8.5109 Ratings

Sillage

7.899 Ratings

Bottle

6.8104 Ratings

Value for money

7.141 Ratings

Submitted by Olinehexchen, last update on 05/08/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Caldo Orientale

Black Aoud

Acamar

Nouveau Monde

Back to Musk

Oud Wood Eau de Parfum

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/15/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Helpful Review 2

starched patchouli

I know that this fragrance is viewed as that result of crossing two other Montale scents, but I see it as an exercise in abstraction. A sharp, whistling musk, like the one in Thierry Mugler's Cologne is the perfect match to a woody quality that makes for a sort of leather scent-mirage. The wood seems like patchouli plus oud, inflected with something in the mace/nutmeg/cardamom range.

Black Musk's cleverness is in creating a tarry quality with patchouli, spice and just a taste of oud, then dry-cleaning it with a prickly musk that someone along the way surely told the perfumer was the wrong musk. No pillowy soft or bosomed musk. The result is a cool, inky leather scent that focuses more on the sharp nature of tanning chemicals than that of the hide itself.

I'll take this chance to own up to a bit of fumie apostasy. I don't particularly like oud, and since it’s usually the overwhelming center of perfumes that contain it, most oud perfumes don’t capture me. Likely this quirk has saved me a pile of money on niche perfumery and the laughingly late-to-the party top-shelf lines from the designer/perfume houses. This implicitly self-defeating strategy of the perfume houses launching ‘exclusive’ lines in order to appear ‘niche-y’ has produced an inordinate number of oud fragrances. (To witness niche, copying designer, copying niche, please see the Kilian Ouds.) Very few use oud as a minor part of an accord, one where you might not even recognize oud, such as Black Musk’s delicious vinyl/leather accord. Shame, yeah?

03/11/2013

7Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Miaw2
339 Reviews

Miaw2

1

Black Aoud cousin... or not?

Musky and musty... not sweet and neither powerful as other Montales.

I smell lots of nutmeg with some woods and leather.

This can be used all seasons. Remembers more Musk to Musk than Black Aoud.

Its similarities with Black Aoud ceases in the first 30 minutes.

Updated January 2014

08/18/2012

7Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

Lola82
361 Reviews

Lola82

1

Prince of Darkness

Black musk has a thousand guises,
Viscous,glutinous,adhesive,viscid,dark,black,opaque,death-like,mysterious,
esoteric,heavy,authoritarian,autocratic,dictatorial,imperious,decadence,
villains.

There is nothing Sparkly about Black Musk, when you wear this
it's like your entering the Edge of darkness where light hasn't
penetrate not even the bright hues of amber and fiery Sandalwood
note stand on there own,they sink in this Black Abyss.
I Can Picture Vilians like Le Chiffre from Casino Royal, Jaffar from Thief of Baghdad and Lestat from Queen of the Dead,

Black Musk is not for everyone it's only for a select few who appreciate the Fine art of fragrance not your
typical day at a office kind of Scent.

03/04/2011

8Scent 7.5Longevity

Apicius
1328 Reviews

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Apicius

Top Review 14

Something New Again!

If perfumers were allowed to create freely, without the constraints of sales - we would probably only have strange perfumes: fantastic scents, testaments to the greatness of their creators, and likely all of them unbearable!

One person might not join in - Pierre Montale. He has a very special passion - Arabic perfumery. I notice that among Arabs, there is hardly any cult of genius. The names of the perfumers remain largely unknown, and traditional Arabic perfumes sometimes seem to be of extraordinary simplicity. Often, it’s really just about a popular fragrance note - Oud - which is available in various nuances and qualities. Besides Oud or agarwood, there are floral notes, especially rose, sometimes saffron as a spice, then amber, sandalwood, and finally - musk!

Pierre Montale also operates within this manageable framework with many of his Arabic-inspired perfumes. However, the extensive range of the Montale brand is divided into 3 lines:

- Western perfumes of different directions, completely without Arabic influences (Boisé Vanillé, Fougère Marine, Red Vetyver, ...),
- Traditional Arab perfumes, mostly centered around the classic rose/Oud combination (Black Aoud, Steam Aoud, Aoud Flowers...) or other traditional focuses (Amber & Spices, Greyland),
- Perfumes that combine the classic Arabic art of perfumery with Western, often contemporary fragrance directions and trends (Wild Aoud, Oud Cuir d'Arabie, Louban, Aoud Forest...)

Whenever Montale releases another perfume oriented towards traditional Arabic art, he can be accused of repeating himself. Because often it is only nuances that differentiate the individual Montale creations in this direction from one another. They all operate in a field between the extremes allowed by the fragrance notes from Oud to sandalwood outlined above.

