Orient Extreme
by Montale

I really wish I could pick out the various notes of this one but I can't. It goes on strong and brash (I love it). Slightly spicy, but not sweetly so, more cumin? than cinnamon (thank god!). I detect some rose and good sandalwood. Lasts on fabric for days, and good lasting power on skin. While this isn't flagrantly feminine, I think the right woman could wear this well. Not for anyone under 35 or 40 I wouldn't think. Very retro and if someone had told me this was a formulation from the 30's or 40's I wouldn't have been surprised. This isn't a scent that sets out to "win you over", it's in your face, knows what it is and doesn't care if you like it or not. Very, very good and not deserving of so many unappreciative reviews in my opinion. Needs time to be appreciated. Also too, not like any of the other Montale offerings ( I have at least 35 samples). Really love this one, it never bores me. As a basis of comparison, it joins Aoud Queen Roses, Ta'if Rose, Oriental Flowers, Patchouli Leaves, Aromatic Lime, Red Vetyver, Vetiver des Sables, Fougeres Marine and Chypre Fruites on my dresser, dying to dry Oud Cuir Arabie, rather hard to find. So far, Montale is my favorite house, hands down! Ten thumbs way up!

Like others have said, this is a chypre rather than an oriental. If I were to guess at ingredients, I'd guess at loads and loads of oakmoss, but since oakmoss isn't listed among the notes I suppose it might be an illusion created by some dry, acrid, almost medicinal, resin note. I agree it smells quite "raw" and/or "unfinished" - almost like some single note oil. It also has a sharp soapiness to it I associate with chypres from, say, the 60s or 70s, rather than the real chypre classics from older eras. I'd classify it as "interesting", but not very pleasant or wearable.

I was horribly mistaken... I thought this would be a sweeter, more extreme version of Sweet Oriental Dream - I should have read these reviews first (of course it's just a decant I bought, no harm done). Instead of an oriental, this should be in the Montale Chypre series (Chypre Vanille and Chypre Fruite)... this should be Chypre Aoud or something. I get a touch of oud at the beginning - or perhaps it's something similar to Aoud. There is the slightest touch of sweetness, perhaps rose, that appears along with this oud note. The fragrance that changes again to become what I can best describe as a 'rosey chypre'.... oakmoss may or may not be present, but it comes off to my nose as a traditional chypre base, not dissimilar from Givenchy III or Pour Monsieur, but with a touch of rose and sandalwood. The base is also similar to Montale's Chypre Vanille, replacing vanilla with sandalwood.

I agree with the reviewers who say that something seems to be missing - it's a base without a top or heart. One of the few Montales I'm not overjoyed with.

Orient Extreme is a feminine chypre, with rose and sandal wood playing major roles in this perfumes progression. I tested this side by side with Serge Luten's Chypre Rouge and they are very similar; with the SL offering being creamier, richer and an all round better fragrance. Not that Orient Extreme is bad, it is a well composed perfume that has good longevity and sillage. This just isn't for me.

I had considerable trouble getting my nose around this one – mainly because I couldn’t rip my mind away from the “Oriental” concept. Things became clearer when I realized that it really isn’t Oriental in the usual sense, it seems to me to be more closely related to chypres even though it’s missing the oakmoss. At first testing I got a nose full of aoud, and my thought was, “Enough is enough. I already have three aoud fragrances and I want to move on.” With subsequent testings, the aoud has greatly diminished, but still I find too much of a resinous woody edge to the whole fragrance. Now, I love woods, but this one is just plain too uninteresting, or, as AlthaeaSoaps says, unfinished. Actually, I find AlthaeaSoaps review spot on in all respects, and kumquat is correct, too, in asserting that this is much more masculine than unisex. Orient Extreme is also just generally too strong and it needs to be applied with a very light hand, but, preferably, not at all. I’m certainly not very excited about this one.

My first Montale, and all I'm getting thus far is a very rich, very expensive rose and a very good quality sandalwood. I'm enjoying both immensely, yes, but I'm trying to imagine if I might be missing a lot here with my relatively unsophisticated nose.