Back to Black, Aphrodisiac (Perfume) by Kilian

Bottle Design:
Carré Basset

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Les Volutes des Fumées

Back to Black, Aphrodisiac Kilian 2009 Perfume

7.8 / 10 1190 Ratings

A popular perfume by Kilian for women and men, released in 2009. The scent is sweet-gourmand. The longevity is above-average. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Sweet

Gourmand

Spicy

Oriental

Fruity

Fragrance Notes

Honey

Chamomile

Cedarwood

Frankincense

Sandalwood Smoke

Smoke

Spices

Vanilla absolute

Perfumer

Calice Becker

Ratings

Scent

7.81190 Ratings

Longevity

8.5973 Ratings

Sillage

7.8929 Ratings

Bottle

8.5891 Ratings

Value for money

6.4355 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 10/20/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Les Volutes des Fumées collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

H - 100 Jubilée

Back to Black Aphrodisiac Solid Perfume

When Soul Gets High

Tobacco Honey

Wednesday

Honey Laced Tabac

Reviews

80 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/22/2012

9Scent 7.5Longevity 10Sillage

Njdeb
63 Reviews

Njdeb

Helpful Review 7

Spicy gourmand perfection

Swoon. The initial blast of this is just unbelievably good. Back to Black is a heavenly spicy/smokey gourmand fragrance in the vein of Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille and Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque, a genre I admit to loving.

Of the three, Back to Black is most definitely my favorite. I also find Back to Black to be the most feminine of the group (although certainly still unisex). The top notes are particulary delicious. Although I don't see any flowers listed, I get a bit of a floral feel here (maybe the bergamot?) along with jammy fruits, honey and spices. It truly smells good enough to eat.

Supporting the delectable top notes are the classic oriental perfume ingredients of amber and vanilla. Bitter almond provides a nice twist on this classic formula, adding a subtle powdery sweet note. Patchouli makes an appearance as well, and when combined with the fruits, adds an element reminiscent of modern fruity chypres such as Badgley Mishka. Back to Black pretty much takes the best aspects from several perfumes I admire and rolls them into one fabulous, well-blended fragrance.

Since this is frequently compared to Tobacco Vanille, and having a decant of Tobacco Vanille, I thought it might be interesting to compare them side by side. At first spray, I find Back to Black to be more honeyed fruit and amber and Tobacco Vanille more of a boozy vanilla. Both have that smokey element, but Tobacco Vanille is more in your face about it. Tobacco Vanille is also more blatantly spicy and stronger in general. Back to Black just feels softer and more nuanced. I also find Back to Black to have more layers of development (as I've descibed above) than Tobacco Vanille. Tobacco Vanille is pretty much just what it says it is, a smoky vanilla, and the aroma of Tobacco Vanille remains very stable throughout the life of the scent. On the plus side for Tobacco Vanilla, it's sillage and longevity are superior to Back to Black. If you're looking for bang for your buck (ok, lots of bucks), Tobacco Vanille wins hands down.

Unfortunately, I do not have any left of my sample of Fumerie Turque, so I can't compare that directly to Back to Black. I'm fairly certain, though, that I would find Fumerie Turque smokier and more leathery than Back to Black. No doubt, because of that, I view Fumerie Turque as more masculine than both Tobacco Vanille and certainly Back to Black. It would probably be my first choice for a man.

For me, Back to Black is the ultimate spicy gourmand and destined to become one of my very favorite perfumes

03/20/2012

7Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Helpful Review 5

What Christine Nagel's In Black Might Have Been

By the drydown, By Kilian BACK TO BLACK seems closer to Jesus del Pozo IN BLACK than it does to Tom Ford TOBACCO VANILLE (to which some people are comparing it). Well, except that the ingredients used in this composition are of significantly higher quality than those used in IN BLACK...

Initially the tobacco and honey notes see very dominant, but the saffron is also conspiring with the olibanum and woods to produce an odd rubbery myrrh-like facet. This aspect becomes more pronounced as the perfume dries down, and eventually reaches the point of reminding me of IN BLACK.

I realize that this may smack of heresy, given that Jesus del Pozo is something of a low-brow juice factory, while By Kilian is one of the hoitiest and toitiest of niche houses. However, it's important to bear in mind that Jesus del Pozo does enlist the services of good perfumers: Christine Nagel designed IN BLACK, and had she been afforded a "sky is the limit" ingredients budget, her creation would have been every bit as good as this one by Calice Becker.

02/10/2015

Platinum1
59 Reviews

Platinum1

6

~ Life is Like a Pipe ~

~ I have always admired a fellow gentleman who smokes a pipe especially one with the sillage of sophisticated cherry tobacco aroma in the air. As a nonsmoker my initial impression of BtB allows me to share that very same mental image in my mind and in reality on my wrist. I easily evoke myself in a high back chair in my own private library with it's well polished shelves and classic leather bound books. This is a fresh out of the pouch opening dab of raspberry and saffron followed by a long lasting perfectly sweet honey and smooth tobacco that I puff on for many enjoyable hours as I read chapters from Dickens or Hemingway. I find this more of a comfort scent than an aphrodisiac perhaps a seduction scent for the mind only? If this is genuinely inspired by or a tribute to the late Amy Winehouse song "Back to Black" then it is very fittingly so. "....And life is like a pipe. And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside"
Kind Regards, Plat ~

10/01/2023

7.5Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Woodmere971
3 Reviews

Woodmere971

Helpful Review 3

A Tired Albeit Legendary Trailblazer

Speaking as someone who has been working with perfumery aromachemicals and natural extractives for the better part of 15 years, it is hard for me to see this for anything other than its constituents and the fact that it is a pretty average fragrance when you really break it down to them. It's also one of my favorite mainstream creations of all time, and that's coming from a guy who doesn't have a 1000 bottle shrine, or who seeks out the new hyped banger.

When this came out, it really set a trend for "niche" (I hate this term) perfume, and I can confidently say this has been an inspiration for so many perfumers who came later.

It's sweet, it's spicy, it's woody, it's honey and booze and fruity and brooding, with a friendly, sexy "come hither" pull. It's a whiskey cocktail. It's a leather chaise that has seen the unthinkable. It's the storage room of a Northwestern farmhouse rife with fruits of the fall harvest.

It's a clever creation. I am reminded a bit of oak, tobacco, tea, peaches, and something I've never been able to totally isolate. While I know most of its secrets and it doesn't wow me like it once did almost 15 years ago, it's still one of my most frequently worn fragrances, and I have to bow down in appreciation and admiration, for, in my opinion, one of the most important trendsetters of the 2010s perfume scene.

You should try this at least once if you haven't. A sort of historical study piece.

04/15/2012

9Scent

Awesomeness
247 Reviews

Awesomeness

Helpful Review 5

If for only longevity ...

Absolutely incredible fragrance! If only the longevity matched this wonderful scent.

I adore this slightly fruity, slighty sweet tobacco scent, which I received in a Kilian sample pack. It's a dark fragrance which is perfect for evenings and fall wear. Definitely NOT in the mold of mass market fragrances or in the mold of modern rose (of which Kilian's Dangerous Liaisons is one that I love & own).

Even with longevity that falls short of its price tag, Back to Black just shot to the top of my full-bottle wishlist, and maybe Santa will get it for me this year. Until then, I am wearing JDP's In Black which a cherry-tobacco fragrance that is similar to Back in Black. Although the JDP is not as good as the Kilian, it's only about 1/10 of the price of the Kilian on a per ml basis. For now, JDP will do ... at least until Santa comes. :)

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