For blends of different perfumes and fragrance notes, the Arabic perfumers, to my knowledge, have a specific name: Mukhallat. Black Musk would also be such a Mukhallat, but Pierre Montale has already named another of his perfumes with this designation. Black musk is certainly included, but not exclusively, and so I do not consider the naming successful.

Black Musk begins like many Montale scents with this typical, harsh hairspray note. It lingers here remarkably long. Oud - or a synthetic substitute - is definitely involved. I cannot yet say exactly what black musk is supposed to smell like. Musk has so many variations; I believe I can now recognize the light creamy, powdery, and even soapy musk notes well. A comparison with "Misku-l Ka'ba," which AbuSaffia once provided me, revealed no similarities with Black Musk apart from a general harshness and dark tone.

I rather see a slight tendency towards amber, not ambra. I have experienced this in Arabic perfumes in a light to strong smoky manner. The confusion between the fragrance terms amber and ambra (as indicated in the pyramid) would be a topic in itself.

The sandalwood note in Black Musk is very pronounced and somewhat dominant; there are also different synthetic substances that represent various nuances, to my knowledge. I dare to say that Black Musk contains a lot of Javanol.

I perceive nutmeg and pepper notes in Black Musk, if at all, as general spice and sharpness.

In a way, Black Musk is a Mukhallat, as it is placed right in the circle of the different Arabic Montales. So there is a bit of everything. On one side, there is some Oud, which connects Black Musk with Montale's dark and heavy Ouds. Then we have sandalwood and amber - making it similar to the perfumes Amber & Spices and also Greyland. And then there is of course leather. The leather note is the same as in Montale's Oud Cuir d'Arabie, just a bit more subtle, and it fades as a heart note after about an hour.

As a common ground, Black Musk has resulted in a generally darker and harsher perfume. It is difficult to make a purchase recommendation specifically for Black Musk, as everything at Montale is closely related. In doubt, the interested buyer will not find all Arabic Montale perfumes gathered on a shelf for testing anyway.

02/01/2016

2.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

FabianO
1008 Reviews

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FabianO

12

Headache-inducing, nerve-wracking hair spray musk drone

Leave me alone with Montale! I want to scream this louder and more emphatically after every single one of their tested fragrances.

Once again: loud, thundering, hair spray-like force and penetrance. The main thing is noise, 4-6 blue lights on the roof, and stinking 30 meters against the wind.

"Black Musk" drones from the very first second. A lot of hair spray-like musk, coarse, hearty, glazed, somehow also chemical, headache-inducing.

Behind it, there might still be a mix of nutmeg (dry, over-seasoned) and sandalwood hiding somewhere. Otherwise, this is simply a horrendously made penetrating scent of the worse Montale variety. They have made 1-2 somewhat solid things (in the rose area), but even with those, 7.0 points is already a generous rating gift from me.

This stuff here is far below that...

More reviews

Statements

19 short views on the fragrance

Acanthea

6 months ago

6.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

1

An interesting take of patchouli makes it familiar, yet the whole composition is original. Can't say I like the scent, it's quite loud too.

Farneon

5 years ago

2Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

9

Montale probably uses furniture polish as a base for most of their fragrances! ;-) Only a wardrobe would understand that! ;-)

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Caligari

5 years ago

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

5

1

Unfortunately, the very appealing notes here come off somewhat artificial, and I miss the expected roughness and ruggedness a bit. Still, ...

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Irini

9 years ago

7Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

5

Amber-soft, round, slightly tarry leather with a hint of fine spice. Unsweetened, deep, dark, elegant, and very wearable for leather lovers :-)

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MichH

7 years ago

7.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

5

Little black stinker: lots of animal, dark leather, black tar, dark spice, and resinous wood. But I really like it.

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JonasP1

5 years ago

7.5Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

4

1

Resinous, strong, dark. That's the first thing I think of with this scent.
Later it becomes a bit more pleasant. Good musk fragrance.
You stand out.

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Alex214449

2 years ago

3

Smells like tires.

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Veritas23

5 years ago

7Scent 10Longevity 9Sillage

3

Atomic longevity and projection. Musky with a hint of pepper. Be careful with the dosage!

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AirFabio

2 years ago

8.5Scent 7Longevity 9Sillage

3

Is it too strong - are you too weak?

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MrMagic

5 years ago

3Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

2

1

Chemical droning of the worst kind. As long as it's loud! In the drydown, very herbal-spicy, similar to shower gel, yet pleasant. The bottle has something to it.

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