Montale

The house of French perfumer Pierre Montale was officially founded in Paris in 2003, although the designer created signature scents for Saudi Arabian kings, queens and aristocrats prior to striking out on his own. Known for his signature aluminum bottles that protect his fragrances from adverse, light-altering occurrences, Montale is renowned for introducing the Western World to his own signature brand of exotic, alluring Middle Eastern and Oriental scent notes.

Each of Montale’s men’s, women’s and unisex offerings are created from high-quality, natural materials such as sandalwood, cedar, rose and patchouli. His production house manufactures the scents in large batches to intensify the bouquets of the final products, as well as to ensure each creation’s optimal long-wearing capabilities.

One of Montale’s most notable contributions to the global fragrance market is his use of aoud, also known as agarwood, in many of his collections. Celebrated as an aphrodisiac in the East, aoud is a highly coveted ingredient that is usually reserved for royalty. Aoud occurs when a mold, Phialophora parasitica, infects the Aquillaria tree with a darkly colored, aromatic resin.

Sold for one and one-half times the price of gold, aoud also enjoys the nicknames "the wood of gods" and "liquid gold". Some notable fragrances in Montale’s Aoud Parfums Montale include the unisex creations, Golden Aoud, which was released in 2008 and Aoud Greedy, which was released in 2013.