The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Cellars collection draws on memento mori traditions, not to dwell on death but to celebrate life's pleasures more fully. Black Phantom, composed by Calice Becker for By Kilian, embodies this philosophy by evoking memory, indulgence and the passage of time through scent. The fragrance invites you to descend into sensory memory and emerge changed, restored by the experience of pure olfactory indulgence.
Calice Becker approaches the material with the understanding that certain notes carry the weight of memory and pleasure more effectively than others. Rum and dark chocolate here serve as the vehicles through which indulgence becomes tangible. The heliotrope brings its dreamy quality, a slightly narcotic sweetness that makes the composed heart feel like something recalled rather than experienced. Sugar cane and sandalwood ground the composition, keeping it from drifting entirely into the dreamlike while vetiver provides the necessary earthy counterweight, ensuring that a By Kilian fragrance still reads as sophisticated rather than purely sweet.
The evolution
The first act is a descent, rum's bright burn cutting through to announce Black Phantom's presence. As the opening fades, the heart emerges fully formed as its true character reveals itself, dark chocolate and coffee speaking with rich authority while almond adds a warm undertone and heliotrope brings its powdery sweetness into the composition. The final movement is ascent, the drydown sweetness of caramel, vanilla and tonka bean arriving as a reward, sugar cane lending brightness to the warmth, sandalwood and vetiver bringing the composition back to earth.
Cultural impact
Black Phantom sits in a specific tradition: the boozy gourmand that By Kilian helped define in the early 2010s. It's not the only coffee-rum fragrance, but it's among the most committed to its darkness. The 'Memento Mori' framing gives it an edge that more straightforward sweet fragrances lack. Wearers describe it as the scent of someone who doesn't explain themselves, who simply arrives and lets you figure it out.
