Amber Kiso

Opens with a strong maple-leather scent, as well as something slightly medicinal that I can’t quite place almost like a vaguely minty throat lozenge. I also think I get a bit of the varnish scent in CDG Zero but much darker and warmer, and less synthetic, more like smelling freshly varnished wood rather than just huffing a bottle of varnish. I actually don’t get much woodiness at first though, some very light cedar but that’s it, once you get past the first few minutes it starts to creep in, however, once it hits it balances out the medicinal qualities very nicely. I’ve never smelled Hinoki before, but I adore the unique cedar scent that it’s produced here. I get the to aged whiskey but there’s zero booziness or alcoholic smell to it, just that vibe. The incense note is present but not particularly noticeable among the rest to me. There’s this intense “smoothness” to the whole thing that I’m not exactly sure how to describe, no airiness or anything, just deep molasses like smoothness, actually it might be why I get wood varnish vibes, it feels like something you use to coat stuff. I can not emphasize enough how heavy, smooth, and unrelenting this scent is, it never lets up either, I can see it being a huge turn off for some but I fucking love it. About an hour in the incense becomes more prominent and you start to get this smoky sweetness. The medicinal thing starts to go away a bit but never quite leaves, same with the wood varnish scent, probably a lot more accessible to people if they dislike the opening, and the Hinoki cedar really starts to shine. As it dries down it goes through a sorta candied fruit phase and then finally lets off with the intense “smoothness” and goes into a light powdery-wooded scent with that same amber undertone and to me some slight vanilla Unfortunately something about my skin chemistry means perfumes only last a few hours typically and this isn’t one of the exceptions, so I can’t comment on performance, but, frankly, I really don’t think this is all that weird and it’s kinda strange seeing so many people saying they literally can’t imagine wearing this. I’m personally not someone who needs a “reason” or “event” to wear perfume, I wear it because I like how it smells, that’s about it, it maybe isn’t like office/school appropriate just because it’s a bit strong but besides that it’s not something particularly out there imo Easy 8/10 for me. Edit: so, weirdly, I tried this in the late spring(basically summer temps where I live) after not wearing it for a couple months and get...nothing? It’s like the lightest cedar scent with a tiny bit if amber-y vanilla and that’s it. There’s no way my bottle has gone bad by this point so ig it just absolutely does not work in high temps, odd but fair enough, guess that’s something to be aware of if you buy a bottle

I lived in Japan for quite a while, in fact in Nagano, the home of Kiso. This reminds me of Zenkou-ji Temple in Nagano City. In front of Zenkou-ji is a daikoro(great incense burner) that has been there burning incense for years and years. This incense, osenko, permeates everything, from visitor to stone, to metal handrail to cloth banner, the air, the earth itself. Below Zenkou-ji is a pilgramage into a maze sealed in utter blackness(no light down there whatsoever) where pilgrims are to search for the "Key of Paradise," but for me what I found was a heightened sense of hearing and smelling as I could see absolutely nothing. I could smell the incenses in all their complexity as they had mixed with other pilgrim's clothes, hair and skin in front of me as we walked silently in the blackness. While I did detect some notes of lavender and a few stray notes of rose down there, mostly what I detected where resinous long needled matsu, hinoki, and something slightly sweet. I am doubting that something slightly sweet in the temple was actual maple elements in the incense(perhaps it was?), but I find that the maple in DS&D's Amber Kiso captures that something sweet quite well. For those of you all who have been practitioners of kendo for many years, I think the idea of leather, at least in the sense of Japanese bogudo/bogumen/bogukote/bogutare, is more of a stretch. Japanese leather armor is usually made of deer skin and smells of pungent, acrid, wood smoke, not the wood itself nor of a burning resin of that wood. Think of the difference between burning a stick of senko and throwing a log on a bondfire (two very different nasal experiences ensue). Also the smell of indigo died cloth attached to said pieces of leather armor are completely absent here(and wouldn't be appropriate even if possible as it would make for probably a very confusing scent that many kendoka don't even like that much), so I am more skeptical on the whole Japanese leather armor aspect of this perfume. I'd give it 10 out of 10 anyday. The liquid is quite dark, not something I would spray on a white shirt, so I have taken to spraying it on my hair. After walking in a straight line, if I turn, and retrace my steps through my own scent trail, and then close my eyes, I am back at Zenkou-ji in Nagano almost immediately. Thank you DS&Durga for this chance to revisit a place I once lived long ago.

