I have had so many bad mojitos in my life – you know the ones, they cost a bomb and have a despairingly unfavourable ice to alcohol ratio with far too many mint leaves for something that is not a herb garden. I do not have time for these naff mojitos – I just want to get tipsy without having to drink 40 of them, dropping £300 in the process. Honestly, if I had £1 for every bad mojito I’ve ever drunk, well, I could probably put my funds towards a bottle of something from By Kilian, which is quite handy because their mojito inspired fragrance, the cheekily named ‘Love the way you Taste‘ is a damn good interpretation of one of the world’s most iconic cocktails.
Love the way you Taste is part of the brand’s new limited edition ‘Miami Vice Collection’ (the other one in the collection being ‘Love the way you Feel’ – Kilian really does like a naughty name) which celebrates Kilian Hennessy’s love of Venice Beach, it’s colourful nightlife and deco architecture. They call it a “sophisticated mojito cocktail in a refreshing fragrance” and it seems that they have created exactly that – a refreshing sip of Venice Beach ready to liven up your summer!
The Notes
Top: Lemon and Peppermint
Heart: Green Leaves and Magnolia Flower
Base: Sparkling Water and Vetiver
The Perfumer
Sidonie Lancesseur
How Does it Smell?
Ahhh, Love the way you Taste is so minty. Genuinely, the first spritz is like being whacked in the face by a small shrub of mint leaves! The opening is cool and mentholated with the sweetness of mint contrasted perfectly with the juicy sharpness of lemon. It really packs a punch and it is just like sniffing a bubbling mojito freshly served – I just want to drink it, although drinking perfume is never a good thing (unless you are Patsy Stone, in which case knock back as much CHANEL Nº5 as you can handle), it’s that refreshing. Almost better than the real thing!
The heart is where the real beauty lies. Tangles of luscious jungle vines wrap themselves around golden magnolia blooms, merging white petals, citrus dew and intense greenery all together. This sits under that juicy canopy created so masterfully by the top notes, bringing depth and almost tea-like dryness into the fold. It’s one of those accords so good that I want to smell it in isolation because if it’s this glorious in the composition, it’s going to be interesting to behold on its own.
The base is airy and fresh but the most interesting bit is the sparkling water accord. One certainly gets an effervescent, fizziness in the top notes, but in the base there is that distinct bitter tone of fizzy water. It also possesses a mineral quality, which is tied to the sharp edge of vetiver to intensify the cooling effect of the mint up top and the lush greenery at the heart. The whole thing is seamlessly put together and unlike many cocktail-inspired or citrus-centric fragrance it is not front-loaded and it maintains interest all the way through, right from the mouthwatering top notes to the cool breeze of the base.
Love the way you Taste is an addictive fragrance. That initial burst of freshness, with its cool minty quality and tart citrus tang, is absolutely gorgeous and it feels like just the thing one needs on a muggy summers day. It continues the theme with that sumptuous (and bang on trend – see AURA) jungle greenery and that revitalising accord of sparkling water. It’s a fantastic fragrance and definitely one of the best olfactory renditions of a mojito I’ve sniffed, albeit a VERY pricy one. But sometimes if you want the best you’ve gotta pay for it, right? I know I’m going to be rocking the socks of it this summer. Now, who wants to fly me out to Miami?
Availability
Love the way you Taste is available in 50ml Eau de Parfum for £185.
Disclaimer
Sample, notes and quotes via By Kilian. Images are my own.
The Candy Perfume Boy 