D.S. & Durga
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Frankincense and cypress notes explode with immediate clarity—sharp, slightly turpentine-edged, genuinely bracing. The cryptomeria adds a cool, almost herbal quality that feels decidedly Japanese, whilst sawara cypress contributes a softer, slightly smoky sweetness that prevents the opening from becoming merely sharp. Within moments, the resinous character settles into something almost meditative.
The iris emerges with surprising delicacy, introducing a powdery-green dimension that softens the woody skeleton. Japanese maple contributes a spiced whisper of honeyed complexity, whilst patchouli grounds everything in earthy stabilisation. The leather begins its slow emergence here, initially subtle—more shadow than statement—as the woody notes achieve better cohesion, becoming less individual competitors and more unified forest composition.
Leather and hinoki cypress dominate a base that's become distinctly warm without ever becoming sweet. Tree moss adds an almost archaeological quality, as though you're smelling the scent of undisturbed woodland floors. The fragrance becomes a pure woody-leather-smoke experience, remarkably linear, with the frankincense-led opening reduced to a distant memory. It sits close to skin, whispering rather than announcing.
Amber Kiso is an austere meditation on Japanese forest timber, built upon a scaffold of resinous frankincense that refuses sentimentality. David Seth Moltz has crafted something decidedly architectural here—not a fragrance that whispers, but one that commands attention through restraint and structural integrity.
The woody accord dominates with uncompromising presence, though it's a specific genus of woodiness: the crisp, almost medicinal bite of cryptomeria and sawara cypress create an opening reminiscent of a freshly opened cedarwood chest, before the heart introduces Japanese maple's subtle spiced sweetness alongside a patchouli that leans towards green, earthy territory rather than the dense, cocoa-dusted interpretations common elsewhere. This patchouli acts as a bridge between the top's austere resinosity and the base's leather and hinoki cypress.
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4.0/5 (125)