Rawhide!!!! *whistles the theme tune from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly* How strange - this is a MUCH butcher and tougher experience on me than most people report here, and a rougher ride than I was expecting. D S & Durga do a dirty Western making no concessions whatsoever. My skin amps this up to a downright brutally greasy, lanolin-y, sourish, animalesque leather with only the faintest tangs of lacquered wood and the odd far-off scrap of vegetation and wisp of smoke in the middle distance. And I say that because I like it - it's a bucking bronco BEAST, yet wearable and compelling and charismatic as anything. To me it's the smell of a rodeo (minus any oud-powered bulls*t) - definitely on the masculine side, outdoorsy, natural, no compromise made, no quarter given. Only a few hairs short of Knize Ten in the rugged stakes, but without K10's chemical/rubber/gasoline overtones; much less lyrical and not at all flowery like Tauer's Lonestar Memories, but it has the same integrity and sense of place. It's on the verge - it's also HUGE and lasts FOREVER (I only wish that my other, more beloved D S & Ds performed like this.) Tough enough to last the course on even really cold days; it might get a bit overwhelming, maybe even a bit too meaty, in sweaty weather. A bit of a rampaging animal for sure, but one I can't resist trying my mettle against. Definitely not for blind buying, and probably not for everyday wear. But yet again - D S &D dare to be different and do their own crazy-woodsmen thing, with great results. ETA: This does mellow with time. The full bottle I've now owned for a bit over a year has calmed down (in a good way!) and is now an easier, though still exciting, ride - with the initial leather a little quieter and less lanolin/grease heavy, and much more of the delicious maple and lacquer coming through. So it's now edging closer to Bowmakers, which is exactly the right direction to be going in for my taste. Don't be too intimidated by the reviews: if you generally like leather or smoke perfumes this one isn't as scary (scary impressive! but still scary!) as first impressions might suggest. Very much worth your attention.

D.S. & Durga Amber Kiso is a 2018 release from the Brooklyn niche house that’s been on my list to try, courtesy of a decant from a generous fragcomm member. I’ve come to really love amber and resins in general as fragrant notes and I’m often keen to try an amber when it’s the first amber-named or amber-centric fragrance from a house. In this case, Amber Kiso was released simultaneously with Amber Teutonic. Amber Kiso has a mainly dry, woody, animalic feel, not so much the sweet, creamy side of amber that otherwise makes it gourmand-leaning. This is not a gourmand, nor is it even particularly sweet. There is, however, a not of maple, so there’s a sort of resinous sweetness in addition to just the incense vibe that is evident from the opening. There are also woody and earthy notes of cypress, patchouli, and moss. Perhaps the most noticeable additional accord is leather, though, as Amber Kiso comes off like an amber/leather mix from the onset. There are hints of Bowmakers in it, too, a sense of varnish, leather, woods, and sharpness that foster a similar vibe, or at least the strong suggestion that the two fragrances are in the same family. Bowmakers, though, commits to the varnish, whereas Amber Kiso, commits more to the amber. The pricing for Amber Kiso is roughly the current standard pricing for the whole line, at $260 for 100ml and $175 for 50ml retail, though there are always deals to be had at retailers like Twisted Lily that carry the line. Like pretty much every fragrance I’ve tried from the line, Amber Kiso’s pricing seems reasonable, not only because it’s a particularly bold offering, but because it embodies the same degree of care and creativity that I’ve become accustomed to smelling from the house. Overall, it performs well, highly dense from the start, not losing too much steam in the dry down, and a clear nice cold weather option, based on scent profile (I wouldn’t wear this in the heat...no sir), so it’s frankly one that I’m likely going to buy a bottle of, but I’m glad I have this decant to try some more in the meantime, particularly as the weather cools down. 8 out of 10

I’ve waited to review this because I really wanted to articulate how much I love this fragrance, and I think now is the time. First and foremost, this fragrance is so much more wearable than the people on here are making it seem. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. The trail you walk on is dotted and populated with trees changing colors into every shade of red, yellow, and orange as you hike with your friends. The smell of your dads leather jacket on and the crisp autumn afternoon air pulls in the smell of the various trees of the Midwest, the maple trees sap reminiscent of the sweet delicacy you poured on your breakfast but not yet sweet. Dry cedar, the sappy maple, the clean leather, and sharp cypress mix together with the iris cologne you sprayed last night when you all went out together. The trail brings good times and good memories as a slight green from the remaining underbrush comes through. A romanticized hike in the northwest in a 50 or 100 mL bottle. This scent is what cemented D.S. & Durga as one of my favorite fragrance brands. It is such a beautiful mix of clean yet dusty leather (probably from the oakmoss mix), dry yet sappy wood (the focus is on the maple here with cedar as a good wingman), and this slight powder-y backbone with quick bites of green. It is a dichotomy of so many things, clean and dusty, sweet and dry, resinous and straightforward. While “Saint Julep” by Imaginary Authors is my signature scent during the spring and summer months, this is mine during the fall and winter. FANTASTIC longevity and silage. Easily 8-16 hours of wear with 6 foot projection, easy on the trigger. Slightly more masculine to my nose, but it’s cozy and sweet enough to be unisex. Fall & Winter but summer nights would rock. 10/10. A masterpiece. EDIT: This is one of the strongest scents I own. It not only sticks on my skin easily 24-48 hours, but lasts literal weeks on clothes.