Montale Arabians Tonka is a unisex fragrance launched in 2019.
So, this one had my eyes on when it was first announced.
Thought it sounded interesting, but I didn't get around to even smelling it until earlier this year.
I got in some samples of multiple Montal fragrances; I was trying to find some that I hadn't smelled that I thought were nice, and this one stuck out to me.
So I was like, okay, let's go ahead and scoop that up, and I've been giving it some wear here lately, and I wanted to go ahead and do a quick review.
So, let's jump into it.
Presentation
Box:
So here is the box.
Like all Montale boxes, you know, it's pretty simple.
Other than this one, you get a cool picture of a horse there and some trees.
So you got the name of the house, name of the fragrance, sizing, concentration on the front, nothing up top, nothing on the sides.
On the back, you have your ingredient information and your barcode.
Bottle:
Here we got the bottle.
You have the same design on the front there as on the front of the box.
As with all Montales, it is made out of aluminum.
We've got the sizing, and concentration on the front, and then you have the little Montale stopper there that you put underneath the atomizer to make sure it doesn't spray when you don't want it to.
Then on the bottom, we've got our batch code and sticker.
Atomizer:
I think that Montale, over the years, has changed the atomizer and made it a little bit wider, so that's nice.
You can get a better spray that way.
What does Montale Arabians Tonka smell like?
Let's first unveil the notes of the fragrance.
Top notes are Saffron and Bergamot.
Middle notes are Agarwood (Oud) and Bulgarian Rose.
Base notes are Sugar Cane, Tonka Bean, Amber, White Musk, and Oakmoss.
Well, when you first spray it on, it is sweet, very sweet.
But I think that's a good thing here because one thing Montale is known for is their Oud fragrances.
This one has Oud in it, but more specifically, Montale is known for having screechy Oud fragrances, a lot of them. And those scents very often are not appealing to a huge amount of people.
There's a niche of people that love themselves some powerful, strong, animalic, screechy Ouds.
But your average person, you have them smell that, and they just turn; their brain turns off immediately.
And so for me, not with all of them, but I do find a majority of the Oud fragrances from Montale that I like the most, the ones that I will wear and wear more than once, have something to offset that Oud.
So this one, thankfully, it's very smooth and, as I said, very sweet, right off the top, you've got saffron and a decent amount of it.
You have this sugary kind of sweetness that settles in pretty much immediately, and a heaping dose of Tonka and Amber.
So you have this almost creamy warm sweetness underneath that saffron and that woody Oud.
Once you head out of the opening, you get a little bit of rose that comes in. It's not jammy rose; it's not powdery.
And more than anything, it's just blending with that Oud, almost like making that Middle Eastern Oud accord sing. It is, to be fair, something that has been done before – saffron, rose, Oud; you're getting that here.
But instead of leaning more into the rose, which a lot of rosewood saffron fragrances do, this one leans more into sugared sweetness and a heaping dose of saffron. That's kind of what they lean more into here. Maybe from the Oud, you could pick like a slight smoky woodiness out, and you would say, ‘Okay, well, there's the Oud.'
As it dries down more, it's almost Gourmand because it is so sticky sweet. But in a very appealing way.
Some people have drawn a comparison to Mancera's Instant Crush with Montale Arabians Tonka.
Instant Crush, of course, is one of Mancera's most popular fragrances out there.
For me, not too close. I mean, you could probably draw a comparison with the saffron in the opening here and Instant Crush, but once you get past that, they're quite different.
Although, I guess to be fair, some of the supporting notes in Instant Crush, you'll find in this as well, like Rose in the mid. But I do think overall, Instant Crush is a little bit fresher, and not quite as heavy on the sugary sweetness either.
Montale Arabians Tonka has more of that. But I did want to bring that up.
Montale and Mancera these two companies are related, and some people have found a bit of a similarity between the two.
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How long does Montale Arabians Tonka last?
You would expect some great performance.
And I gotta tell you, this stuff lasts forever.
This is one of those legitimate beast-mode fragrances.
This is one of those Montale scents that is strong. Strong like one of the ones where you need to understand fully – where am I going, what temperature is it going to be, how many people are going to be there, what is the event – you know because very easily if you spray too much, it can get out of control.
And do be aware that if you spray too much with this one, it could make your nose just shut down in self-preservation mode.
When to wear Montale Arabians Tonka?
In terms of seasons, winter, also late fall – not spring, definitely not summer unless you're just one of those people that live life on the edge and you just don't care, then do whatever.
And it leans toward nighttime use over daytime use because of the sweetness that it does have.
In Summary – Montale Arabians Tonka
Montale Arabians Tonka is one of their better releases.
You get what you pay for; you get the performance; you get a little bit of that Oud; you get a touch of a little woodiness, a little smoke; you get a lot of sweetness though.
So you do have to like that.
But I think the sweetness here, all things considered, for a fragrance that's this strong, has done pretty well.
It's smooth; it's not overly grating – at least as smooth as Montale is going to be.
And I like this a lot; this is a good one.
