Explorer Mont Blanc is a men's eau de parfum built around the idea of travel, with materials the brand sourced from three different regions. Olivier Pescheux and Antoine Maisondieu composed it. The 100ml bottle is the standard size, and anyone checking the Mont Blanc Explorer perfume price will find this is the one most stores stock.

The opening is bergamot from Italy, lifted by pink pepper and clary sage. Haitian vetiver sits at the centre with leather beside it. Underneath, ambroxan, Akigalawood®, patchouli leaves and cacao pod give the dry-down its weight. That last part is where Montblanc puts the woody character the fragrance is known for.

One detail in that structure is worth noticing. Leather usually lives in the base of a fragrance, anchoring everything above it. Here it sits in the heart. So it arrives partway through the wear and then hands over to the woody base, and it is not the last thing left on your skin. Akigalawood® carries a trademark symbol, which marks it as a proprietary material and not a standard listed note, and it works with ambroxan to hold the dry-down close to the body. Explorer therefore changes shape twice in a single wear: once when the citrus drops away, and again when the leather steps back.