Overall the tone is sweet and warm but the individual notes are too faint to raise above the violet leaf/sweet grapefuit accord; the kind of nondescript woody drydown and very sweet tonka beans, which here take a sweet tobacco-ish turn, only reinforce the combo without adding something interesting in the long run. Nothing wrong with this scent at all, just insanely ordinary! It's pedestrian central Mont Blanc emblem has something inherently cheap about it. That said, Emblem reinforces my personal opinion about the fragrances of the brand, which tend to grow in my concept the more I make use of them. Here, there is a little more nobility and maturity, which fit better in my current moment of life. After all, we are talking about almost eight years of difference since the launch of the Carolina Herrera's fragrance, and the market at that time was different. Today's men's popular/'generic' department store fragrance market can be generally categorised into two groups. First, we have the works-every-time fresh citrusy scents. Second, we have the new sweet spicy scents that have lately become popular - the prime examples being One Million and Spicebomb. Yesterday, I sniffed the cap of Mont Blanc's emblem and it seemed very disappointing. I left a review here just below this one that I will keep for comparison.

Longevity, even with a heavy hand on the trigger was about two hours and almost the entire time was spent as a skin scent. This fragrance only projected about a foot away for the first 15 minutes, and after that, nothing. Very low sillage, no scent trail, not even a trace of the scent on my shirt which I also sprayed when I came home three hours later from being out. At NO price point is this scent worth purchasing anymore, it seems like reformulation has killed this scent completely. Emblem also started a new pillar of fragrances inside the Montblanc, which had the first feminine scent of this line launched in 2015. It features notes of clary sage, cardamom and grapefruit as start. The body of the fragrance features notes of violet leaves and cinnamon. The base was made with tonka beans and woody accord. OCCASIONS: Formal events, outdoor gatherings, gym, office, business, casual. This is an office-friendly fragrance. People saying this has no longevity are crazy, I've gotten 5-6 hours at least on my skin with fairly good projection. I haven't tested it longer but it lasts on my skin. So whatever Emblem exudes well, but it produces olfactory fatigue very fast for those who wear it. That is, you may think you are no longer exuding, but you are. The durability is very good, exceeding eight hours on my skin.RECOMMENDATION: Mont Blanc Emblem has one of the worst fragrance performances, the opening is very weak and it only gets weaker by the minute, not even by the hour. Its performance is disappointing. Not worth buying it. This scent takes you on a far more interesting journey than the moderate price would imply. I know I have an undeniable bias to wood aromatic and/or spicy blends, but I feel like as long as you have a fondness for this family of scents, this would be a very safe blind buy if you know to expect a good woody scent with a fresh dry touch and more sweetness in the drydown than the opening would suggest. Very interesting. Emblem (as well as Legend) is indeed unexceptional but it has distinct elements of masculinity, freshness and sweetness that makes it so easy to wear and understand - it doesn't provoke any thoughts and isn't very surprising but that is EXACTLY what I want. Now don't be mistaken there are bad mainstream fragrances too but my point here is that mediocrity isn't a synonym of garbage. Emblem is nicely blended, has quality ingredients and the signature metallic accord that's in many of Montblancs. Also, It's so wearable it's almost ridiculous - I reach for Jaipur maybe once every 3 weeks but Emblem can be worn from monday to the end of the week with such ease I sometimes forget I'm even wearing anything.

