Sexy Viking

I love ordering the studio juices. I'm not near any proper perfume places, so they are a treat when they come out and I look forward to ordering them. I also have almost the entire line, so yes, they can be hit or miss: the halloween scent last year—handbook for the recently deceased (el cosmico remix) is still a regret, as is magnolia (too soapy floral on me). Lilac City is beautiful and I savor it in the Spring and Winter. St. Vetyver, Mississippi medicine, and several others from the main line are in regular rotation. I think the studio juices this year have been wonderful: honeysuckle city (still a favorite months later with its electric lactonic crackle honeysuckle!), pistachio, and this latest one, sexy viking, is divine if you like black current and woody-amber little bits of leather scents, which I do. Olympic Orchids and baies from diptyque immediately came to mind. I also suspect it has some dna in common with the base of their recent 'Leatherize' scent. In summary: I look forward to wearing this and seeing how it develops. It was not a disappointment. And, yes, perfumers exist to make money.

Update: This stuff just smells really good. That’s all. Hmmmm, I like this alot! Getting mostly currant and woods. Going by the name I was expecting a sword to the head but instead it’s Sexy Purr. Yeah DS&D why didn’t you name it that?:-) Sillage seems like it’s low-moderate though still only about 30 minutes after applying. Glad I was able to purchase. Was kind of scared since my skin seems to mega-amplify anything with pine but it’s very well-blended and quiet here.

I like this fragrance, but it's very one dimensional to my nose...maybe two dimensional as the drydown changes slightly, but not as much as I'd like. This starts with black currant, and I love black currant, so that's why I like this fragrance...but it also smells mainly like black currant throughout the whole wear and I was so hoping to be able to smell the many marvelous listed notes like the bitter orange, the pine, the juniper, the barley and the wheat, etc. All these notes should be smelled to create the image that DSM is attempting to convey in the description of this fragrance and I personally don't feel that it achieves that as it's far too one dimensional in my opinion. I have noticed just a slight hint of a grain presence in the far drydown and that's why I mentioned that it might have a "slight" two dimensionality about it...but it is far to faint for my taste. I want to smell the listed note transitions throughout the wear as the sales pitch for Sexy Viking was so interesting and intriguing. I'm hoping some of the other notes will intensify in time as this fragrance ages, but of course there's no way of knowing if that will happen. Time will tell.

I don’t know if I’d say a Viking is what comes to mind when I smell this. If you were to smell this in medieval times it would be more along the lines of a British or French noble.... I have no idea wtf I’m talking about. This stuff is pretty good, though. Worth trying out.

They are making a second batch, which begs the question of why it was a "limited release" for which you had to pay a premium in the first place. If no scarce or especially costly materials were used, then this confirms what I've felt about the past few studio juices: quick cash grabs that rely on artificially imposed scarcity tactics. (Until they realize they can sell another hundred as an equally limited "second batch" that is). I'm not always convinced of the quality of the studio juices, and having smelled Sexy Viking my opinion still stands. The scent profile is completely divorced from the concept. They know people will be blind buying these and therefore, to ensure repeat customers, can't really go too "out of the box" with these releases. Their customer ultimately wants a neat name and bottle design but a wearable, inoffensive scent that doesn't quite match its conceptual idiosyncrasies (or maybe just enough to say they're "not like the other girls"). Therefore, what we get is a pretty straightforward fruity cassis with a "malty" base (and no, the malty base isn't as interesting as it sounds). This is not to hate on DS and Durga, from which I own and love many releases (the discontinued Vio-Volta, Amber Kiso, El Cosmico, Mississippi Medicine and St. Vetyver are all great!). But unfortunately they've taken a turn for the worse with their recent output (the uninspired Grapefruit Generation, redundant Sweet Do Nothing, forgettable Bistro Waters and the cynical Pistachio or questionable Wipeout studio juices) and uptick in price ($190 for 50ml). I say this also to maybe assuage any frustration people might feel on having missed out on this or other Studio Juices. With the exception of DYLAN, which was quite good, these haven't been as groundbreaking or fascinating as the copy would have you believe. If you haven't already, I'd recommend using the money to explore their permanent line instead. Leave the Studio Juices for the Soho/Williamsburg nepotism babies.

