Zest of an explorer
Ingredients essential to Montblanc’s new perfume are cultivated by producers to support sustainable development,
THE bergamot is famously found in Earl Grey tea which gives it a tinge of freshness and the reason why many find this different than regular black tea. A famed produce of Calabria, Italy, bergamot, which comes from the bergamot tree, is a hybrid between bitter orange and lime.
In the culinary world, it is used in mousses and coulis, its sharp, sour taste providing a perfect balance to European desserts.
In the world of perfumery, bergamot is used extensively. Fragrantica.com calls the scent citrusy, bitter and tart. It’s also an “elegant light note with mild spicy tone, complex with nuances of fruit and aromatic elements, reminiscent of eau de Cologne”.
The scent is fresh without being fleeting and strong without being overpowering. It is this balance that makes Montblanc’s latest fragrance for men, Montblanc Explorer, a fresh and energetic fragrance.
“I find this ingredient particularly luminous, like a young Mediterranean boy bursting with laughter — pure and eminently elegant,” says Antoine Maisondieu, one of the three perfumers at scent house Givaudan who combined their expertise to give birth to this fragrance. The other two are Jordi Fernandez and Olivier Pescheux.
BUILDING LIVES
“Bergamot is also an icon of Calabria and symbolises the light of this region. We wanted to infuse Montblanc Explorer with this unique atmosphere, synonymous with joy, light and refinement,” Maisondieu says.
The heart note is Haitian vetiver, a musky and charismatic scent. Indonesian patchouli gives it body and structure. The
ingredients of the fragrance come from Givaudan’s Sourcing for Shared Values programme where several ingredients essential to perfumery are cultivated to support local producers in embracing sustainable development.
This support of local communities is also reflected in educative initiatives for future generations, like the construction
of three libraries for schoolchildren in the regions of Buton and Katoi in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Through the Givaudan Foudation, Interparfums, the brand that owns the rights to Montblanc fragrance, has contributed to the construction of the libraries, benefitting close to 500 schoolchildren and 33 teachers.