Black Vines

Kerosene's tagline is, "Smell unique." This fragrance definitely fits that profile (in the best way). I wasn't sure about this scent when I ordered a sample, and I thought I might dislike it, but... actually... my reaction was quite the opposite. I love it. Wow! The first thing I experience is a slap of multiple black licorice sticks across my face! It's so realistic! However, that's not a negative experience at all. The opening shows me how unusual and unconventional this fragrance is. (For, indeed, I've never smelled *anything* like it, on myself or anyone else. Ever. How many people do you know who choose to smell like black licorice? Not many, I'd guess! If you want to stand out, this is the way to go.) The black licorice has an almost effervescent vibe to it in the opening -- it feels sparkly, as if it's *almost* a licorice-flavored cola, but not quite. Are there hints of root beer soda? Yes, from time to time, that notion pops into my mind... yet, it never quite reaches root beer territory. It remains grounded in licorice and anise notes. Are there memories of spiced gumdrops (red and green and white and sugar-coated, piled high in a crystal bowl) in this fragrance? Sure, if you've encountered these things... I can see where the association might be made. "Craft store?" Yes, I can see that, too, but I *love* the spicy, cinnamon-laden smell of a craft store during the holidays, so it's not a negative association for me -- take that for whatever it's worth. However, it's not quite the same smell as a "typical craft store." There's more to this perfume. It's deeper than that. I definitely detect the cinnamon in this composition (also, the house of Kerosene gives you a heads-up about this on their website -- test it on your own skin prior to purchase, because some people may be sensitive to cinnamon oils... I am, and I know that because I've made my own essential oil blends with cinnamon oil in the mix, but I'm willing to endure the brief, occasional discomfort to experience the beauty of this scent unfolding on my skin... to me, it is 100% worth it). I feel like there are other "winter spice" notes accompanying this (like clove and allspice, which are not listed), but either way, it's a beautiful sleigh ride. On me, this calms down after about an hour or so... it becomes a softer, milkier, cozier version of its earlier self. The spices are still there, and so is the licorice if you inhale deeply, but the composition blends together as if it were stirred into a chai latte. It also projects less, becoming a skin scent after about 2 hours on me. I haven't tried this in the warmer months, but... if I had to guess... I'd say it's best-suited for cold temperatures. Could it be polarizing? Yes, because licorice is usually a take-it-or-leave-it scent... in most cases, you love it or you don't, and that's just the way it is. Is it worth checking out? To me, yes... absolutely!

I remember visiting a market where a spice vendor had massive containers of all types of Eastern seed and root spices - licorice root, cinnamon, anise, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, coriander, etc. - in their store that was long but only a little wider than the average walk-in closet, and many of the spices were whole in their unadulterated form. The purveyor would grind the spices for you upon request and he was extremely busy with about seven grinders constantly whirring away. The aromas released into the air were noxiously potent to the point I couldn’t stay in the store because my throat and nasal cavities felt like they were collapsing. As wonderful and evocative as that little shop was, it was meant for people far more used to those spices as real and fresh than I was. The opening of Black Vines reminds me a lot of that experience, save for the sudden and anxious worry that I was going to suffocate. The anise, licorice, and cinnamon top needs to be experienced while braced because its pungent photorealism will shock and awe. Dry to the point of sucking moisture from its surroundings, cold, spicy, woody, and earthy. To make sure it doesn’t completely feel like you’re snorting lines out of your kitchen pantry containers, sticky and resinous conifer sap adds a bright green and sylvan lift, and a fruity currant type note adds the slightest touch of moisture and sugar needed to give it a softer and more human touch. The inspiration for this perfume are the green vines of black licorice, hence the name Black Vines, but for a perfume using a lot of naturalistic and botanical materials I feel like I’m walking through an enchanted forest, or the forest on some alien planet. Everything is correct but nothing feels right. It’s a stirring experience. The dry down to the final skin scent brings you safely home with well-sanded and smooth balsams, and a gorgeously dry and earthy tonka bean - a vanillic zapped of all sugar - wrapped in the gentlest of smoky incense. It’s a really good winter holiday potpourri, basically. I know that sounds insulting but it really isn’t, not when you realize that you wished your potpourri smelled a lot more like this. I see this being in heavy rotation for my fall scents, especially when I’m in a mood to warp my mind and senses. Great stuff.

