Kilian Back to Black, aphrodisiac Perfume Review
Kilian Back to Black, aphrosidisac Eau de Parfum is categorized as a “gourmand tobacco harmony” by the brand with “languid honey” that has “sweet spices” and “smoky incense essence” with “vanilla absolute.” While the opening was a burst of raspberry liqueur, the majority of the wear lived in a warm and cozy cloud of cherry and almond that eventually sweetened further with vanilla and often retained depth from the inclusion of honey in the heart and then later on amber in the drydown.
- top notes: bergamot, cardamom, coriander seed, raspberry, blue chamomile
- heart notes: honey, olibanum, atlas cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli, moss
- base: tobacco, amber, cistus labdanum, almond, vanilla
Back to Black opened with a drenching of the best of raspberries–the perfect, in-season raspberry that was juicy, deliciously sweet with a hint of tartness as a end flourish–with a touch of bergamot. The honey made its way into the composition so that it felt like a lush raspberry sauce drizzled over a dripping honeycomb.
Twenty minutes later, the distinction of raspberry was wasn’t as clear, and the fragrance reminded me more of syrupy cherries and almonds. That sweet cherry-almond phase strengthened and continued as the primary facets of Back to Black two hours into wear.
It ended up being a more linear scent as the drydown wasn’t that different from the time after the opening and hours later. After eight hours of wear, it had moderate projection, little sillage, and was defined as a fruity, honeyed amber with the most minute about of tobacco. From further away, the tobacco was more of a suggestion than when I smelled near my skin, where it was really quite dominated by sweet cherries, almond and vanilla, and honeyed depth.
For testing, I had a 1ml dab vial sample, which was applied to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm using half of the vial. I use an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise. It was extremely long-lasting (over 16 hours and was still detectable as a skin-scent) with heavier sillage and projection for the first few hours; it was definitely a scent that wafted up as I walked, even just dabbed on my wrist.
Subjectively, I found the raspberry opening to be interesting, as they’re one of my favorite fruits, and I don’t know that I’ve tried a fragrance that had such a blast of raspberry before (possibly a body wash, many, many moons ago). That being said, cherry-almond and honey are not notes that I gravitate toward, and those were definitely the star players in this scent. I can easily see why others rave about it, though, based on seeing how many love gourmand scents.
Available Sizes
- 50 ml for $250
- 50 ml (refill) for $200
Oh! Back To Black was the first Kilian I bought. On me, it was a honey tobacco.
Thank you for the review Christine.
My pleasure, Donna!
This one intrigues me, and not many do! One to seek out a sample bottle of next time I’m in a Sephora where they can make one for me.
I am loving the fragrance reviews! I became recently enamored with luxury and niche fragrances so I’m looking forward to more of these! My favorite Kilian fragrances are angels share and rolling in love.
Thank you, Janice! I have a review for Angels’ Share coming soon 🙂 I have not tried Rolling in Love!
Kilian’s Black to Black is one of my favorite tobacco honey scents! As soon as the weather gets a little chilly I wear it. I’m on my 3rd bottle and will always have a bottle in my collection. Originally he named it “Black to Black Aphrodisiac” then they dropped the aphrodisiac . I have trouble identifying the scent of raspberries, will look for it the next time I wear this perfume.
Wow! A third bottle, I’m impressed 🙂
I wish the tobacco was a little stronger on me!
I’m afraid of anything too tobacco or oud as I’m not sure I like it but although it sounds a bit like lost cherry which I find ‘just ok— nice but not a love’. Funny I thought most Killians were poor performers so I have avoided but I did buy Immortal Love even tho it’s a very poor performer.
I have bought some samples but find them expensive for what they are and prefer travel sprays.
What makes Immortal Love a poor performer for you? I wish perfume came in smaller sizes, in general!
I’ve only sampled By Kilian fragrances once, many years ago, while on vacation (I live in a rather unglamorous state that doesn’t generally carry luxury in any stores). I remember being super excited because they sounded so dark, deep, rich, and unique. Alas, I found all of them to be quite basic and nothing struck enough of a chord for me to even remember which was which.
The only fragrance that I have tried from By Killian is Moonlight in Heaven which is nice in the summer. I just had a sample of it but liked it. This sounds nice. I like raspberry/cherry scents.
I testes their Incense Oud eonz ago. I was addicted to that scent, but alas it didn’t last on me. Maybe I should try their scents again ?
So far, I have experienced decent longevity with Kilian but there was noticeable variance between the scents!