Three perfumes, three reference drinks, but above all three identified perfumers. With *The Cocktails*, Kilian Paris finds its best argument in the construction of the formulas rather than in the imagery of the party: Calice Becker signs *Sparkling Royal*, Mathieu Nardin composes *Piña Paraíso* and *Midnight Espresso*.
The collection, launched on 1 September 2026, extends *The Liquors*, a territory already established by Kilian Hennessy around spirits. This time, the Maison is interested not in the raw liquid but in the cocktail, that is, a recipe built in layers. This is precisely what makes the translation into perfume interesting.
*Sparkling Royal*, inspired by the Kir Royal, is the tensest of the three. Calice Becker combines Moroccan mint, Italian lemon, a wild blackcurrant accord and Bulgarian rose, before a base of roasted Brazilian tonka bean and musks. The aim is less to reproduce a glass literally than to recreate its movement: freshness, black fruit, then depth.
Mathieu Nardin takes a sunnier direction with *Piña Paraíso*. Pineapple and rum essence open the composition, followed by coconut and frangipani, then by Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar and Brazilian tonka bean. The perfumer thus takes up the recognisable elements of a Piña Colada while redistributing them according to the logic of a perfume.
*Midnight Espresso* pushes the transposition further still. Arabica coffee and rum essence form the opening; a dark chocolate accord and roasted hazelnut structure the heart; Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar and Siam benzoin close the composition. Where the storytelling evokes a New York jazz club, the most interesting technical reality remains this passage from the roasted register to resin and vanilla.
The three eaux are offered in seventy-five millilitres at a price of one hundred and forty-five euros. They therefore share the same format and the same price level, which allows the trilogy to be read as a whole rather than as three isolated launches.
Kilian Paris has often used the world of spirits as a cultural signature. *The Cocktails* shows that this territory can still evolve, provided the analogy is supported by real compositional choices. The next question will be whether the Maison continues to explore mixology as an olfactive method, or whether this trilogy will remain a one-off exercise around immediately recognisable references.
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