(Photo: Ed Schipul)

I love watching “sleight of hand” magicians work. At The Magic Castle in Hollywood you can watch these masters of prestidigitation make things appear out of thin air only to disappear the next minute. The very best of these magicians will let you get as close as you want to try and see if you can figure out how they are doing it. I always keep my distance just marveling at the skill it takes to fuse precision and a knowledge of human nature to make it seem as if the illusion is real. In the perfume world we have our own sleight of hand magicians too.

Kilian Hennessy (l.) and Calice Becker

A perfumer can through a skillful use of disparate ingredients weave an olfactory illusion of another ingredient that is not present in the fragrance. These combinations are most often referred to as accords. Sometimes they are used in the place of a hard to source natural material as it can be more cost-efficient to create an accord in that way. Other times an accord is used because by using a number of components to create an effect it has added complexity especially as the accord unravels over time transforming the central note into something else. Then there is the rare fragrance that is all about the accord. 2009’s By Kilian Back to Black, Aphrodisiac is one of those as perfumer Calice Becker, under the Creative Directorship of owner Kilian Hennessy, shows off her tobacco accord.

Tobacco Leaf

Tobacco is a frequent component of perfumes. It has a deep almost narcotic quality in its natural form. For Back to Black Mme Becker creates one of the most lifelike tobacco fragrances I have ever encountered all without adding a smidge of tobacco itself. Back to Black weaves a hypnotic spell full of heady lovely tobacco. Then ever so slowly it starts to decay at the edges as the pieces of this illusion begin to fray until you are left with a softly glowing honey finish.

From the first moment you spray Back to Black on you are engulfed in a haze of drying tobacco leaf. It is sort of leathery and it also has a bit of a mentholated grace note too. For hours you will smell nothing but this fabulous tobacco accord; eventually the accord starts to fall apart. The first thread to pull itself clear is the linchpin which holds this all together blue chamomille. As the blue chamomille leaves it adds a soft floral aspect over the tobacco. The tobacco then takes a turn towards the resinous as olibanum pulls itself free. Ciste Absolute stands out as one of the sources of tobacco’s natural sweetness with its ripe fruit quality. Finally we are left with a viscous honey which is matched with an equally warm amber for the final stages of Back to Black.

Back to Black has overnight longevity and above average sillage.

No matter how many times a sleight of hand magician makes the coin disappear and re-appear I never tire of watching it happen. Back to Black is one of the best perfumes by Mme Becker and is right there as the best of the entire By Kilian line. Just like magic I fall under Mme Becker’s spell every time I wear it, happily so.

Disclosure: this review is based on a bottle of Back to Black I purchased.

–Mark Behnke, Monthly Contributor

 First Officer Commander William T Riker aka Mark Behnke and  Captain Jean Luc Picard aka Michelyn Camen

Editor's Note:  Mark has been Managing Editor of CaFleureBon since our inception March 22, 2010 and we have worked together for five years. When Mark told me in August 2013 that we was starting a "solo" blog the following scenario immediately came to mind. Let me share it with you

Star Date 2010: Captain "Michelyn" Picard was abducted by the Borg Queen. Commander "Mark" Riker was in command of the USS CaFleureBon Enterprise until her safe return.

Star Date 2011:  Number One, we are being hailed by the Esxence delegation. Take the shuttlecraft to the Milano galaxy. Upon your return, meet me in my ready room

Star Date 2012-2013: You have the bridge Number One.

Star Date 2014: Number One, it is time. You must be a Captain of  your own starship.  Your mission is to seek out strange new olfactive experiences and boldly go where no perfume blogger has gone before. The USS Colognoisseur awaits you.  We will use a sub-space signal to transport you aboard the USS CaFleureBon monthly and you will continue your mission of writing CaFleureBon Modern Masterpieces.

Join me and the crew of CaFleureBon in wishing Mark a successful scented journey into uncharted space. Energize!  -Michelyn Camen Editor in Chief