Dark

9/10. Very Cool Dry Dark Chocolate. This is the only chocolatey-patchouli scent that I would wear. This is Cool, Calm, Collected, and Tall, Dark, & Handsome all in one bottle. This scent opens with a dry dark chocolate for the first 5 min (reminiscent of that baker's cocoa powder), then settles into a leathery-patchouli scent in the mid that is bitter, which lasts for like an hour. Further into the dry down as the bitter leather patchouli wears off, you can pick up the sweet vanilla and hazelnut, topping off the rest of the wear with a light sweet experience. It's quite lovely and very cool imo, yet strange that patchouli is not listed--because it's definitely in there. I sniffed this scent early in my perfume journey and did not like the leathery dry down, as it was too sharp then, so it was a pass. I revisited the sample that I have recently and realized that Akro Dark may be the coolest chocolate scent out there right now. I am currently loving this one. I don't have any chocolate in my collection, but if I were to add one, it would have to be dry, unique, and far from the sweet gourmands out in the market right now. I'm going to compare Akro Dark with Une Nuit Nomade Suma Oriental, which is another perfume with chocolate and patchouli notes. Suma oriental has a wonderful opening that is chocolatey-patchouli, boozy and robust, but it dries down sour to my nose and too masculine, sweaty, damp, like BO, which I would not enjoy wearing. Akro Dark stays dry the entire wear, even when the leathery-vinyl nuances come through. Akro Dark is a very cool & unique chocolate scent that gives off gothic vibes, yet is rich & delectable with nuances of coffee and peanut butter. I think this perfume is very wearable for both day and night during autumn and winter as the chocolate here wears dry and never overwhelming or cloying. I have a full bottle on the way and am looking forward to wearing more during autumn and winter this year. It leans a bit cozy, too, making it so likeable. Happy that I revisited this one. Unisex. Not blind buy safe. Must test.

This is a hugely memory inducing parfum for me. As some have said, it really does smell at times like cigarette ashes, but I find it a crucial part of the experience, and not at all offending. Mind you, I am not the one to spray liberally - one to two sprays is enough for me of any scent. I think Dark might cause a headache if sprayed more than that. The memory that makes me love this parfum immensely is a day from childhood, visiting my grandparents, my uncle reading me Tintins and Lucky Lukes after the lunch. Both my uncle and my grandpa smoked these cheap and very strong filterless cigarettes called North State (Nortti) that British American Tobacco sold in Finland in the 80's. In addition to the cigarette smell, the indoor air of my grandparents was saturated with coffee and my grandma's flower parfums. Now, I don't claim Dark smelling like flowers or coffee, but it does bring me back those memories more vividly than anything else. And it combines the memories with my deep love for the darkest, most delicious Lindt chocolates from the Excellence and Creation lines. On my skin Dark lasts approx. 7 hours. It has quickly become one of the scents I love the most in my collection. As many have said before, this is NOT a sweet gourmand and not safe for blind buy. But if you are interested in trying, get the sample set from Akro website and take a whiff - the larger sample set also has Bake which is more of a sweeter gourmand, and very lovely, too. I find Dark more unique, though. For reference: I am 50ish-year-old woman, living in a colder climate, and my favorite parfums are Goutal's Rose Absolue, Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille, Armani's Cuir Amethyste and Initio's Blessed Baraka. Greetings from Finland! Edit 13.6.2024: Thank you so much for the likes! I do hope my review helps when you ponder if this scent is for you or not.

I was lucky and got free sample. Akro Dark was love at first sniff and FBW from go. Convinced Dark was my number one all time fave chocolate gourmand I tried to purchase a one ounce bottle from the Akro Website, only to be let down, receiving the message they don’t ship to my area. (USA? Ummm...okay) Briefly waylaid, I kept diligent watch on eBay for a rare stray bottle and was finally rewarded with my very own 100ml last April. The scent is everything the sample was, except doesn’t seem to have quite the longevity. I can detect all the notes mentioned, but also as someone else stated, a dark animalic leather. It just slays me dead, love it. Sadly, my husband isn’t as big a fan as I am. After wearing it to bed one night, the next morning he told me he didn’t really like what I was wearing, and that he smelled something “agent orangish” about it. So, not a partner pleaser, and one of my most expensive perfume purchases. That’s fine, I’m still enamored. I think I smell like Willy Wonka’s dominatrix, whip in one hand, chocolate hazelnut truffle in the other. One last mention. My bottle leaks. It purged liquid from the atomizer after I used it, to the point it ran down the side. It was a hassle to decant into another bottle, as the sprayer pump is a slightly larger size than my decant fitting. I ended up having to spray into a new bottle through a funnel. Not fun and hugely wasteful, but my hands smelled amazing.

