Hi there APJ Family and Friends,

Their extremely covetable bottles, gorgeously plush marketing and lavish juices have put them right at the forefront of modern mass market niche but where did Ramon Monegal the man come from?

It’s not often I take directly from a brands media kit but I was recently reading through the Roman Monegal stuff and it struck me that if I don’t know the history of the man behind the brand that burst onto the world scene so spectacularly last year then many of you won’t know too. Please keep in mind that this is combined from Ramon Monegal’s press kit and Fragrantica, so it will have been polished to shine. This reads to me like Ramon Monegal an extremely talented, driven and lucky man. I would love to meet him one day.

Photo Stolen Ramon Monegal

Ramon Monegal: Birth of a Master Perfumer

Ramón Monegal comes from a long and distinguished line of the most important perfumers in Barcelona and Spain. He represents the fourth generation of the founders of the house of Myrurgia, which was the official purveyor of the Spanish Royal Family, and the most important international perfumer in Spain.

His training began back in 1972 at Myrurgia, where he submerged himself completely and became intimate with the most essential of scents such as the mythical infusions of amber, tonka bean, musk, castoreum, civet and iris. These were the treasured secrets of the house and the key ingredients to the only couture perfumes existing at the time.

Monegal’s training continued in Geneva with his mentor, the maître parfumeur Artur Jordi Pey (Firmenich), then in Grasse with Marcel Carles (Roure Bertrand and Argeville) and finally in Paris with Pierre Bourdon (Takasago and Fragrance Resources).

Photo Stolen Ramon Monegal

From his beginnings as a perfumer, Ramón Monegal showed courage, good taste and mastery of the most complicated and costly ingredients. Early on he began to develop the concept of olfactory image — the images we conjure with the smell of a fragrance. He embarked on the preparation of perfume creations with great sensitivity, thoroughness and zeal. It took him years to refine his skills in the search, selection, acquisition and evaluation of the finest natural ingredients —the defining qualities of a nez. In addition, Monegal was very active in the processes of conceptualization, design and communication and, in 1977, to broaden his knowledge in these areas, he studied at the Barcelona Design Center.

In 1979 Ramón Monegal created his first fragrance, Alada. It soon flowered into an unexpected success within the house of Myrurgia, leading the domestic market for decades. From that time on he took over the artistic management of the house and began to create fragrances for the licenses of Adolfo Dominguez, Antonio Miró, Aigner, Inès de la Fressange, Don Algodon and Massimo Dutti. Myrurgia grew even more in prestige and as a company.

Photo Stolen Ramon Monegal

In 1985 Monegal joined the board of Myrurgia and later was appointed vice president. In 2000, just as the company reached its peak, Antonio Puig acquired Myrurgia and Ramón Monegal was asked to head the fragrance development of its brands and licenses for the group, which included the new Maison Parfum.

In 2007 he left the Puig Group and became independent. After a period of reflection, he decided to realize the project of which he had always dreamed: create without any limitation.

Ramon Monegal is a new 2012 fragrance brand. Designer Ramon Monegal has 16 perfumes all launched in 2013, he is curator, director and nose.

I hope this has given you an insight into the man behind the scents. I have a few of his fragrances that we will be looking at in future months.
Portia xx