This is really lovely. Emt1986 nailed it with the Jagermeister opening, it's a bit of an aggressive start but a smooth trip if you ride it out. A great balance of sweet spice and herbal notes that blend beautifully all the way through. As the heavy hitters fade out so does the syrupy sweetness so it balances itself as it changes into a rich, creamy dream. The dry down is a delightfully delicious masterpiece that is like TF TOBACCO VANILLE's gothic sibling, slightly more fresh/herbal with a strong black licorice backbone instead of tabacco. Both are smooth and sexy, just one giving off a darker vibe. The wonderful silky spice with creamy base is what makes them so similar on my skin. Love them both but I find BLACK VINES more rebelious with an outsider feel. Classic cool. Perfectly unisex. P.S. I think Kerosene is an underrated house because people do not expect fragrances to transform throughout the wear. Mass produced, generic scents that remain "stable" with only a brief hint of top notes that quickly burn off, have conditioned consumers to have a short attention span and limited understanding of how a carefully crafted fragrance can perform. Kerosene brings an entire scent story in a bottle. Each one is a journey that lasts hours. Just as you can't accurately judge a book by its cover, you can't judge a Kerosene scent in a few moments by spritzing on a card. You must spray on skin and give them at least 4 hours to fully develop.

Black Vines is one of those “you either get it or you don’t” fragrances and to be totally honest, you will be the only one in the room who truly gets it. Everyone else will be politely sipping their mocktail seltzers, wearing safe “vanilla, but make it beige” scents, and then you walk in smelling like a demonic Australian apothecary who moonlights at a Nambucca Valley licorice factory. The air will change and heads will turn. Someone will cough because they’re weak and wearing Jo Malone. Another person squints through their Frédéric Malle sillage, trying to place the aroma of black licorice, tarred wood, and darkened sugar that Kerosene cooked together like a weyward witch with a background in industrial molecular gastronomy. But you? You’re thriving. You’re grinning like, “yes, that’s funky-fennel sultry-smoke and candy-coated weyward-wickedness. You’re welcome Bernadette, or should I say Ralph.” Black Vines is polarizing because it’s loud, unapologetic, herbal-sweet, and just a touch villainous. It’s the scent equivalent of bringing absinthe to a Rotary Club potluck. Not everyone will love it, but the ones who do are a rare breed, and congratulations, raise a glass of Jägermeister, you’re officially their Ricola king.

Aniseed and licorice dominate this one in the opening, like other reviewers have said. If you don't like that vibe, this is not for you--Black Vines is not coy with the licorice. The opening is so staggering it raised my heart rate. However, about 90 minutes into wearing, and this has mellowed into a warm glow of sweet cinnamon, fig, tonka, and what smells to me like a somewhat smoky vanilla tincture, with the licorice and anise fading to ornamentation. Even as I write this, the cinnamon seems to be fading, as well, and the fig is taking center stage. Black Vines is a fun ride. I would absolutely describe this as a gourmand fragrance, as the ivy, balsam, fir, and incense listed don't announce themselves to me, unless it's the incense that I'm associating with the smokiness of some natural vanillas. Overall, BV somewhat resembles a fig and cinnamon cake served after several shots of an anise-forward aperitif like ouzo or raki (without the booziness). In any case, this feels like a high quality, bespoke fragrance tailored for licorice obsessives; others may find the first hour or so too challenging. Smelled from the Kerosene sample pack.