I was always very curious about this brand and its creations since the creator of the fragrances is one of my favourites perfumers ever! Dark is a high quality gourmand fragrance. It’s dark, cacao-heavy, dry with smokey touches! Opens up with a high quality ,rich, dark, bitter chocolate note along with a faint touch of booziness. Imagine the most premium dark chocolate bar, that is how it smells like! After a while I’m getting a raw cacao powder along with some gorgeous hazelnut accords which give a little bit of sweetness without being overly sweet in anyway. I love this combo, it works perfectly together! Also I’m not getting any cinnamon but I can definitely catch some hints of vanilla. In the drydown the scent becomes dry, dark, smokey along with earthy, green and slightly woody vibes. There must definitely be a patchouli note in there even if it’s not listed. Overall I have to say that I’m very impressed about this scent. I love how the perfumer manages to make a chocolate dominated perfume with a dark character, without being overly sweet! It’s definitely a full bottle worthy if you are looking for a semi gourmand high quality perfume. Perfect choice for the colder months! Projection is pretty good and the longevity is definitely above average! Scent: 9/10 Longevity: Long Lasting Sillage: Strong

... Totally hypnotizing aroma, absolutely worthy of the collection and the pleasure of all GOURMANDIE. On skin it opens with a very powerful aroma of cocoa beans, hazelnuts with all their husks, a few sweet almonds and a pair of coffee beans, all well mixed and placed on a pan on the direct fire, until you feel how each bean begins to brown, and the hazelnut husks begin to burn and detach, at which point a small portion of muscovado sugar is added along with a vanilla bean. No I'm not really writing a recipe for some delicious dessert, it's exactly what I perceive every time I use it. If your nose is almost like a hound, you will be able to perceive the almost imperceptible touch of sweet tobacco and a few patchouli leaf beads, at least you will feel them the first times you use it, with use your nose gets used to it and after 4 or 5 uses you will no longer feel it. Packaging : 7/10 Duration : 15/10 Sillage : 20/10 versatility : 3/10 Is it worth the price? : definitely YES.

As someone who had neonatura cocoon by Yves rocher as their signature scent for high school and early college, and has tested it side by side with dark akro, I can tell you with certainty that they are 90 to 95 percent the same. The only difference is Cocoon does have a back ground of patchouli which makes it a bit more interesting in my opinion. While dark, has a hint of patchouli _eventhough not listed_ but it's mostly a dark chocolate that almost feels burnt from the hint of cinnamon. Also, I don't think hazelnut note is really perceivable in dark. So, I mostly get dark dark chocolate and cacao with a hint of cinnamon and patchouli. Vanilla is just a support and you cannot really smell it independently. Other difference is dark feels 30 percent stronger in terms of performance and sillage in comparison to my 12 year old bottle of cocoon. Believe it or not, Cocoon still lasts much longer on my skin in comparison to dark. Dark is gone within 3 hours while cocoon lasts 5.

I love this! A very dark, bitter coffee and cocoa, mixed with hazelnut. There's a slight booziness lurking in the background. I get a bit of faint cinnamon, too. It's definitely unisex, but I'm comfortable wearing it. It's not too masculine. It also has decent sillage and lasted all day for me. It's just like its namesake - very dark in every way. It's a warm darkness, cozy yet sharp. There is a faint smokiness, but it's like embers from a bonfire, not anything cigarette or tobacco-like. Which is a relief, because those accords (just like the smell of smoking in real life) give me a pounding headache. There's a similarity to Black Phantom in the bitter coffee/rum accord, but the hazelnut and dark chocolate make it quite different. Then the vanilla comes up in the drydown and adds a gourmand element. The dichotomy between the fresh bitterness and spice is unusual and adds a nice twist. It's on my list for a full bottle!