I barely get the clary sage in the opening (maybe it's my skin chemistry or I'm anosmic to it?), but rather a blast of a higher note citrus which I cannot immediately identify as grapefruit, sweetened by the cardamom. It's unfortunate those calling this "boring" don't even realize the boring effect they are getting is a reflection of themselves and their attitude. The greatest smelling fragrance in the world is not going to excite you just by smelling it. It comes down to how you relate to yourself and the world around you. That's why sometimes the simplest scents can have the most incredible effect on people even though to others that same scent might be boring. It's true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's the same will all forms of art from paintings and music to sculptures and literature. Professional and formal. Those two words perfectly outline this fragrance. This is not something you wear on a typical day. This is a business suit and tie accessory, or a date-night aroma. Definitely not your average deo-body spray. This is the atmosphere of someone successful and someone who knows what they want in life, and how to achieve it. It may not be groundbreaking, but I was looking for a mass appealing designer frag that isn't very well known but still remains unique. This really fit the bill for me.However, I've totally changed my opinion on Individuel for example and I'm not as keen on it as I used to be. Also scents like Exceptionel are frankly suffering from the same issues as Emblem...just too safe and maybe a little boring? I'm all for modern or new scents with those companies tryinf different stuff but gray colognes and musk scents should have died off. In fact I like to use axe as an example. I'd prefer axe gold over this junk. I'll take Lacoste, Paco Rabanne, polo (how original) or davidoff over this in a heart beat how boring that one was. I like my theirry muggler angel (probably spelled the designer wrong) way more than this and I use that about once a month. If I was a millionaire it would be my bathroom spray. Mont Blanc emblem opens with a soft projection of grapefruit, spicy, woody, and floral accords. The opening is very soft, the notes are not well defined, a pleasant but unimpressive opening. In just a moment the violet leaf of mid notes enters the blend creating the fresh aroma; the cinnamon and cardamon mix together adding a soft spicy touch but nothing prominent. The tonka bean adds a sweet and aromatic touch and the woods do the same. Once Mont Blanc Emblem has reached its full dry-down, it can be summarized as a very soft projecting grapefruit and cinnamon fragrance with faint spicy, floral, and woody accords. The fragrance feels airy, inexpensive, clean, diurnal, faint, fresh, and relatively pleasant. So why do I dislike it? Well, for me, with my particular skin chemistry, whatever has been used here to create the cardamom note smells synthetic and somewhat unpleasant and, worst of all, clashes with and detracts from the rest of the otherwise ordinary but nice enough notes in the composition. I have, however, smelled this fragrance on other folks, and I have come to the conclusion that this issue is a function of my skin and not the product. It smells like some other common scents, such as Invictus by Paco Rabbane. But, still a very good smell and affordable for the quality it is. Highly recommend.

I love all of the notes in this. I love clary sage and grapefruit in the top. I LOVE Violet. I like cinnamon when it is done right. I love tonka. I love woods. I liked this scent immediately, it was love at first scent. Easily.It is not as synthetic smelling as PR's Invictus. Despite that "Emblem" will never be in my want list, I can give Mont Blanc the credit for introducing a good quality sweet perfume. But, I also want to say that I had enough with this category of perfume. They need to be more daring and experiment with different kinds of ingredients. I need something new! Bottom line: you may well like Montblanc Emblem, and it may be a good choice for you, if you can find it heavily discounted and enjoy well presented, inoffensive warm spicy aromatic fragrances with unaccented Iso-E super type dry downs. However, be advised that for certain skin chemistries, like my own, the fragrance just won't work. Blind buy with caution.

That being said, it last quite a while. It survived on me the whole day, still sufficiently projecting at bedtime. It gradually gets softer as the day goes on though. Fantastic sillage and longevity, I must say (:The only one I still love is Presence which is just such an odd creamy, spicy oriental it's the only one for me with any novelty value. The violet is an icy smelling violet that mixes with the cinnamon to create a floral-sweetness. The drydown is the mixture of the vanilla-like tonka, whatever woods there are, and that floral cinnamon vibe remains prominent. The violet really is the star throughout at stays with you. It's not a fragrance that many would dislike, but if you are not a violet fan then I would not recommend it. Emblem opens with inviting fresh citrus and maybe a hint of exotic fruit? The heart is another Tonka washout for me though very pleasant but all too familiar and very much the en vogue accord for bland designer fare at the moment. There's a hint of violet and spices, clary sage and cardamom, cinnamon is evident.