Never before has a fragrance made me feel absolutely intoxicated. This is amazing stuff. My mind was blown when I smelled it and I honestly felt drunk, like I was going to fall over on the shop floor. A very creative and brave perfume! Would I wear it regularly? Well, I don't know. It would be too much. Just like so much of "high fashion" may look like art on a runway or in a photo, but you couldn't exactly walk down the street wearing it, this perfume is perhaps something to be appreciated for what it is on its own rather than worn every day. It's a special occasion scene - you wouldn't want to have it every day. (And for that, I couldn't justify dropping down $140 at the moment, but maybe that's just me.) Motor oil is the very first thing I thought of, followed by liquorice. It is a cold, dark, foreboding, industrial scent. Sexy in a dangerous way. A femme fatale for an industrial wasteland. If I was going to a very avant-garde event, I would definitely spray this on. The office, not so much. "Kerosene" is a very appropriate name. I'm impressed. Black Vines is what Bulgari Black wants to be when it's old enough to drink.

First blast of licorice, black and sweet, intense, a really strong punch to to the face; luckily, I adore licorice. Very faintly underneath, I get a vague stirring of something purple.. blackcurrant? It feels overripe, almost wine like. Ah, oops, it's fig. I really love this scent but I'm not sure I want to walk around smelling like this. I feel gourmands shouldn't cross the line and be too photorealstic; as in robotics or animation, when the effect approaches the uncanny valley and is a touch too real then it just comes off as weird. I'll keep my nose on this and see if it changes. Very strong projection. Unisex but leans masculine and best for cool weather. 2 hours later: The intense licorice/anise punch settled down a fair bit and has allowed a sweet spicy woody cinnamon to come forward. Much more wearable than the first phase. 6+ hours later: The scent stayed linear on sweet spicy after the licorice faded. Overall it's long lasting, still getting moderate whiffs now.

Black Vines by Kerosene certainly isn’t the first fragrance featuring licorice/anise blended with something else; there is licorice with lavender (Hermèssence Brin de Réglisse), licorice with rose and amber (Aoud Black Candy by Mancera), licorice with mint (Reglisse Noire by 1000 Flowers), and licorice with lemon (Caron Eau de Reglisse), to name a few. But this licorice with fir/balsam/cypress blend is, by far, the most intriguing and powerful of them all. (The drydown reminds me very much of Eau des Baux by L’Occitane, but Black Vines is much deeper, and richer, than Eau des Baux.) Black Vines is licorice and wintergreen on steroids! But of course, most people don’t like the smell of wintergreen, that familiar medicinal scent from muscle rub creams and Pepto Bismal, but this is exactly the reason I find it therapeutic.

This is starting to be my new favorite Brand. For those of you who wrote a review before you let it sit for a while... shame on you. The beauty of this fragrance comes right when the fig starts to bloom. Perfectly jammy like it's right off of the stove. You can smell the freshness of the fruit but intermingled is the star anise and licorice. It is really quite stunning which is something I never say. For those of you who are collectors and really enjoy the smell of fig you have to get your hands on this. This house is really underrated. Certainly not for the new comer, but that's a good thing in my opinion. This fragrance is something you want to set down and contemplate. The more I talk about it, the more I want it. Sexiest fruit fragrance I have. It's not dark but it is sultry and intoxicating.

This has an extraordinary black licorice opening. Believe all the reviews that say it's pure licorice. It's cold and sweet and photorealistic. I enjoy it, though I know it's not for everyone. Seems like something you'd wear for Halloween or maybe a punk concert. Where this perfume REALLY shines, though, is in its transition to a figgy, jammy, cinnamon-heavy scent that keeps me sniffing my elbow. The coldness becomes warm and cozy, bringing to mind making jam on the stove. I went from, "this is a cool licorice candy perfume" to "oh, wow, this is something special." Considering a full bottle because it's just so fun and unique. Edit: Definitely buying the full body. This is just too delicious to resist!