So, this one is SO much better than expected. The bitter chocolate, dry vanilla extract, the gourmand notes without the dessert like sweetness is totally dreamy. I am so SICK and TIRED of smelling like candy! Ugh...why is it that so many women are all whining about this not being sickly sweet like Lush's Chelsea Morning, or Sticky Dates? There are WAY too many dessert perfumes, they are a dime a dozen. That said, I own both of those, and love a good vanilla-- sometimes. But, to create a dry gourmand, without the candy coated ick is so refreshing. It makes this scent different..in the best of ways. It also allows this frag to be truly unisex. My only criticism is that the performance is not the best. And I have found this to be true for Akro perfumes in general. Still, I MUST own this. It's sexy, deep and truly wonderful.

The opening resembles sweet dark chocolate, in seconds it dries down to a cocoa powder/dark chocolate smell with spicy/nutty undertones. It mostly dries down to a semi-sweet, woody/dusty patchouli. Projects out fairly well for a reasonable amount of time, it avoids the sort of synthetic nuclear performance I often see with fragrances with this kind of scent profile and keeps things relaxed. I've had people either say it smells like patchouli or a fog machine, all well-received by people who smelled it. Really nice cold weather scent that isn't a vanilla bomb or otherwise delves too deep into a sweet gourmand direction, the "warmth" and sweetness of the scent are both very restrained. I'd argue that after the dry down it doesn't really smell like a gourmand at all, more of a warm spicy smell, which I'm fine with.

Smoky dark chocolate. Smells like dark chocolate and cocoa powder in the opening, becomes smoky hazelnut on the dry down, then smells faintly of vanilla after many hours have passed. Never overly sweet. I don't get cinnamon, unless that's what's contributing to the "smokiness". This is the sexiest perfume I have ever put on my skin. Edible. Drool-worthy. Mysterious. I'm obsessed with this on me. My boyfriend is obsessed with this on me (though he did try it himself and we both agreed it wasn't as exciting on him). I'm a homebody, but this fragrance makes me want to plan more date nights just to have an excuse to wear this. This truly has raised the bar for me in terms of what perfume can be. I hope I have this in my collection forever.

Akro Dark is honestly unlike anything I’ve ever smelled—and I’m obsessed. Two reviewers said it smells like Bo Jackman/Batman, and weirdly... they’re right. It’s that dry, earthy patchouli mixed with dusty cocoa powder that feels both mysterious and edible in the most unhinged way. Yes, the opening is full barn‐stall patchouli (which I oddly enjoy), but once it settles, it becomes this addictive, shadow‐gourmand vibe. And when I layer it with a spicy patchouli scent, it magically turns sweet on my skin. No idea how, but I’m not questioning it. Coming from someone who also loves florals and sweet gourmands like YBM/Bianco Latte this one is just...deliciously weird. A unique little fragrance, and I’m very happy to have it.

Dry powdery chocolate and hazelnut, not overly sweet, and very comforting! I sprayed it on after my shower around 6pm yesterday, did another spritz right before bed around 9pm and it's still here at 10:25am the next morning. It stays on clothing longer than skin, but I can still smell it on my skin. It's got the longevity and it's got an intimate to moderate sillage, but that's to be expected with the brand's theme. The scents are based on addictions, which are very personal in nature. So imo, it's not supposed to be a beast mode fragrance with a massive sillage, it's supposed to be more intimate for YOU to enjoy. Which I do, a lot actually, more than I thought I would when my mom gifted it to me for Christmas.

This gives dark chocolate vibes as others have said, but it seems a dance of the best parts of Smoke, Malt, and maybe Haze & Awake too. Probably the most unisex among them in the flight I received. I enjoy it quite a bit. Gourmand, but not overly sweet or sticky, and given some foundation with the light smoke added and the spice is not the kind to make your nose tingle, but just warms it up a touch throughout. Cozy like a warm coat, but also medicinal in a comforting way. Edit: After a lot more time with Dark, it may be my favorite chocolate fragrance and I have more than a few of them. (It may tie for first place with Oui Plus, but that's a completely different fragrance and mood.)

