Warm Black

MOIST TOBACCO FOR ALL WALLETS Here we have a "kind of strange" Zara perfume. It is positioned in the range of the cheapest collections, namely the "Shades Of Black" series, which sells the 80ml bottle for €11.00, or €9.00 if you get the sale price. The perfumer is unknown. This blending must be the result of a Zara good "inside job". It smells expensive. Both its quality and success exceed by far the Zara average offers. Is it a clone of any expensive perfume? Well... not really, at least in my opinion! It does recall a bit of "Tobacco Vanille" by Tom Ford. It also brings up memories of other scents very different from Tobacco Vanille. Zara claims to use ginger, saffron and vanilla notes. Parfumo lists ginger, tobacco and vanilla notes. Some other sources speak of ginger, vanilla and tonka notes, or ginger, tobacco and tonka notes. All lists mention ginger. I must say that I don't get any ginger accord. I can perceive an unlisted clove note with its warm spiciness, mild sweetness, and woodsy foundation. I also perceive an ambary background. It should be due to the unlisted inclusion of labdanum or Peruvian balsam. "Tobacco Vanille" has a distinct vanilla-cacao-tonka sweetness different from what we encounter in "Warm Black". I also discard claimed similarities with other perfumes like "Amber Oud Tobacco Edition" by Al Haramain / الحرمين because the Zara fragrance has no pepper, anise or cacao notes. Comments about its resemblance to "Spicebomb Extreme" by Viktor & Rolf don't make sense either because the Zara fragrance does not have a strong pepper accord. "Warm Black" is closer to Frank Boclet's "Tobacco" scent. But that's just my test opinion. Different noses may judge it differently. "Warm Black" is not a linear perfume and opens reasonably spicy, showing warm, fizzy, sweet and piney nuances. The heart development leans toward a strong note of moist tobacco with amber. In the base, the tobacco and amber hide a bit in the background, and woody and vanilla accords are more prominent. A faint sweetness is present all through the development. The Zara fragrance has an inferior performance if compared with the already-mentioned perfumes. I guess that for eleven euros, no one would expect different behaviour. However, its longevity, sillage and projection are more than acceptable for a confirmed "cheapie". This perfume started its sales in the 2020 Winter season. Less than two years went by, and its sales (primarily men) were quite above the average volume of a Zara fragrance. It even changed its presentation (a reformulation?) halfway through its commercial life. The fragrance is still easy to find in most Zara stores. It may be considered a big hit as far as a non-signed and inexpensive Zara perfume is concerned. How warm and how black is Zara's "Warm Black"? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ - Opening: 9.0 (Impressive spicy opening giving way to a pleasant ambary moist tobacco accord). - Dry Down: 8.0 (Less impressive than the opening with fainting tobacco and a more common woody-vanilla accord in the forefront). - Longevity: 7.5 (3 sprays last up to 7 hours). - Sillage: 7.0 (up to 5 feet and 2.0 hours of projection, with 3 sprays). - Uniqueness: 7.5 (It's not a clone but it does recall more than a few more expensive perfumes. It has some vibes from "Tobacco Vanille" by Tom Ford, and more substantial similarities with Frank Boclet's "Tobacco"). - Wearability: 7.5 (Early Spring, late Autumn and Winter fragrance, both day and night). - Versatility: 7.5 (It is quite nice for evening and night events. As a near-dark spicy fragrance, it is probably a bit intrusive for the office, and not really proper for sporty events or the seaside). - Praise: 8.0 (Spicy and tobacco fragrances are almost common nowadays and I don't foresee strong detractors of this fragrance. Tobacco lovers will like it a lot). - Quality: 8.0 (Well above average especially if you consider its low price. It smells expensive). - Presentation: 7.5 (tasteful bottle; I am quoting the second bottle, less flat and without the colour dégradé present in the first bottle. The older bottle would deserve a 6.0). - Price: 10.0 (80ml flask for €9.0 at a Zara store in June 2022; One year later, I bought a backup for the same amount). ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Overall rating: 7.95 / 10.00 - between 7 and 8 = above average; - between 8 and 9 = recommended; - above 9 = not to be missed; My opinion: Zara's "Warm Black" is a winner for semi-dark tobacco and spicy fragrances "aficionados". Its ambary nuances cut possible rough edges with such powerful main notes and make it quite wearable. Its low price must be regarded as a gift from Zara. Do I recommend it? Yes indeed! Is it worthy of a blind purchase? You bet! Music: Pink Floyd - "Have A Cigar"