Wow! Ok, so I LOVE aniseed, licorice, cinnamon so I thought the odds were in my favour. It's nice when you hit lucky. There is a nice background of green and fig notes. Balsam helps the longevity. I like the bit of kick from the incense. I can see why there is a reference to the gum. It has the cooling effect. A freshness. I don't get any tyres. I love it. It's licorice heaven and quite edible on my skin. This is what Charlie would have had made if he had wanted to sell scent as well as confectionary heaven. Yes, it's sweet enough I think to go in the gourmand category. I'm a little disappointed it doesnt evolve much and take you on an olfactory journey. Reasonable longevity and sillage.

This perfume is so beautiful! It starts off as a strong anise that is licorice-y but to me leans more like Bonds cough candy/other anise drops! This didn't last long before it was a spicy almost chai scent which I think someone else mentioned. Eventually, it settles into a warm, sweet, smoky scent which lasts all day. Maybe it's the tonka or vanilla but at certain points I swear I could catch whiffs that were like a root beer float without the high fructose corn syrup (I'm not sure how else to describe it). A warm spicy scent... So lovely <3 I only have a sample but I will likely (shortly) be buying a full bottle!!

This smells lovely. I get enough balsam and tonka to keep it from being linear. I've tested a few licorice frags and many are a bit too soft and muted, this has a boldness. I can see why Chergui is in the "people also like" section because although they don't smell alike, they have a similar unisex appeal. Doesn't lean masculine at all, unless you read spicy = masculine. The longevity is a problem, at least in summer weather. I got a half hour of real projection. It was a skin scent for a couple hours but I wish it had more power, then it would be full bottle worthy. I hope it will wear better in colder weather.

Black Vines is a lovely weirdo - starting out with green, watery, fresh crushed ivy leaves, celery and black licorice. The black licorice note is dominant and sweet. I absolutely love black licorice notes so this scent just jumped straight to my want list! Sweet cinnamon, clove, and a touch of Wintergreen mint gum join the licorice as the scent gets more mellow The late drydown is a cosy scent of rootbeer, vanilla, bubblegum powder and dense chewy tonka. Longevity is good but sillage is strong - spray lightly to avoid dying in a tar pit of sticky black licorice! Overall: like/love

The opening is in your face black licorice with a nice touch of cinnamon. However, the licorice does fade out relatively quickly compared to it's longevity. At this point the cinnamon and tonka shine with nuances of dark fruits. Very well blended and a treat to wear. Unfortunately, discontinued now so grab a sample. Really looking forward to wearing this during the fall months but especially during Halloween. Note: If your sensitive to cinnamon oil beware! Kerosene warns of this on their website.

I don't know how to explain my dilemma. I truly HATE black licorice candy. I mean, hate. But, I truly LOVE Black Vines! It is just an incredibly well-made fragrance. The licorice scent is most definitely there, but it's sweet and so enticing! Projection is impressive! It's a full 6 feet with some of the best sillage I've ever experienced. Long-lasting too. 8 hours plus. This incredible fragrance has been discontinued, so once all the bottles in stock have sold, it's gone forever.

This is the perfect winter and Christmas scent. It dries down into a spicy potpourri aroma that feels warm and nostalgic. The opening is pure licorice and anise, so bold and in your face that every time I spray it, it instantly reminds me of absinthe on the first spritz. At the start, it is botanical, harsh, and intensely herbal. As it develops, it softens and transforms into a comforting blend of molasses and spices. I truly cannot get enough of it.

FOR LICORICE LOVERS ONLY. 🖤 Photorealistic, slick, black and delicious licorice vines. Warm, sweet, and a bit spicy. Going to wear my sample for an entire day before I pull the trigger on a full bottle, but this is wonderful if you're looking for a REAL licorice scent. Lucky for me licorice is a note that really dominates with my skin chemistry and I love it. This would pair nicely with Hexensalbe for added licorice intensity!

Black Vines immediately stuck me as different and appealing. The anise and clove hit first and combined into a fresh, spicy and wearable scent. The licorice is the main base for me but is more complex and interesting by additional ingredients. If this is overdone, it can teeter into potpourri-land. One won't need much of this to be an effective attention grabber. I keep moving my hand to my nose. It's really quite delicious.

