Pierre Montale is shrouded in mystery: no photos, no interviews, and no profiles. But Pierre Montale, the creator, is as prolific as the man himself is private. With over 30 fragrances under his belt and a bestselling eponymous line, perhaps he simply prefers to let his success speak for him.

What we do know about Pierre is that he launched the Montale line almost 15 years ago, after several decades serving as an in-house perfumer for a certain never-confirmed Middle Eastern royal family (as well as helping conceive and launch the Comptoir Sud Pacifique brand). The influence of Middle Eastern tastes and perfumery traditions is more than evident in his lively, extravagant creations, incorporating ingredients like oud, exotic spices, rose, plum and coffee to create a wide variety of scents, each unique but still displaying a strong personal signature. Montale’s work stands as living proof that sometimes you don’t need even a single picture of a person to get to know them intimately.