Reviews of Montana Parfum d'Homme (original) (1989)
by Montana

Odd man out here, I guess. I like it but I can't make it all the way to love. In an olfactory lineup, I would identify it as Havana, Jr., judging from the top and middle. Quite an excellent opening with the bergamot, mandarin, lemon and lavender: it is complex, balanced, refined. The citrus is quickly lost and the middle becomes quite spicy with tarragon, cinnamon and carnation. This middle accord provides even more of the Havana connection, and while I prefer the better balance and refinement of Havana, I think Montana is just as complex and deserves all the praise it gets. My admiration deserts me when the base starts: There’s too much leather in Montana Parfum d’Homme for my tastes. In Havana, the leather is a cleaner version, but to my nose, in Montana the base gets thick, heavy, oily, and irritating. Reduce the leather and I would certainly own this one... It’s a respected fragrance here on Basenotes, but I just cannot find the love. (Edit of 18 March 2008 review.)

Montana Parfum D'Homme (red box)

I'm not a bottle person but the Devil's Tower-like bottle this one comes in, intrigued the Close Encounters geek in me. Not enough to try it. That came with the unabashed fans this one has and the comparisons to Aramis Havana, one of my favorites. It was with anticipation that I sprayed it on and was met with a very similar spicy citrus blast to Havana. This seems different as the lemon seems to show its dry side and I get the slightest tingle of aldehydes. This is a fleeting top and we progress quickly into the deep heart of this and here is where the spice takes over and the Oriental character bursts into life. There is a floral weave of rose, jasmine, and carnation. The clove character of carnation combines well with the cinnamon also present. The real star of the heart is the pine note that comes in and adds depth to the spice and counterpoint to the florals. The addition of this pine note is where Edouard Flechier turns this into a beauty. The pine note sticks around to lead the scent into the base which is chock-full of sandalwood and amber. I get little hints of patchouli and vanilla but this settles into pine, sandalwood and amber and it is a lovely place to end this journey. I get the comparisons to Havana but this is its own scent and in many ways as good or better than Havana. Really I think the more apt comparison is these were the kinds of scents prevalent in the early 90's, powerful Orientals. Montana Parfum D'Homme stands on its own, as tall as the monument the bottle looks like.

The fragrance note list from Fragrantica is LONG! And this is borne out in the scent, which is complex. The opening is spicy-green, accentuated by the aldehydes, and is powerful and slightly sweet. The middle is a floral-herbal-spice mixture. The carnation gives a real clove spice ‘kick’ and also a barbershop vibe. The barbershop theme is picked up in the tangy patchouli drydown. Also in the drydown are pine needles (yay!) and a significant dollop of vanilla (boo!). This is an interesting scent, to me it seems ‘old school’ in a good way. It reminds me of Rive Gauche pour Homme or even a less formidable Yatagan. As noted, this is the original version, in the red box.
By way of comparison, the revamped Montana pour Homme in the blue box is a simpler, more translucent scent. It is drier, more lemony. It is more fresh and greener than the original – and thus I prefer it. But the original is a very worthy scent.

I tried the vintage "Red Box" version of this, thanks to a generous BNer. I really want to love this one--all the descriptions I have heard are so luscious and inviting. On first spray, it has bracing, fresh herbs (a mixture of evergreens and probably lavender), with a soapy note and something sweet underneath. The herbal melange is rather harsh in the beginning, but it settles to be a balanced uplifting and energizing accord. I don't see that it is very unusual--it seems to be a classic and formulaic fougere. I think what makes this great is that it is very wearable, not pretentious and, at one time, was highly accessible at a good price. It also smells like it is going to have a really gorgeous "come hither" drydown. Unfortunately, as with many fougeres, I smell ammonia (could be some kind of hyperosmia). Thankfully it is not as strong as with some other fragrances I've tried, but it is pronounced enough to be uncomfortable for me to wear. The ammonia also makes it very difficult for me to pick out the very beautiful notes that most others seem to be able to experience.

Absolute love. Makes me want to eat my arm. I tried the "red box" version, which was discontinued. Citrus burst of an opening -- bergamot? After about 6 hours, I smell predominantly pine sap, as if I'd mushed pine resin on my skin. There's some patchouli in it, but I don't mind. Also some mild aromatic smell. 12 hours later -- still sandalwood, amber, and oakmoss. Good longevity (> 12 hours on my skin), and pretty good sillage. Notes from Fragrantica.com: "Top notes are aldehydes, cinnamon, lavender, mandarin orange, tarragon, pepper, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are carnation, jasmine, sage, nasturcia, rose, pine tree needles and geranium; base notes are labdanum, leather, sandalwood, patchouli, oakmoss, vanilla, incense, cedar and ambergris." I guess I can smell *some* leather, but not really much. There are other leathery-ier scents than Montana Parfum d'Homme. Nose for this one is supposedly Edouard Flechier, who also made Dior Poison and Poison Tendre, as well as Frederic Malle's Un Rose and Lys Mediterranee.

I like this one a lot. It is hard to find but usually it goes for cheap on the eBay. It might be too strong to some people.