This starts as a beautiful natural black licorice & salty anise, with a green ivy hovering in the background. The ivy fades after about an hour, leaving you with an exceptionally spiced and incredibly unique bag of black licorice chews from a health food store. Teeters between a gourmand food scent and an herbal/botanical scent. So intriguing. As with most Kerosene scents, it lasts forever, and projection is moderate.

Stunning licorice scent! I imagine those who dislike this just don't like licorice in general, because if you do it's been done exquisitely here. Has the tiniest hint of fig too, which I also love. Practically made for me! The performance is very impressive too. This lasts all day on skin and AGES on clothes. I don't wear this often, but whenever I want a burst of licorice, it's often my top choice.

The shop assistant picked this for me, saying that it "matches my personality". Wow. I hope to become this person one day. Bold, self-confident, not giving a f**k what others think. The powerful licorice and star anise opening can be quite intimidating but the drydown is lovely. Big Red cinnamon gum plus vanilla. The fig is there too, lurking in the background, if you look closely.

definitely unique. smells like a very cinnamon heavy, slightly dried fruitish gingerbread to me. i can definitely smell the licorice, cinnamon & the fig. vanilla comes pretty late in the dry down for me. it smells delicious and although spicy not masculine due to the fruity note from the fig. strong projection & longevity. i personally really love it but i wouldn’t blind buy.

Photo realistic Black Licorice. Highly recommend this one. Smells like fresh, high quality black licorice in a bottle. 10/10 Great Job Kerosene Great choice for all black licorice lovers. Very complex, not linear. I really enjoyed this one while I had a bottle of it. One of the bottles I kept reaching for every now and then in my collection.

Licorice as you would have guessed, perfect for fall and winter. Funny I hate the taste of black licorice but like the smell. Definitely has a backbone and performs, not for the faint of heart. Give it a try! the drydown is very captivating and charming. Kerosenes fall and winter frags always delivers in my books, this one is top 5. 8.5/10

it is indeed michaels craft store during the holidays. its christmas cooked wine. it opens boozy from the licorice but it goes away and settles into theeeee perfect cinnamon smell. and it lasts so long. its perfect and im grateful to have 5ml of it but i want more ! Please don’t hesitate to message me if you are selling a bottle

This is 3rd purchase of a Kerosene fragrance this week after getting Winter of 99 and Unknown Pleasure . When I first smelled original Angel by Thierry Mugler in the middle 90's it smell like what I thought the color hot pink looked like and Black Vines is what I think hot pink smells like and maybe feels like in a scent .....

This has become my favorite fragrance I own. The perfect amount of cool and warm! Strong licorice that turns into green ivy leaves then sweet cinnamon and vanilla. It lasts forever on skin and clothes. I've been looking for this scent and I'm so glad I finally found it! Thank you Mr. Pegg for this masterpiece!

Super literal - smells exactly like black licorice and dries down to a spiced vanilla that is quite comforting. Long lasting - at times I thought 'you're still here?' but will make a great fall scent.

It smells like black jelly beans. It’s not overly strong and can be pulled off as an everyday fragrance in my opinion. Maybe just because I love licorice, though.

Wow to me it smells like Slovak Christmas punč. Cooked wine. Soooooo beautiful. I despise licorice so I’m surprised I didn’t pick up on it. Very very nice

Private message me if you're selling a partial/full bottle, sad to see it got discontinued. Love this fragrance. Black licorice perfection.

This is an atomic anise bomb that somehow reminds me of the original Poison. It’s amazing, dark, complex, rich, everlasting, and unique.

Absolutely orgasmic. So so so good. I'm not a warm spicy person and I love this. I think I found a winter fragrance finally!

