Black Sugar Pink Sugar 2013

By chance, I saw that Aquolina has released a new Pink Sugar flanker. Black Sugar, black as the deepest, raven black night.
Okay - quickly checked the fragrance notes, compared prices, found that it's only available in one online shop so far, and ordered it blindly.
It should fit perfectly.
Yesterday the fragrance arrived. The bottle is pretty and looks elegant with the gold ornaments.

Oud, yes, what can I say about that. I probably won't be able to smell real oud in a perfume, and my experience with oud is therefore limited. The fragrance that I ordered here in the forum as an oud reference, I can't consider as typical oud. But I can say that I imagined agarwood exactly as I perceive it in Black Sugar.

So I just sprayed it on. It smells very dark, indeed black as the night. The color fits. The scent is not too sweet. My first impression was even bitter, smoky, leathery, and suitable for men as well. For me, Black Sugar is definitely a unisex fragrance. I even find it a bit more suitable for men than for women and was surprised to see that it is supposed to be a pure women's fragrance. Aquolina must have meant it differently.

You can smell incense and oud, which come across as very smoky in combination. It has a typical campfire smoke that I can detect. Myrrh also supports the smoky impression and gives the fragrance a mystical quality. It definitely has something sacred about it.
The leather is also clearly recognizable, as real, crackly, dark leather. Vanilla is also very prominent and runs through the entire fragrance development as an underpinning.
The scent strongly reminds me of certain top notes from other fragrances. Vanilla West Indies from St. Barth, for example, or Ambre&Vanille from E.Coudray. These have that smoky vanilla that I mean. Shalimar also has this smoky tone in the top note.
The sandalwood also has a smoky touch in this combination.
The fragrance only faintly resembles Pink Sugar. There may be hints of it, but black overshadows pink. It might still be there, but is covered by incense, oud, myrrh, and leather. These nuances also make the existing vanilla very noble. I personally do not recognize raspberry. Perhaps it's a hint of fresh molecules right after spraying? I do not detect any raspberry. As I said, the other notes are so dark and intense that something bright is slightly overshadowed.

A spritz of the fragrance is enough for the whole day and even for the night. The longevity is phenomenal. The scent is very intense and still clearly present 16 hours after spraying. It becomes a bit closer to the skin after 9 hours and "somewhat" less intense, but is still very concentrated. Too much of it would definitely give me a headache. At least, the scent would annoy me. So it needs to be dosed very carefully.
Black Sugar is more suitable for autumn and winter evenings or for going out. It is too intense and too unusual for everyday wear.
This is a fragrance that will surely become a hidden gem. It can compete with very big and high-quality fragrances. The intensity is unparalleled for me.
I do not regret at all that I ordered it.
I will use it together with my husband, just like the Vanilla West Indies.