Montana Parfum d'Homme
Coniferous Chypre.

Top: Bergamot, Aldehydes, Synthetic green accords, lemon, lavender and tarragon
Middle: Pine, Rose, Jasmine, Carnation, Cinnamon and Fern accord
Base: Cedar, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Amber, Labdanum, Tree Moss, Leather and Vanilla

The opening is fresh and spicy and I prefer it to Havana's opening. The heart notes are spicy and floral and quite sensuous. The Base notes present themselves rather quickly and are slightly sweet, woody and amberic, with a hint of leather. The perfume does have much in common with Havana, but without the obvious tobacco notes. It's a gorgeous and sexy fragrance that is priced very nicely, I picked up a 120 ML bottle from a local discount perfumery for about $18.00. My one ounce bottle of vintage Havana cost me about $70. While they aren't exact duplicates, the similarities are rather striking.

A first cousin to Aramis Havana for Men, the intense opening is parallel, perhaps more Oriental but not quite as wild. The initial intense in-your-face spice/dried fruit compote slowly melds into an intoxicating background drydown of musk, incense and mulled wine for me. A very seductive scent you can enjoy alone or, better yet, allowing it to capture the attention of others.

Definitely a keeper and a legitimate steal at current prices (2007). Get it while you can as not too many know this discontinued gem it is a wonderfully masculine 'killer' of a scent.

edit 7/4/08: Apparently being manufactured and available again in a formula very close to if not identical to the original. This is a truly wonderful fragrance, with similarities to Havana for Men but definitely going it's own beautiful way. It has an appealing dusky-bergamot-citrus opening and glides through a long, delicious drydown.

I will try to never be without a bottle and have sufficient backups stored safely away to make that a fact. When you find a frag you love, you never know when some marketing 'genius' will change it for the worse or ::shudder:: make it disappear..

Slight fruity spicy fougere with an underbase of musk and moss. There is a hint of civet I think but I'm not totally sure. Just a small hint of Ungaro II. This is also very robust in its structure. It does settle down for a bit but it's adamant and stays with you. Lovely, beautiful, handsome masculine.

First of all:It`s gonna be relauchnched in 2008,only the Eau de Toilette,but better than nothing.
This is by far my favourite oriental scent.The fragrance is a little fruity,very spicy,woody,oriental and rich,masculine.
it is definetely a signature fragrance,i think nobody else than Claude Montana could have made this special gem.
One more thing:Havanna by Aramis came later than Parfum d`homme,
is similar but in my opinion does not have that special twist.
Thumbs up,I hope we`ll see it in stores again very soon.

In some ways, this is a light, more defined (and less muddled) version of Sung Homme (a couple of hours into it, at least). I'm wondering if foetidus reviewed the blue box or the red box version, because I get strong Caribbean style spices right from the beginning, then it settles down into a milder spice with a bit of muskiness. The other possibility is that he applied a lot more than I did. I just sprayed once on the upper chest. I got some on my finger when I sprayed, so I tried to get some of that on my neck. It was an excellent experience, though nothing earth shattering, in other words, nothing weird. I can't imagine not be able to experience this once in a while, at the very least. When I first tried it, I sprayed in on the back of one hand and smelled it every once in a while, but that is the wrong idea, because if you do that, you just get diminishing spiciness. If you sprayed it on the chest judiciously you get the musky, spicy combination, which is just great. I never tried Havana, but I don't like boozy or sweet frags anyway, so I don't feel I"m missing out there.

Weighing in for this elegant spiced floriental. The dusty, musky drydown is phenomenal - and I owe it all to a dear male BNer who kindly sent me almost a whole bottle of the original. It is just SO classy and perfect for brisk days that call for a no-nonsense scent - or for hot ones that need jazzing up!!

Great, complex scent that has good longevity and wears close to the skin. Reminds me of both Havana and Patou PH Privee (2nd cousins, perhaps?)

Which begs the question, why did they re-fromulate it into the citrus bomb of the 'unoriginal' blue box Montana of 2001? I can only think of one reason, the new one must have been cheaper to manufacture.

Get the real thing.

Montana is an underrated gem. It has a slight fruityness to it, which is then taken by an excellent mix of spices and musk, giving Montana a great masculine edge to it. Montana has pretty great longevity, as well.

There is also an extreme similarity to the long sought after, and also discontinued, Havana. Havana is slightly sweeter than Montana, but the similarity between them is evident. One has to wonder why Montana does not get more attention given it's similarities to the aforementioned Havana.

Bought my first bottle in Hong Kong back in 1992. Love this rich, spicy stuff and cannot even begin to understand why Diana de Silva decided to discontinue to lush Oriental. What a pity -- will have to keep perusing eBay for "stash" bottles, I guess.

wonderful, complex scent. Similar to Havana, or more so to Havana Reserva. Does not have the heavy Bay Rum notes, Montana is more powdery on the drydown. Only have the juice, no other products in the line. I wonder if they make anything else?
The bottle is quite a work of art, even they way the cap comes off is a unique twist.