Single Malt London Kilian 2014

In anticipation of Kilian's upcoming launch Old Fashioned, I opted to get myself 10ml of the now discontinued Single Malt London. Due to this fragrance being nearly impossible to find and most influencers being mere opportunists, I have seen the few people who already have Old Fashioned compare it to "Angels' Share | Kilian". We can set the record straight: if Old Fashioned is actually inspired by Single Malt then it smells nothing like "Angels' Share | Kilian".

Single Malt London features the best open I have smelled since Royal Crown's 2023 release Aeternum as the listed plum note resembles roasted plum compote with slight boozy nuances. The surprising twist with Single Malt is that when smelled up-close, the fragrance features prominent medicinal ambers and mild oud/woodiness. The medicinal amber tones mentioned are very similar to the style of fragrance you get from Carner Barcelona with scents like Megalium. The base tones provide good lift for a fragrance that mainly smells sweet-fruity-spicy with oriental-woody-animalic being the accords on which the scent is built upon. The previously described complexity remains for more than half of the wearing experience until the scent eventually settles into a faint combination of fruity & warm spicy, feeling more like a distant relative of the Tobacolor family of fragrances (incl. Kilian's 2023 release Smoking Hot).

Within the community of owners that Single Malt London has, performance has been criticized and I think there is space for that criticism. The scent opens strong and remains so for around 45 minutes before sillage dies down to just above intimate with people being able to smell you walking by. For me, the scent lasts on skin for around 7-8 hours, somewhat similar to the longevity of Smoking Hot. Another obvious issue here is the pricing - this is a discontinued fragrance that in BNIB form (brand new in bottle) is now trading around €500/50ml. That places Single Malt London in competition with premium/luxury product like Clive Christian's Jump Up and Kiss Me Hedonistic (€550/50ml) which brings more depth and better quality.

Now all one can do is wait and see whether Old Fashioned can live up to the standard set by Single Malt London. Regardless of whether it actually does, Single Malt will be remembered as yet another successful release in Kilian's fall/winter catalogue which already features nearly a dozen of them.