Amber, photo Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
What comes to mind when you think of amber perfumes? A sumptuous, vintage oriental such as Fath de Fath? Or boozy, rich concoctions like Maitre Parfum et Gantier Ambre Precieux? And yet, amber, the fossilized tree resin, doesn’t have much aroma. Perfumery’s amber is, rather, an imagining of a scent, one that typically combines vanilla with labdanum and other resins such as benzoin, copal and styrax. Now rethink all that. Brooklyn indie house have come up with their own take on the familiar accord with two new perfumes – D.S. and Durga Amber Kiso and Amber Teutonic – that turn amber on its golden head: rich, saturated woody scents with not a drop of amber in sight.
David Seth Moltz and Kavi Durga of D.S. & Durga
This is the first time David Seth Moltz of D.S. & Durga has put amber – or, rather, the concept of amber – at the center of a fragrance. Amber Teutonic and Amber Kiso are inspired by “myth, history and ritual associated with places that produce amber materials.” The first of the pair, D.S. & Durga Amber Teutonic, is a perfume imagining of one of Gustav Malher’s composing huts, with all the grandeur and unorthodox complexity of the Fifth Symphony. Out of the bottle, Amber Teutonic is bold, rich and boozy, immediately conjuring classic ambers past. But it is soon joined by a whole forest of woods that summon the small houses built on lakesides or in the woods Mahler to which retreated to work.
Mahler's Hut, South Tyrol
First, the fresh lumbar smell of cut cedarwood mixes with that spiritous note, smelling like a newly constructed house frame in which the builders are having a well-earned tipple. Then, a dusting of cardamom becomes apparent, adding some coffee-ish, dark spice. A squeeze of juicy sweetness from mandarin trickles in just at the right time, a rivulet of lightness at the perfume’s center. As the perfume travels onwards, the velvety-pepper smell of geranium leaf emerges as the woods intensify and a dry musk edges in. In the dry-down, everything merges together harmonically into a bold, woodsy take on a classic amber. It’s so convincing you’d be forgiven for sneaking a second look at the listed notes.
D.S. & Durga Amber Teutonic notes: alpine cedar, geranium, Austrian pine, cardamom, European larch, opoponax, green mandarin, templin cone, musk.
Buddha by Art of Daniel
The hinoki-dominant D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso is Amber Teutonic’s inverse, as introspective and primeval as Amber Teutonic is forward and opulent. Like its sister, Amber Kiso is also built around wood notes. But where amber Teutonic goes big, Kiso moves inward. Its blend of quiet incense, green moss and stronger notes of hinoki and cedar hint at something old and elusive: Kamakura statues deep in some ancient forest; the drift of ceremonial smoke from a hidden temple.
Kiso, Tai Ping, photo by Yabu Pushelberg
A distinctive, medicinal note opens D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso which soon becomes apparent as hinoki wood. Just discernable is the rainy smell of iris hiding behind the tree notes that enter in gradually. A green coniferous note joins with a dryer, more brittle cedar than that found in D.S. & Durga Amber Teutonic. The calming aroma of wood-based Japanese incense take over the mid-section, where it meet an unexpected, assertive leather. There is an aged, distant quality about this note that is hard to put a finger on, but it is similar to the smell of old woven leather you can sometimes catch in museum displays of leather armor. Throughout Amber Kiso’s development, hinoki stays centered, anchored in the dry-down by the loamy smell of patchouli. While other perfumes have traversed similar ground, Amber Kiso has a heft and opacity that makes it stand apart.
Close-up of Baltic amber, photo via Shutterstock
With their intensity and depth, D.S. & Durga Amber Teutonic and D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso could easily trick you into thinking they house an amber accord. Sharing a woody DNA and unorthodox touches that remind you of whose scents these are D.S. & Durga first two forays into amber might make you reconsider what an amber fragrance can be. D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso notes: Japanese cedar, incense, cypress, maple, patchouli, iris, hinoki, leather and tree moss.
Disclaimer: samples of Amber Teutonic and Amber Kiso graciously provided by D.S. & Durga. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
D.S. & Durga Amber Teutonic and D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso
Thanks to the generosity of D.S. & Durga we have a 10 ml bottle or a sample set of Amber Kiso and Amber Teutonic to give away to one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about D.S. and Durga Amber Teutonic/ and or Amber Kiso based on Lauryn’s review, which prize you prefer, and if you have a favourite D.S. and Durga perfume. Draw ends 11/17/2018.
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