I had so much fun discussing Sexy Viking with the Viking who lives with me. My husband, Ývan, is Icelandic and lived in Iceland until he was a teenager. His immediate family, his mom, dad, and brothers all now live in the US, as a matter of fact, some of them live a few neighborhoods away, but the rest of his relatives are scattered all over Iceland. He goes back every few years to visit, and I’ve been once, but I certainly don’t have enough familiarity with the country to have a well-formed opinion of a fragrance inspired by aspects of it. Well, I mean, I have an opinion on the fragrance, I can have an opinion on anything, but I guess I mean I can’t really comment overmuch on the sense of place that it’s meant to evoke. Ývan tells me that he gets an overall sense of fresh, crisp, evergreen coniferous pineyness. It recalls for him the summers he spent in the youth work program hauling wood from the forest ...which I assumed was some sort of unpaid lumberjack gig, but he laughed and said, what kid is gonna do that kind of work for free? Anyway, his specific memory involves the moments when he would take a rest and just lie down in a bed of fragrant pine needles and close his eyes while the sun filtered through the canopy of trees. He also said that it brings to mind icy evergreens in the wintertime, during traditional graveside visits on Christmas. He and his mother would visit the cemetery with wreaths and candles for relatives that had passed on, and there was a forested path along which they would slush through freshly fallen snow to reach the graves. Overall he likened it to smelling like an ancient woodland Yule wreath, full of wintry bounty. I would add that what I smell, overwhelmingly, is tart, bracing, cold-weather berries. Something bright red and jeweled and so bitter that even the snowbirds won’t eat it. But also a bit like sour, candied grapefruit peels. As the scent wears, this becomes more like a fruity, malty, softly honeyed amber–but either way, it’s a beautiful note. And overall, I think we both agree, it’s an incredible fragrance, and as it happens–it’s stunningly perfect for the winter solstice today (the day this review was written.)

I just received my bottle and I am enjoying it. The black currant and berries are popping out along with a touch of orange. Beautiful combination along with the pine. I am pleased with the composition as I think it's a great scent...however it is too safe and I don't see how this would be a "viking" fragrance. I would expect some body odor to add a little bit of character to it as David usually does. Dylan for example was super creative in that regard. One thing I am not happy about is that ALL the Studio Juices throughout the past 2-3 years have all been "limited" to a certain amount of bottles. One and done. Well not anymore....first batch of Sexy Viking sold out so quickly as the brands popularity has been increasing through social media and now they have opened up preorders for a "second batch." Not so limited anymore which defeats the purpose of a "Studio Juice." A little bitter about that. I also think that these are being released maybe too quickly...it feels like they're being released every 2 months now. Also for some reason most of the Studio Juices I've received have bottle defects on them. Sometimes wonky sprayers and other times the sticker peeling off of the bottle. I love D.S. & Durga as I own 10+ bottles but they are starting to feel like a hypebeast brand with constant new releases. I know I know...rents gotta be paid one way or another.

I cannot express to you how much I love this fragrance. I missed the release but was searching around one day on Instagram and saw the post about it and was instantly curious. Found a decant on eBay and fell in love. I personally don’t think there is anything like it, the berries are strong at first, and the pine/juniper is to die for. I actually wish it was stronger but whatever. I tracked down a bottle on Mercari and I will treasure it forever. I personally think DS&D is missing out huge if they don’t make this part of their standard line up.

As others have said, it's pretty linear - I'm mostly getting black currant with a bit of that orange mixed in along with pine, stays that way more or less throughout the entire wear. That said it does smell really, really nice - I don't think anyone on earth could be offended by this and it would make for a great office scent or something to that effect. Sillage is pretty light after 20 minutes or so - it's noticeable as a skin scent for 6 or 7 hours.

My friends... This is the complex and heart-rending black currant fragrance I've been searching for and I kind of want to cry 😂 Every waft makes my heart ache, in a good way. It's slightly sweet, slightly animalic... quite dreamy, mossy, and enchantingly forest-floor-y. I've tried so many fragrances that promise a fairy-tale in a bottle, but this one actually smells like one to me.

Strangely interested in this. Definitely going to order just on the note breakdown. Being a DS&D it's likely going to be rather potent so I'm all in. *****Will come back and update when it gets here*****

@paddington Can you at least attempt to make sense. Total gibberish.