Kerosene brought this back for a limited time, so I grabbed a bottle and I'm very happy with it! Unfortunately it is now one of my favorite perfumes. I hope they don't discontinue it again. The reviews claiming this smells controversial and like burning rubber were thankfully not accurate for me. It smells exactly like salty sweet black licorice candy from the start, which is delightful, and it has the slightest intriguingly medicinal cool evergreen woody smell in the background that is balanced very well. My only complaint is that it too quickly settles down to a very tame cinnamon gingerbread/winter spices medley that would be lovely in the winter, but I wish the weirdness of the licorice would last longer. It's not as nuclear as some other Kerosene fragrances. But it is, like most other Kerosene fragrances, unique, casual, rustic, and sweetly, photorealistically gourmand. Black Vines is one more reason why Kerosene is my favorite perfume house. Warning, if you are sensitive to cinnamon, this one will tingle on skin.

So, when I was about to try my sample of Black Vines, for some reason it leaked something like a WHOLE, big, oily 1 ml of fragrance onto my wrist, to my horror since I knew its reputation. But I'm still alive so fear not. This stuff is oily at the beginning, but I guess my thirsty skin drank most of it. Anyway. What I smell the most is licorice plus anise, cinnamon, conifer, and something green/herbal that may be ivy, not sure. Not much vanilla, fig or incense, if not in the drydown. I can't say it's bad, really, I thought I hated licorice but apparently I was wrong. What I do not like is the oil/gasoline/glue/whatever smell, it does suit the fragrance itself, but I don't like it much on skin. It doesn't smell like "perfume", it is more like industrial glue with perfume inside. I like the concept and the darkness of it, but I wouldn't wear it. Projection is moderate/high, and it is long lasting. So all in all, good but not very wearable for me, sorry Kerosene :)

Black licorice straight out the nozzle. Notes of... plastic? That goes away thankfully. The anethole note floats in and out of awareness. About 30 minutes after spraying I thought, "I don't smell a damn thing anymore!" but I just had to unglue my nose from my wrist. 4 and 1/2 hours later I'm still smelling the black licorice, but not consistently. The dry down is actually quite beautiful, and I'm surprised I'm not seeing more reviews talking about it. Everything softens into a creamy anisette, ever so lightly there are whiffs of vanilla. It's comforting, like steamed milk with anise flavoring. It's almost a little musky, but ultimately, I suppose, it's more of an aromatic amber. I was very uncertain at first, thinking straight away that this was only "ok". I voted "like" after noticing how the but may change my vote after spending more time with it.

My nose interprets this as anise, cedar, and sandalwood. The mixed reviews made me hesitant to try this, but I quite like it. I am a licorice fan and am constantly looking for a good mix with it. The drydown isn't *as* impressive as I'd expected. I enjoy that sharp, almost-medicinal quality of anise, so to me the opening is fantastic. It mellows quickly though and gets sweeter over time - not overwhelming candy sweet, but more like how sandalwood is. That powdery woody sweetness, plus licorice. Mmmm! Not entirely convinced I want to pay $140 for a full bottle, but it's at least 3.4 oz. You'll need to spray liberally, because this sits kinda close to the skin. On a naked wrist the longevity and silage both are somewhere between poor and moderate, which is how I prefer my scents.

Wow wow! Strong STRONG licorice and star anise is right! Amazing longevity and it slowly starts to develop into a cinnamon, incense and vanilla fragrance. This reminded me of sticking my face into a spice cabinet and smelling heavy cloves or drinking chai tea that has an overdose of licorice and star anise. I do like this scent but I'd never ever use up a 100ml bottle. Even 5ml would be perfect. I would have no idea when to wear this either. I think this would have been a bestseller if they built on the licorice and star anise. It’s the perfect chai tea scent. This is so good. Burnt surgery chai tea that’s piping hot

Right off the bat I smell a sweet licorice. The fig gives it an almost citrusy, fruity zing but the vanilla, tonka bean, and incense helps round it out with a smooth smokiness. I would say if you're interested in buying or trying this fragrance I hope you like the way licorice/anise smells because that note is front and center. I myself am not that crazy about licorice but I don't think I've smelled many fragrances with it in it which makes this fragrance unique for me. Still, my personal tastes wish this had an extra fruit in the fragrance like bergamot to help give a fresh contrast to the medicinal anise notes.