At the very start, I get a bit of booziness (scotch/rum) that fades - thankfully as I don't like overtly booze notes, chocolate but not sweet, some kind of fancy paper note(?), incense which fades, slightly peaty smoke that dries to comforting pipe tobacco, and a gorgeous subtle animalic dark leather. I absolutely love this fragrance, and as a woman I would definitely wear it as these types of notes work well on me. I do think that most people would consider this more masculine leaning, but honestly I can see it working on any guys, gals, or nonbinary pals that enjoy these notes and darker scents (it's definitely aptly named!)

First hour it's at it's best, really rich cocoa with a slight fizz, probably due to the cinnamon. The cinnamon really keeps this alive imho, otherwise this would be flat from the start. It's a play going back and forth between a deep dark, dry cocoa and something woody, slightly damp, slightly sweet. The first hour the scent is really alive on the skin, a fantastic experience. Sadly, two hours in and it's a skin scent. This will however, last on clothes, I bet. I will get myself a small bottle. From the whole sample kit this is the only one worth a bottle for me. I totally get the references to patchouli.

Olivier Cresp strikes again! to me this fragrance is greater than the sum of its parts, or however the saying goes. I don't necessarily pick up on the notes distinctly or individually, it's more like I'm smelling a beautiful concoction. Or potion. So so so alluring to me, I get just enough patchouli, seemingly more on my skin than what others have said. But I love that. I am dumbfounded by the negative reviews here – I know fragrance is subjective, but it's just PERFECT to me. Lasts 75% longer than Akro's "Bake," on me at least.

This is the anti hero of chocolate fragrances, especially for those who were imagining something dessert-like. Its a smoky dry cocoa, not a Sees Candy chocolate experience. This is exactly what I love about it. I get all the notes, the cinnamon, the vanilla, the cocoa and a touch of nutty hazelnut. For me "gourmand" is Chabaud lait et Chocolat or Coffee Addict or Jousset Accident a la Vanille. Akro Dark is the rebellious sister of these gourmands and probably will offend some people. I love it.

Dark by Akro smells more like chocolate than chocolate itself. This niche gourmand masterpiece blends its notes seamlessly to capture the truest essence of rich, decadent cocoa. However, it’s not your typical sweet chocolate scent—it leans more realistic, deep, and slightly bitter, making it a risky blind buy for those expecting a sugary treat. If you appreciate authentic, sophisticated, and well-balanced gourmands that remain both wearable and unique, Dark by Akro is a must-try. Rating: 4.5/5

At first blast, you get a chocolate blast to the senses. Some might say, it's a little much. After a few minutes, it calms down and turns into this beautiful, chocolate/cacao, vanilla fragrance that just relaxes around you and pretty much lasts all day. It is so damn pleasant that I think, it's very full bottle worthy. A woman can pull this off also but, it has this masculine undertone to it...maybe the hazelnut with cinnamon gives it this vibe. Definitely for the Fall/Winter time.

The criterion for me when smelling a fragrance for the first time is 'does it move me emotionally?" What it actually smells of is much more difficult to say; in a good well constructed perfume this is likely to remain a mystery. This one moves me, and many others also comment positively It's a shame that Akro suggest what the notes are, however, because we all then think we smell chocolate and hazelnuts. The key ingredients may be something quite different.

Ganache and ... ganache. Rich, warm smell of some unfinished dessert, dessert in process of making it. Probably smells like a woman who spent the whole day making chocolate desserts, but luxurious one, like Zacher torte, not like Oreo, something sexy and edible. The only perfume in my life that makes people come onto me and tell me how nice I smell.

Amazing desert chocolate note, smells actually edible, but NOT gourmand. Laid on something ashy? None of this is listed in the ingredients, but to me the base smells like opening a very old dusty CD player found at the bottom of someones closet. Gets more prominent by the hour, and the dark chocolate note slighty subsides.

smells literally a solid bar of dark chocolate, i pictured a cube of frost dark chocolate on the air... . gourmandy but not overly sweet. the scent stays linear for couple of hours. this is TF black orchid minus the cherry and truffle smell. with this fragance alone i wouldnt hardly look for chocolate fragrances anymore

An elegant, well-crafted fragrance built around a dominant cocoa note. Underpinned by subtle rum-like accords and nuts, sweetened and smoothed with vanilla, it feels sensual, fairly heavy, and true to its name. As it settles on the skin, a gentle smoky veil appears. On fabric, the longevity is all-day.

