Back to Black (2009)
by By Kilian

Back to Black is not one of the most complex of BK's fragrances but it is addictive.

Opening with a Dr pepper soaked tobacco splash, the Dr Pepper mellows to a cherry tobacco accord. There are light touches of honey and vanilla. Having had chamomile tea with honey before, I know how the two complement each other - perhaps the accord is there, though I don't get the flowery, grassy quality of the chamomile...eh, maybe a hint. Any man would have to assess this fragrance carefully to see if it is masculine enough - it is fairly sweet. All I know is I like smelling it. Not sure i would be comfortable having this emanating from me in public though. Definitely worth a thorough sampling.

22nd January, 2012.

"A tobacco inspiration, an aphrodisiac aroma with sweet undertones of honey"

Reading this description you can almost imediatelly think about Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford, well and they do share similarities, but here right after the first spray we have a very evident, natural and bright honey note accompanied by a slight and very lluring raspberry aroma and a not so hard to detect chamomile note giving to this particular fragrance a different dept compared to Tobacco Vanille. Lovely opening!!

After a couple minutes the tobacco kicks in without disrupting the beauty of this fragrance. Despite the official description, it just appears as a back component to this beautiful honey fragrance. But sadly nothing that is too good lasts forever. Back to Black after a couple hours loses potency and becomes a slight watery honey skin scent different from that beautiful drydown.

BUT, anyhow, the thing that grab my attention and makes me love a gourmand fragrance is balance. I hate overdone sweet fragrances and thanks god this mistake was not made in Back to Black. The semi-sweet combination is just perfect.

25th December, 2011.

In my quest for tobacco, I compared this side by side (arm by arm) with Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille. BtB leads with a realistic honey scent with tobacco in the background. TV is basically just what it says -- equal parts tobacco and vanilla. While TV is very linear, BtB loses the tobacco during the dry down and one is left with just the honey. Out of the two, I find BtB to be sweeter. It is a very pleasant fragrance, but I am more likely to wear TV. If you are looking for a honey fragrance you may really like this.

24th December, 2011.

This is THE most heavenly warm, beautiful scent.

Back to Black has the wonderful smell of pipe tobacco, fresh in a pouch, sweetened with honey and cherry and almond, all of these being favourite notes of mine. It starts off quite spicy, but mellows and rounds out quickly. It lasts and lasts and lasts on my skin and varies between honey and tobacco, sometimes smelling of one, sometimes of another with a slightly fruity/floral note (possibly bergamot or maybe the raspberry, but not at all strong) which actually brings out the base notes of the scent.

It is a gourmand scent, but it's not very gourmand-edible. It's more on the Cacharel Gloria and Guerlain SdV end of gourmand (although less powdery) rather than the full on apple-pie style of Ambre Narguile.

8th December, 2011.

I so wanted to Love this one ,everyone else does. Tried it on 3 different occasions and unfortunately this one is just not doing it for me. To me it smells like a baby!, and honestly one that need to be bathed! I get a distinctive Johnson's Baby Powder note with a hint of a wet diaper a and slightly souring milk formula note as well!, its a very simple close to the skin composition,and the sour aspect intensifies with the dry down, in the end you just smell like you need to be burped and put down for a nap.

1st December, 2011.

This is all about honey and vanilla pipe tobacco to me. The honey comes off straight away and persists through the duration of the scent. The tobacco is muted and more of the pipe tobacco variety than the dirty ash tray variety. It blends perfectly with the honey opening and I find it plays more of a supportive role in this fashion. Hints of vanilla in the base as well, but this one really is all honey and tobacco to me. Incredibly smooth and well blended as I’ve found all Kilians so far. Simply great stuff all around.

8th November, 2011.