MONTALE
INTENSE CAFE

2013

Floral Notes

Rose
Coffee

Vanilla
White Musk
Amber

Intense Cafe was a staple in my collection during my first year or two into the fragrance hobby. I wore it more than most in my collection, then grew tired of it a bit, until I discovered Maison Tahite Coffee Bomb, which I find to be an upgrade over Intense Cafe. That being said, Intense Cafe is still a great fragrance, at a solid price; still arguably the best release from Montale.

It’s a very sweet creamy vanilla with a typical unnatural ‘Montale’ rose. There’s not a strong coffee note in this, despite its name. I remember being disappointed about that when I sampled the fragrance for the first time, so I went out of my way to find Ristretto Cafe instead. Funny enough, while Ristretto Cafe has a bit more of a coffee, it’s still a lot of vanilla and rose and I ended up preferring to stick with Intense Cafe.

Montale has a knack for producing loud, harsh fragrances with a quality that I can’t really appreciate, but on the other hand their bang for buck and some of their styles are hard to ignore. Intense Cafe is one of those; it’s a big projecting fragrance that pulls in compliments like no other. Its harshness works well with this style of metallic-ish rose and a hint of a roasted quality (that I wish was stronger in this fragrance). If you’re looking for a very similar, but smoother take, check out Xerjoff K’Bridge Club.  A decent alternative can be found in sister-brand Mancera Roses Vanille, however for an upgrade, as mentioned, look for Maison Tahite Coffee Bomb. Coffee Bomb has a better rose note, a more prominent coffee note and it’s cheaper as a bonus.