This smells as if you put your nose into a cacao powder bag, not just any cacao powder, but a dense, dark variety. It is also a bit smoky and leathery to my nose, but other than that, it stays hyperrealistic. If you are up for this kind of cacao powder bomb scent, don't miss this one!

Akro Dark reminds me of Maison Margiela By the Fireplace but with a hot cocoa touch. It’s absolutely divine and cozy. The performance is decent being that I’ve been sitting with the scent for about 6 hours now. Such a gorgeous creation..I will be investing in a full bottle🥰 My opinion

While BAKE is an easy to like gourmand, DARK is (in my opinion) better. It’s a seductive and irresistible combination of chocolate, cocoa, hazelnuts and a well paired Pachouli. It has a smokiness that cuts through the sweetness and elevates the notes to a new high. Give it a try.

So imagine one of the most expensive chocolate ice cream, you know, the super rich gourmet shit you have in your country. Now imagine this ice cream with addiction to chocolate hazelnut heavy rich cream mixed in. Like idk, Lindt chocolate ice cream with Nutella. Photorealistic.

Inside of a dusty old cigar box. Something your grandfather or great-grandfather owned, and you found it in the attack. Slight spiciness of the tobacco is still hanging around. Old, cracked leather... something long forgotten and left to fall apart over a long period of time.

Hardcore chocolate, deep and dry, none of your gourmand sweetness. This is making me hungry for a slice of Nigel Slater's chocolate espresso cake. And did somebody mention Montezuma's? https://lovebakerylondon.blogspot.com/2013/02/chocolate-espresso-cake-by-nigel-slater.html

Dark chocolate. It’s creamy chocolate but not that sweet, slight booze but dark heavy ashy chocolate. It leans towards masculine compared to all choco perfumes on the market. That’s how I like it, I still enjoy the gourmand but got the masculine aspect on it. Love!

First spray is pure rich dark chocolate- then I get a burst of boozy berries, raspberries and orange even, the dry down is very much like a cigar box for me. I really enjoy it. The first few times it seemed really singular but the more I try it the more I find!

An abandoned bakery with overgrown moss growing through its windows. This is a mossy, chocolate-y, depraved gourmand and I love it. I feel like I see a a character emerging out of the ground in a foggy cemetery carrying a tray of cocoa dusted caramel truffles.

This beauty has this 80% dark truther's stamp of approval! It opens delightfully bitter before shifting to smoke and leather with a hint of sweetness. My jumper smelled like very very dark hot chocolate. It's on my full bottle buy list.

I love this stuff. This smells dark and gothic. Best dark chocolate scent, this smacks Kilian's black phantom all day. If you're a chocolate fan, give it a try but i can see some people finding this weird smelling and unpleasant.

sweet, possibly chocolate-y, opening. but mostly very woody. reminiscent of dry hay, reminds of me of pumpkin patches and haunted hay rides. still happy with it. perfect for fall.

Like a sibling to Black Phantom. But darker and less gourmand. I’m getting a slightly less bitter sweetened Dark Lord and Gucci Guilty Absolute. Super lovely.

Very rich and smooth dark chocolate/cacao Accompanied by some nutty nuanes and hints of cinnamon On a base of vanilla that sweetens the entire composition

date night scent for a visual kei style androgynous or gender non conforming person. smoke and chocolate. smells like what the band femme sounds like.

Before I bought this, I was expecting a chocolate greedy like fragrance. This is not as much chocolate. But damn this is a really nice fragrance.

I don’t understand all these negative reviews. This fragrance is exactly what it says it is. Only thing I would argue with is the price.

Decadent and delicious gourmand! Its a dupe for Joussets Le Gourmand as well! FB worthy and blind buy safe!

I smell chocolate at first, but then PATCHOULI; I'm surprised it's not in the notes.

