Smelling like Whisky

D.S. & Durga are Brooklyn-based design-makers who put their very essence into the perfumes they create. The ingredients of their niche fragrances should list traces of heart and soul. You just know that what they do is a labour of love, that their perfumes are the offspring of their obsessive minds, their very raison d'être.

Unless I'm barking up the wrong tree — I often get the wrong end of the stick — but that's what I intimate. I don't get the feeling they're in it for the money. They're not coming from a background in marketing and trying to build a brand in a hands-off manner that they can then sell to a conglomerate. They describe their company as their 'universe'. I think that's the key here.

Poisoning colleagues

D.S. & Durga are husband and wife team David and Kavi Moltz. They drifted naturally into the fragrance business in the early 2000s, learning along the way, following their noses, as it were. I'm not sure how easy it is working with your spouse. I have a strong feeling that after working with Mrs T for a short while, I would be tapping a paper wrap of suspicious-looking (and flavourless) powder into her morning cuppa.

The ancient world of Northern Europe

Let's proceed with the matter in hand. I believe you will be interested in D.S. & Durga's Hylnds — Spirit of the Glen.  Based on the 'ancient world of Northern Europe', this fragrance offers an evocation of the aromas of whisky production. The perfume is described thus: 'Accords taken from all aspects of whisky production – opens fresh and fruity, releases oak in the heart, and finishes with rich, vanillic wood reminiscent of The Glenlivet 18'. So specifically it calls forth aromas related to the production of The Glenlivet award-winning 18-year-old single malt, which is aged in sherry casks.

I suppose a total sensory immersion would be to wear Spirit of the Glen whilst sipping The Glenlivet 18. I think I would need to wear my drinking cravat for that experience. Don't you find wearing a silk cravat adds to the experience of drinking whisky or gin? Preferably with a gold-buttoned blazer. I know I do. It's a tea-must-be-drunk-in-bone-china thing, I guess.

Listen, I'm not going to witter on any more. I will hand over to Mark in the video below to explain the genesis of creating this enticing scent.