Like the eccentric Englishman in a blue velvet jacket, pink striped shirt and a cashmere-print pocket square, this perfume is an extravagant unravelling of colors and textures.
A cool whiff of mint and aniseed, imbued with Chinese geranium, spills over into nuances of clove, sandalwood, benzoin and frankincense.
For the man who would not normally wear perfume, who believes in naked attraction and relies on the simple seductive power of his rugged appearance.
The spicy freshness of pimiento, angelica and juniper flowers melts into a woody sea of cedar, patchouli and vetiver, bound by galbanum and frankincense in a mysterious enhancement of men’s natural scent.
A moment of closeness full of promise and the addictive feeling of mutual dependency.
Cashmeran, which performs like a vibrating musk, is crowned with violet, warmed by heliotrope and imbued with the saltiness of moist skin. Sandalwood adds a milky softness, and white musk, a clean magnetism, evoking the scent of someone you couldn’t live without.
Musk is notorious for having two faces: the pure and the wicked. Accentuating its binary character produces a perfume both innocent and irresistible, split between a clean cologne accord of lemon, bergamot and orange blossom, and a seductive white musk accord.
A show of innocence is not the perfume’s only source of trickery: its staggering concentration of musk overcomes the transient nature of an eau de cologne and renders the perfume indestructible.
An initial impression of innocence and flower-shop freshness disperses to reveal a more lustful tuberose: these dark and spicy notes surrender in turn to ones of milky comfort, enhanced by white musk, to draw out tuberose’s aura of lingering sensuality.
Erotic flower.
Carnal Flower contains by far the highest concentration of natural tuberose in the perfume industry.
An overdose of refined essence of bitter orange (or “bigarade”, as they say in Provence), embellished with cardamom and pink pepper on a woody base of hay and cedar, heralds a new generation of “eaux”.
A simple formula for an air of clean sophistication.
Cologne Bigarade is also available in a more concentrated form as Bigarade Concentrée.
Inspiration: A perfume as complex and dazzling as the woman who wears it. Perfumer Calice Becker was inspired by the fascinating contrast between the painting’s facets, which she describes as “texturized and brilliant, rich and voluptuous.
Fragrance story: The notes conjure, in scent, the delicate gold leafing and play between light and shadow, for which the painting is celebrated. Its zesty luminosity is the fragrant expression of this brightness. The petal-y rose heart depicts all of the facets of the rose. Finally, vanilla absolute’s unctuosity appears generously in the drydown, adorned by an exclusive patchouli molecule, the Akigalawood.
Key notes: rose, vanilla absolute, Akigalawood
Olfactive Family: Narcotics – From rose to tuberose, from orange blossom to gardenia… Kilian flowers are composed like a narcotic dependence.
Inspiration: Elegant, daring, seductive, bold. Inspired by the dashing, golden-armored chevalier in Klimt’s 1902 Beethoven Frieze, perfumer Pascal Gaurin says, “Gold Knight blends finery and eroticism, a glistening quality of deep sensuality.”
Fragrance story: Gold Knight contrasts the addictive dark sensuousness of patchouli with the effervescent brightness of bergamot, and warm golden shimmer of vanilla and anise.
Inspiration: A dazzling beam of pearlized light dances on the oceans belly, witnessed by two lovers who watch from a balcony draped in floating white opaque gauze that seems alive, responding to a warm wind that blows. The lovers, high above the world to almost touch the stars, with full hearts and bodies light as air.
Fragrance story: Omnipresent, Moonlight in Heaven sparkles with a citrus-forward opening, driven by a duo of lemon and grapefruit, spiced with pink pepper berry. Coconut milk and rice–white as the moon’s face–rounds out creamy mango and powdery jasmine sambac, while a tonka bean drydown envelops delicate vetiver.
Key notes: Grapefruit, Mango, Roasted Tonka Beans
Olfactive Family: Fresh – Composed with citrus, aldehydes or aquatic notes, they bring freshness, lightness, and a serene feeling to Kilian compositions.
Inspiration: On turbulent seas, an inescapably transient pirate ship braves black waters, leagues deep in mystery. Black Phantom “Memento Mori” reveals its hidden treasures to the curious nose in waves.
Fragrance story: Rum accord from Martinique, akin to ‘pirates water’, spikes the scent of strong coffee at its heart, balanced by vetiver essence. A deadly bite of cyanide accord hides menacingly, like the smile from death itself. Smile back as sugar cane and dark, creamy sandalwood assures a trying journey holds a sweet reward.
Key notes: Rum, Coffee, Cyanide
Olfactive Family: Cellars – Woods in all their forms – from sandalwood to cedarwood, from patchouli to Vetyver – but always with a Kilian twist: rum, coffee, cacao, cognac, whisky, as a reminder of Kilian Hennessy's heritage.
B683 is a result of the meeting of two young designers.
One is a couturier, the other a perfumer. Their childhood memories brought them together. Remembering captivating smells; of the leather from an elegant attaché case or an immaculate desk blotter; of the distinct smells of wood during the regular gathering of fuel to warm the family home.
The artistic skills of the former and the olfactory talent of the latter together sparked a magical and pleasant fragrance with its notes of spices, leather and wood.