Kakaolu eti topkek gibi kokuyor

When a scent hits a memory that deep, it stops being perfume and starts being evidence: They shared a cigarette and a bar of Montezuma’s Absolute Black in a parking lot, both pretending the hunger was for chocolate. He offered to bite straight from the bar, like it was a peace treaty; she leaned in and bit slow enough to make it a declaration of war. A streak of chocolate on her lip. His thumb wiped it away and stayed there. Neither of them blinked, and something irreversible happened. That’s Dark. Forget your cocoa-sweet comfort zone. This ain’t your Hershey’s sugar fix. This is the real deal: 99%, bitter, adult, and slightly traumatic. The kind that tastes like earth after rain and smells like something both sinful and alive. 🔥 To me, the opening smells like you started melting a bar of pure cacao on the stove, got distracted by your own lustful thoughts, and came back when it had already caught fire. Acrid burnt edges, smoke, rubber, a lick of hell. Pure decadence. That’s dinner. Ten minutes in, the flames settle, and the chaos learns some grace. The cinnamon bark kicks in, bringing that hot, dry spice accord; less dessert, more spark. It deepens and roughens the chocolate, makes it even darker, hotter, more deliberate. Then hazelnut and vanilla melt in, grounding the whole thing with a low, nutty sweetness. And even though it’s not listed, I swear there’s a subtle booziness in there. Something like brandy or rum aging in an oak barrel. Something that shouldn’t have been opened, but you did anyway. The progression seems simple: bitter cocoa to spicy heat to inevitable, sweet surrender. The finale smells like a chocolate-hazelnut-vanilla spread. Think Duo Penotti or Nocciolata, if those were made not for family breakfasts but for the single, morally compromised kind. 💀 It’s a gourmand through and through. Just not the kind that wants to comfort you. Or no, forget gourmand. Once it’s stripped of its innocence, it becomes gourmoan. Savory and erotic, this scent is only linear if you’re not paying attention. The longer you wear it, the more phantom notes crawl out: leather, rubber, tobacco, tar, gasoline, all circling the core like demons orbiting a saint. It’s chocolate, sure, but filtered through desire, smoke, and a wild animal edge. 😈 Who’s it for? Someone tall, dark, and bad for your nervous system. The kind who smokes while driving with one hand, can make eating chocolate look like foreplay, and has almost definitely done community service. It works on women too. But let’s be honest, only a few can handle it without flinching. You have to be the kind of brutal bitch who’s been called one enough times to start wearing it like war paint. Someone with a little ruin behind her eyes to pull it off. It’s for the kind of woman doing her smoky eyes to Alice in Chains’ Dirt on repeat, sipping triple-strength black coffee, and writing this review between the sips. ☕⚡ And if that sounds oddly specific... yeah. Try and guess my new signature. Longevity is no joke: six to eight hours of slow, deliberate damage. Sillage? Big enough that your absence will smell better than most people’s presence. Best worn in cold, dry fall air, with the scent of burnt leaves and the night pressing in. Ideally when someone’s telling you not to do something. Dark doesn’t seduce. It consumes. It’s indulgent, bitter, intelligent, and just psychotic enough to keep you wanting more. No survivors.

Of the Akro scents in my discovery set, Dark was the one I was most excited to try (Awake being a close second). This is Akro's take on a chocolate-themed gourmand. In a similar way to coffee, I struggle to find good examples of chocolate-dominant perfumes. The obvious example is Mugler's Angel, but, while impressive and ground-breaking, it is too kitchen-sink-y for my liking. The best chocolate scent I've encountered is Cartier L'Heure Défendue VII. Akro's offering is pretty good, and is along the lines of the Cartier - it is a dark, cacao-heavy, non-sweet rendering of chocolate, laced with unlisted patchouli in the base. It is more bitter and powdery than Cartier - more cocoa powder (albeit of the good-quality variety) than rich, smooth chocolate. Dark is chocolate-dominant from initial spray - like a good-quality dark chocolate bar. It is led by powdery, dark cocoa. There is a subtle nutty undertone thanks to the hazelnut. I love hazelnut chocolate, so I find this to be a delicious addition. A hint of cinnamon is evident as it develops further, adding sweet spice. It all complements the chocolate accord that forms the crux of this scent. As it develops, earthy patchouli creeps in. Patchouli complements a chocolate note to perfection in perfumery in general, and here it is no different. Dry and balsamic, it is joined by a subtle vanilla note as it dries down. Dry and powdery, the vanilla is barely-there, hardly adding any sweetness to the chocolate accord here. I expected creamy, sweet vanilla to round out the gourmand quality of the chocolate, but that is not the case here. There is a musky leather undertone, perhaps thanks to the patchouli. It fades to a dry, slightly smoky chocolate-patchouli skin scent. Sillage is moderate and longevity is long-lasting. It reads as a cold weather scent to me, being dark and comforting. A decent example of a chocolate scent, Dark is a unisex rendering of chocolate with little sweetness. Dry, spicy and realistic-smelling, it will not appeal to everyone. Powdery and dark, like a good-quality vegan chocolate bar, this is not your creamy, vanilla-laden milk chocolate. In true Akro form, this is addictive. 4/5.