What a stellar mashup. Imagine taking Tobacco Vanille, watering it down and dialing back the vanilla, adding a few drops of Spicebomb Extreme, Chergui and a touch of Lost Cherry, and turning the whole concoction into dark red Christmas glitter. Unfortunately, it's nowhere as deep, sweet or cookie dough-ish as TV, but it's got that sparkling, crystalline spice you get from eating cinnamon hearts or Red Hots. Certainly not a base-heavy fragrance, but the vanilla does come out more on skin in the drydown. Actual notes printed on the box are coriander, ginger, balcan tobacco absolute, saffron, vanilla, amyris, cistus absolute, cypriol and java wood. Don't know where people are getting tonka, because it definitely ain't in there. Projection and longevity are average at best (5-6 hours tops), although this is a scent to intrigue, not to advertise. The composition does start to separate and take on a bit of a metallic vibe in the mid on skin (probably from the coriander and ginger), so I might advise going 50/50 on skin and clothing with this one. Either way, for the price you can get this at, I'd still say it's the best value fragrance Zara has released to date, and probably my favourite of all time. Up there with Oud Exclusive, Tone Indeterminee and Ambre Noble. Not sure why they decided to hide such a gem in an obscure line and generic bottle, but who knows why Zara does the things it does. Still, if they choose to re-release this some day, it could use a few minor improvements imo. A bit of amber couldn't hurt, replace the coriander with incense and perhaps some sandalwood to tame the spicy flames? Whatever. I'm just glad Zara has another winner on their hands amidst their relentless droves of mediocre throw-aways. Backup bottle? Damn straight. Scent - 9/10 Longevity - 6/10 Projection - 5.5/10 Overall - 8.5/10

I own a vintage bottle of the original batch and it smells pretty great after two years of maceration. I can't speak to the newer batches in the new bottles but the original batch didn't initially smell like Tobacco Vanille to me when I first got it. I actually didn't enjoy it much but going back to it now and wearing it as my scent of the night, it has actually changed and smells much closer to Tobacco Vanille now after all this time and it's pretty close now. I only wore it a couple of times when I first got and it's been sitting on the shelf collecting dust so I decided to give it another shot tonight and I'm glad I did. Although it's not listed in the notes I definitely pick up a tobacco note with some ginger and other spices in the first few minutes after application. Once it starts to drydown a bit, a creamy vanilla and powdery tonka bean comes out and blends with the spices and tobacco from the opening. It's actually blending really well now after all this time. A lot of people noted that this reminds them of Spicebomb Extreme but I don't agree unless maybe newer batches are different from my bottle. In my bottle the spices are too subdued to be that similar to the Viktor & Rolf. Overall, for the price that you're paying, it's worth it. It's clearly not as high quality as the Tom Ford but the scent profile is extremely similar without being an outright clone. Projection and longevity aren't as good as a result but at the price you can afford to spray heavy and carry a decant to refresh throughout the day.

I am writing this review as a woman who doesn't get her nose on many traditional masculine fragrances, so I don't have context on the "reminds me of" selection such as Spicebomb. I haven't smelled Tobacco Vanille in a minute so I can't really compare whether it's a good "dupe" however I don't really review Zara fragrances as dupes as most have their own nuance or twist (or maybe they just suck at duping lol). This scent is a banger. I know that Zara gets dragged sometimes. I feel that when they do something bad they completely eviscerate it, but when they do something good, they really hit the mark. For me, this one is fantastic from the scent to the sillage and longevity. It's spicy, warm, sweet, and addicting. It opens in a rum raisin boozy note, similar to Lattafa Khamrah, but the comparison stops there. Ginger is very prominent and as it dries down it becomes akin to a candied ginger with cinnamon. It's quite sweet and almost lactonic with the tonka. The tobacco is the sweet moist fresh kind, not the dirty dry kin; and really adds a depth to it without it being bitter. Two sprays to the wrist was enough to provide a good 1 foot projection, and stayed quite strong for at least 5-6 hours. I think this would layer great with a coffee centred fragrance like Killian Intoxicated or Montale Ristretto Intense Cafe.

I did a blind buy (based on some recommendations here) because it's ok to risk it at this price - and HOORAY! I have a lovely spicy winter warm scent that is amazingly affordable and works better on my skin than some higher end versions (TV, Tabac Rouge especially). I think this one lived up to all the hype - it's spicy, warm, some vanilla and a bit of tobacco. It's lovely for winter and I preferred over the official Zara Tobacco collection. And yes it is sweet, but I like sweet. Fantastic value, classy warm spicy smell. If you like TFTV but don't love it enough for the $$$+, and you like variety, this is a sweet winter deal. Note: When I tried TV, it started out great but descended into play doh smell on me. Zara WB does not do this - nor does it end up in a shrill patchouli powder at the end. It really works for me - amazed it is so nice at this price. I tried similarly priced clones and this one tops them. Someone else mentioned a plastic smell - I did notice more alcohol in this one than in more expensive scents, but it faded away and I felt this was a better warm spicy fit for me than $$$ options. That won't stop me from trying the pricier options tho...always looking for the best warm winter scent. I guess it does fade faster than I'd like, but the bottle is big for $19. Zero guilt to spray a bit more.