Blue Amber Montale 2006

Good taste always comes at a price!
Blue Amber by Montale is relatively inexpensive for a niche fragrance, but even here, the journey to the scent paradise demands its toll.
I primarily mean the top note, which has been nonchalantly overlooked here for its menacing and abyssal nature. The opening smells bitter, herbal - yes, unbearable! This combination of bitter bergamot, geranium, and the emerging metallic note creates the feeling upon spraying that you have doused yourself with a bottle of Martini. This is probably the odor of a drunken bartender during a binge. Perhaps Montale believes that only alcoholics deserve the way to paradise - at least that would explain why this amber is called "Blue."
I admit, my nose, spoiled by pandering mass-market fragrances, is simply overwhelmed by this top note. However, Blue Amber also makes no effort at the beginning to greet the innocent children of the mainstream, who have wandered into this remote niche bar of the 'blue' bartender, with a welcoming smile. Instead, the drunken guy jumps at you with a 44 Magnum (No, not ice!) pressed against your nose and then shouts at you with a noticeable breath: “THIS IS NICHE, YOU ASSHOLE, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, THEN GET LOST!!!” A robbery that unfortunately does not steal your senses, but only breaks your sensitive nose.
Eventually, after about an hour, he starts to calm down. The bergamot disappears, leaving this bright metallic tone alone. I suspect that coriander is responsible for this - at least I can smell something similar when comparing it to the spice rack. The heart is thus less shocking than the top note, but still evokes unpleasant associations. It does not smell synthetic - nothing is imitated cheaply here - but somehow chemical. I search the entire periodic table for the place where I have sniffed this note before. Perhaps it is also the smell of an entire chemistry lab? Or do chemical weapons smell like this? The bottle was at least designed for World War III. Should I sound the ABC alarm?! Well, it certainly doesn’t smell healthy or desirable.
Thank goodness the worst is over! I congratulate anyone who has survived the first two hours of Blue Amber. Now we come to the reward: A wonderful amber disarms all attackers, and by its side, an alluring vanilla compensates for the pain endured. The vanilla presents itself here not as a cloying pudding, but pleasantly unsweetened and enveloped with the fine smoke of a campfire, giving the base an erogenous masculinity. Smoky, deep, dark, rather wintry, and, yes: damn SEXY! It is the olfactory paradise! Truly heavenly! Whoever wears this perfume radiates the unpretentious grandeur and calmness of a man who cannot be rattled by armed assaults and chemical weapon attacks, but only hardened. Perhaps a scent for James Bond - or a very tough Bond girl.
And Blue Amber only gets better and better over time! The sillage of the fragrance is never overwhelming (at the end, a bit more than just "close to the skin"), but its longevity lasts for eternity! Montale sets the benchmark in this category once again. Even after two days and two showers, I could still perceive a last remnant of the perfume on my skin. Anyone wanting to remove this scent from their wrist needs an axe! If you plan to spray it directly on your neck, you should seriously consider acquiring a guillotine. This might impair further olfactory life, but I am convinced (Hear! Hear!): Whoever has experienced the base of Blue Amber will NEVER want to smell anything else!...
What? Your life is too precious to you?! Well, as already mentioned - good taste always comes at a price.

PS: This text was typed with only one hand!
PPS: Personally, the victims and the price are just too great or too high for me.