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. Nevertheless, it's unfortunate that a house that is capable of producing the excellent Individuel is opting for the tried and tested money-making formula, but that's hardly surprising - particularly after the statement of purpose that was MB Legend. 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. Emblem takes these two most popular categories and merges them into one. This bottle is essentially Legend meets One Million. After the fresh citrusy top, it dries down into a fresher and less obnoxious version of the cinnamon-centric One Million. Simple and fairly linear after the top.

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. 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.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. 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. The result is pleasing and the performance is good (average projection, decent longevity). Of course it is generic, and of course it's synthetic - but that does not mean it's a bad scent. In fact, it does well in balancing the two categories. 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.

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. SIMILAR: Mont Blanc is a house known for producing very poor performing pleasant fragrances. Your best chance is to stay with the three stars of this house. Mont Blanc Legend, Mont Blanc Individuel, or Mont Blanc Explorer. Montblanc Emblem is a mediocre fragrance from a generally well regarded house, the notes in which are adequately described by the note pyramid above. On the plus side, it is presented in a great bottle. The fragrance gives off decidedly masculine associated scent queues and is usually available at quite reasonable prices from the on-line discounters. It is: not very strong unless ruthlessly oversprayed; safe for most workplaces; composed of bland notes which project at most moderately; and unlikely to offend anyone smelling or wearing it. 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. Likable, wearable and as many have mentioned the bottle is great and a perfect way to ram home the brands logo.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. Emblem was announced in March 2014 along with its Intense version (which is rare in this market as there is usually a space of, at least, one year between flanker releases). At the time, Montblanc claimed that the fragrances represented the brand's heritage and, for this reason, the bottle cut into the shape of the famous six-point star. 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. Nothing wrong with this scent at all, just insanely ordinary! It's pedestrian central Mont Blanc emblem has something inherently cheap about it. On the skin, Emblem is pleasant and can walk between appointments, from day to night, with ease. The output is slightly fruity and sweet and the evolution shows an oriental body, which gains woody and creamy facets. But it is not an innovative cologne today, nor when it was released. Its fragrance presents a proposal similar to that of 212 VIP Men (2010) and, if worn side by side, it is possible to notice similarities. The biggest difference is due to the creaminess of Emblem, which results from the sage and fava tonka notes, against the alcoholic and salty aspect of the other, due to the notes of vodka, caviar lime and salty amber.