Sweet Redemption The End Kilian 2011 Perfume

So, when I read through my old comments, we find Escada Magnetism Cherry Coke, and in Invasion Barbare we find Thomas Henry's "Spicy Ginger Ale," and with Pure Malt the master brewer sodas from Eichbaum (I hope this isn't misunderstood as advertising for beverages).

With Sweet Redemption, I have now found a comparison to Root Beer.

Root Beer (also known as "Sarsaparilla") is a very sweet drink, somewhat like cola, but with a certain bubblegum flavor that many describe as mouthwash. The American versions are extremely sweet and sugary due to their thick fructose concentrates. In Taiwan, however, it is the national drink, less sweet and more intense in its bubblegum characteristic. Even though it sounds bizarre, a pinch of salt is often added, which intensifies the flavor and gives the body some salt back in the sweltering heat.

In any case, Sweet Redemption reminded me exactly of that.

At the beginning, you get orange blossom, but not a refreshing one like in every neroli water, no, it is a thick and heavy kind of orange blossom, thickened by jasmine, which becomes more intoxicating than refreshing.

The whole thing is underpinned by vanilla and benzoin as sweet components, with the benzoin making the sweetness somewhat elusive; it smells vanillic but is not distinctly vanillic. The frankincense components myrrh and frankincense are also kept very mild and are not clearly recognizable, but they give the fragrance a somewhat dry and woody aspect; you can almost smell the texture of incense sticks.

That’s exactly why I felt reminded of a Root Beer Float, which is a somewhat perverse dessert from America for Europeans; it basically consists of a glass of Root Beer and 1-2 scoops of vanilla ice cream (by the way, this is how Vanillacoke was created, because this float also exists in the cola + vanilla ice cream version).

The parallel I see here to the float is that you take something refreshing (the orange blossom, the cola/root beer) and transform it with vanilla (or vanilla ice cream) into something heavy, into a calorie bomb.
Sweet Redemption is, for my horizon, the only fragrance so far where orange blossom has been pushed to the maximum into the oriental.
Furthermore, there is a contrast here between rough (frankincense, myrrh) and soft (vanilla, benzoin), which can also be faintly smelled in "Love" (this "rough" element can also be found here).

The fragrance itself has an incredibly good performance and leaves a phenomenal scent trail behind; heads will definitely turn as you walk by. I find that from a distance, Sweet Redemption smells many times better than up close.

Sweet Redemption is, for me, the highlight of all Kilians, and the numbers here on Parfumo confirm that it is a beautiful unisex fragrance (32 people own Sweet Redemption, half women, half men). Clean, folks! But in my opinion, more people simply need to own Sweet Redemption.

I now belong to that group as well, and the next woman will surely follow. ;)