Thierry Mugler's A*Men, but darker and richer. (no pun intended) Akro Dark opens with the most realistic dark chocolate. Dusty and bitter dark chocolate. The vanilla and hazelnut emerges after an hour which makes this scent gourmand - truly delicious. These 2 add additional layers of slight sweetness and nutiness to the scent. After that the scent does not change and stays like this, thus making it a quite linear scent. Projection and longevity is without a doubt superb. Applied 2 sprayes on my arm and it was radiating for above arm's length for the whole wearing experience - 6 hours of projection, now that's something. As for longevity, this could easily sit on my skin for 12 hours and there would still be remnants of it even after a shower. In the far drydown, after like 4 hours, one could draw some similarities to Mugler's A* Men (90% similar). Yet A*Men is more sweeter, due to its honey and caramel note, while Akro Dark more warm, spicy and bitter, with very little sweetness. If you have an unhealthy habit of eating dark chocolate and you'd like to smell like one, this is the perfect fragrance for you. 9/10

Got a sample of this upon my request for, "something dark chocolate, musky, male (not too sweet)" from a retailer. I don't know anything about the brand or fragrance. It definitely opened up chocolate, so this delighted me at first, then it became more earthy and leaning towards a smoky/ashy cigar chocolate as it dried down. After a bit this ashiness subdues and the dry chocolate becomes more stable. I still get the cacao in the air, but it is much drier than the opening and more akin to smelling of dried chocolate wood than anything I would say is musky (but probably the closest fit to my wishes just the same). Looking at the notes now, I'm torn between loving the dry chocolate, but a little disenchanted how the hazelnut, cinnamon, and vanilla are giving that tobacco vibe I am less excited about. Upon a second wearing it was much the same. Not as big in sillage as I thought it would be. Basically I'm torn between loving it and eh, there's got to be something less ashy and more "musky" out there. Have a suggestion?

This was definitely an impulse buy. Somebody described it as “Morticia Adams’ date night scent” on TikTok and I had to buy it. If you’re looking for a crowd pleaser frag, look away. It’s not gonna be this one. I’m still keeping this because it pleases me and that's what's important. It's definitely a night time scent. As for the notes, it smells like DARK chocolate, cacao and very faint cinnamon. Vanilla? Hazelnut? We don’t know them. My skin only picked up on the bitter scent. It smells more like coffee than chocolate on me. It’s an OK scent. I tried to layer it with Memo Paris’ Winter Palace and it prevented WP from being cloying. There’s a good amount of projection, too. This clings to the skin HARD and it's difficult to remove. I can still smell it after I showered. I double cleansed my body (oil cleanser + shower gel) and there’s still a faint trace of its scent still there! LOL.

Akro Dark is one of the original six fragrances released from the Olivier Cresp-led brand in 2018, a well-named gourmand blend featuring dark chocolate with pinches of hazelnut, cinnamon, and vanilla. It manages to not be too sweet while having an air of mystery to it, something non-gourmand in what is clearly a mostly-gourmand element, so I like the name “Dark” for it since it is not hugely descriptive. Admittedly, I do not like it quite as much as the coffee-centric Awake but it’s still very well done. It’s quite rich and the performance seems to be pretty strong, perhaps slightly better than Awake. Dark, like the rest of the brand, has EDP concentration and is sold in the US via Luckyscent (where I got my dabber sample) at $160 for 100ml, though it is also sold directly through its website, where there is a $80 for 30ml option as well. 7 out of 10