I mean, it's an overdose of liquorice, but I don't think it's as sinister as the name implies. My SO said it smells of salt liquorice and burning tires. I think it smells like a Brothers Grimm Christmas, you know, the kind of Christmas where it is pitch black outside of the snowy window in the middle of winter before electricity, in Germany or further north. Inside the cottage there are still more shadows than light, the Christmas tree is unembellished, but the fireplace is heating a pot of mulled wine after the children have gone to sleep.

This is super spicy and Christmassy. It reminds me of stepping into a candle shop, though I don't mean that it smells cheap or artificial. It just has that same intense spiciness that's like smacking into a wall of cinnamon and anise. It's not really my type of scent, but the anise makes it a very unique take on that genre. There's something almost kind of punk about how intense it is, like a black leather jacket over a cute santa dress. (Unfortunately I didn't get any of the fig or green notes in this, which I would have really enjoyed.)

Holy Moly! Licorice. Licorice. And then MORE licorice! I am not a huge licorice fan, but I am a huge Kerosene fan. I have flacons or samples of most of his stuff. I tried this for the first time today and nearly got knocked on my ass. KUDOS to KP for having a pair that must require transport in a wheelbarrow! Once it calms down it's a damn interesting scent. Until then, LOOK OUT people :-) . Absolutely worth a try. KP isn't afraid to push the envelope - or in this case, to incinerate it ;-) .

Black licorice, just as expected. Not my favorite candy flavor, but somehow I really like the smell of it. I also get tons of the cinnamon, vanilla and tonka bean. Reminds me of fall baking. I don't really get any of the ivy or fir notes, unless I think really hard about it. There's nothing green about this at all on my skin. It smells sweet and spicy, cozy and warm, and a bit powdery. Also kinda smells a bit like coca cola. Perfect for cold weather

This is an inviting friendly “delicious “ scent IF black licorice is in your wheelhouse. If it’s not, don’t go for this one. Or at least sample. I find this incorporates some of the other notes nicely like the cinnamon and incense. It almost seems like there should be a hot alcoholic drink that features licorice. You know the comforting smell of a mulled wine or tipsy hot cider? This is the same mood only with a different star player.

The opening of this is pure black licorice jelly bean. It is both warm and cool at the same time, but unmistakenly black licorice. As this dries down, it becomes sweeter with warmer spices and cinnamon. I actually get a pretty strong dose of the tonka in this during the drydown which makes this ultra cozy and warm. As a note, this does make my skin slightly sensitive due to the cinnamon, so I find I can't wear this too frequently.

I like this fragrance a lot because you don't often come across a fragrance that unashamedly reeks of licorice. You really need to be a fan of the scent of anis/licorice if you want to wear this because it is STRONG and long-lasting. But there's more to it than that, as it fades into a comforting blend of spices, which reminds me a bit of christmas. Really good if you want to stand out in the colder months.

Starts off very heavy with black licorice, reminiscent of those good n plenty candies... After about 20 minutes the cinnamon makes itself known, but not in a brash, Yankee candle or cinnamon pinecone sort of way like so many other fragrances with cinnamon - more like a nice herbal tea. It's very pleasant if you like the smell of black licorice and anise

Being from the part of the world where licorice is a passion and an art, the dark and sweet opening reminds me more of dried figs, raisins, or prunes soaked in vanilla infused liquor syrup. A green note, like crushed leaves on top. The drydown lasts for 5-7 hours, a comforting cinnamon amber.

Holy black licorice! While I am a masochist who loves the candy, I'm not sure this is what I want to smell like to others lol, but Kerosene certainly nails the scent! I might hang on to this sample until Halloween... Oh and it lasts FOREVER, too!