MONTALE
HOLY NEROLI

2023

neroli
bergamot zest
bitter orange leaves

orange blossom
bulgarian rose
white cedarwood

vanilla sugar
amber
fluffy musks

‘From the depths of winter to the scorching heat of summer, Holy Neroli will take you on a dreamy journey, thanks to Patchouli, the secret of the great oriental fragrances. The divine spices will carry you into a joyous trance, where multicolored pigments catching the light of day. Let yourself be captured by the revelation of Neroli when, in the midst of this olfactory dance, Vanilla and White Musk form an edge of honor.’ – Montale

When I smelled Holy Neroli in stores, I thought it was quite nice. On skin… I’m not sure.

This is essentially the vanillic white floral style of Love Don’t Be Shy or Memo Sintra, made screechy. I also get more of the masculine YSL Myslf style take on it in the drydown.

The soft, marshmallowy versions have been overdone and lean very far feminine. The more screechy, acidic white floral style opening I get from Holy Neroli was sort of a welcome change.

However, it also goes sweet and that dry, vanillic citrus powder started to get on my nerves after a while. It feels outdated to me. Retro powdery white florals in a clear Montale harshness and sharpness… not my favorite combination after all. The acidity especially recalls that of citrus cleaning wipes. As if someone wore Love Don’t Be Shy in a pool with a bit too much bleach.

A quick look at Fragrantica reviews reveal words as classy, elegant, discrete and soft. I would argue this fragrance is the exact opposite of those. There is nothing soft or discrete about Holy Neroli.