KILIAN
BLACK PHANTOM MEMENTO MORI

2017

PERFUMER
Sidonie Lancesseur

Dark Chocolate
Rum
Caramel
Coffee
Sugar Cane
Almond
Sandalwood
Heliotrope

In all honesty, there are more fragrances that I’ve fallen out of love with, than the opposite. However, there are some cases where a fragrance just keeps on getting better with every time I smell it. Point in case, Kilian’s ever-popular and critically-acclaimed Black Phantom.

Since it’s such a popular fragrance in the fragrance community, it was one of the first niche releases that I ever sampled. On first impression, I didn’t love it. The opening has this slightly burnt quality to it that I didn’t appreciate at the time. The drydown, being very gourmand, I liked more, but (and this might come as a shock) I wasn’t a gourmand-lover yet at the time. So in that regard, my taste has changed.

However, by the time I emptied my first sample, I already liked it a lot better and it left me with a sense of longing. Maybe I’ve gotten more used to it or maybe my full bottle smells slightly different than the samples I used to have, but I find it much less harsh and ‘fiery’ in the opening than I used to.

Black Phantom feels like a full-on, milky gourmand from start to finish now to me. As a gourmand lover Black Phantom has lived up to it’s reputation and shot up to my favorites in the genre throughout the years.