The 10 best D.S. & Durga fragrances for men, ranked
No one is doing it better. These colognes prove that.
RIGHT NOW fragrance brands are trying to bottle more than just something that smells good. They’re all trying to transport you somewhere—to the Amalfi coast, a smoky jazz bar, the forest at dawn. Scent is a vehicle for storytelling, and the best perfumes and colognes now aim to conjure a place, a memory. But few brands do that as well as D.S. & Durga.
The Brooklyn-based fragrance house founded by husband-and-wife duo David Seth Moltz (D.S.) and Kavi Ahuja Moltz (aka Durga) has built a reputation for these distinct perfumes. Nothing about the brand is ordinary: David is a self-taught perfumer, the scent note lists will have you asking how on earth did they put that in a fragrance?, and the whole operation has a pretty psychedelic energy. The result is a lineup of scents that can be transportive, sexy, strange, and sometimes all those things at once.
We’re obsessed, plenty of fragrance diehards are too, and with such a deep cult-favourite catalogue, we decided it was time to rank our favourites. Did your favourite D.S. & Durga scent make the list?
1. Cowboy Grass
Choosing a No. 1 is never easy, but we feel you can never go wrong with Cowboy Grass. This is the fragrance that put D.S. & Durga on the map back in 2008, and for good reason. It’s one of our favorite nature-inspired colognes, as it perfectly evokes the American West with its strange but enticing blend of fresh, herbaceous, and woody notes with dusty undertones. It’s outdoorsy but sophisticated, and as with all the brand’s fragrances, perfectly unisex, so it works well on literally anyone.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, green |
| Notes | Rosewood, wild thyme, bergamot, sagebrush, basil, rose otto, vetiver, grass, ambergris |
2. Debaser
Debaser is a close second and a favorite of Esquire’s style director Jonathan Evans. It’s inspired by indie rock music and summer heat, and it’s nearly impossible to put this scent into one fragrance family. It starts out woody and earthy with top notes of fresh bergamot, green leaf, and pear stem, but then gives way to fruity and floral notes, finishing with a base of tonka bean and moss. Since Debaser is such a cult favorite, the brand recently launched the new Debaser in Bloom, a twist on Debaser with heavier floral notes.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, green |
| Notes | Bergamot, green leaf, pear stem, fig, coconut milk, iris, blond woods, tonka bean, moss |
3. Burning Barbershop
Burning Barbershop does what D.S. & Durga does best: It subverts your expectations with a deeply intriguing twist. When you think of what a barbershop smells like, you probably think of aftershave with herbal and floral notes like mint, pine, lavender, and rose, and Burning Barbershop has all that. It also has the unmistakable scent of smoke, hence the burning. It’s another classic in the brand’s early line up.
| Fragrance Family | Fougère |
| Notes | Spearmint, lime, hemlock spruce, lavender, tuberose, Turkish rose, burnt oil, vanilla, hay |
4. Radio Bombay
You’ve probably smelled a woody fragrance that smells fresh like a walk in the woods, or creamy and rich like sandalwood. But have you ever smelled a woody cologne that evokes…a wooden transistor radio? Bet you haven’t, at least not until you’ve smelled Radio Bombay. It combines the tinny scent of copper with woods, iris, musk, coconut, cream, and peach for a scent you won’t find anywhere else.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, amber |
| Notes | Radiant wood, copper, cedar, sandalwood, radiant iris, boronia, balsam fir absolute, coconut musk, ambergris |
5. Amber Kiso
We love a deep leathery, amber scent, and frankly, we feel like Amber Kiso is underrated. Inspired by Japanese forests that are home to sacred woods from rare trees, Amber Kiso has woody notes of Japanese cedar and hinoki, smoky temple incense, earthy patchouli and treemoss, and an ancient variety of maple native to Japan.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, amber |
| Notes | Japanese cedar, incense, sawara cypress, asahi zuru maple, patchouli, iris, hinoki, leather, treemoss |
6. Bowmakers
Rich and more masculine-leaning than some of the brand’s other scents, Bowmakers is inspired by the construction of violins and their bows from mahogany, maplewood, amber pine rosin, and other woody, resinous scents. It may not be for everyone, but if you like a deep woody fragrance with hints of leather, you’ll probably like Bowmakers.
| Fragrance Family | Woody |
| Notes | Violin varnish, mahogany, outdoors accord, amber pine rosin, maplewood, cypress, spiced tree resin, cedar, moss |
7. Big Sur Eucalyptus
Big Sur Eucalyptus is one of our favorite launches from the brand int he past few years. We included the fragrance in our 2024 Grooming Awards, lauding it for its new take on the classic “fresh” fragrance. It definitely has that fresh, green eucalyptus scent, but it dries down into something woody, green, and even a little spicy.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, fresh |
| Notes | Wet wood, pacific spray, eucalyptus, cardamom, rosemary, magnolia, eucalyptus cone, cypress, dry leaves |
8. D.S.
A little woody, a little spicy, a little powdery, and definitely floral, D.S. takes some of the rarest perfume materials and mixes them together for a gorgeous fragrance that evokes the smells of India. Taking inspiration from India’s diverse plant life, D.S. features notes of frangipani, gardenia, saffron, lotus, and rose, as well as some more woody, musky scents. It’s part of the brand’s gold label line, so it’s a bit more expensive than the others on this list, but you’ll never smell anything quite like it.
| Fragrance Family | Floral, woody |
| Notes | Frangipani, gardenia, saffron, yellow lotus, rose absolute, agarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, musk ambrette |
9. I Don’t Know What
I Don’t Know What isn’t your regular eau de parfum, it’s actually a fragrance enhancer. It can be worn on its own as a light skin scent, but it becomes something even more special when combined with other scents. The unique combination of ingredients actually enhances other scent notes.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, fresh |
| Notes | Bergamot essence, iso e super, vetiver acitate, civettone, firsantol, ambrox super |
10. Cognac Reign
Cognac Reign is one of our favorite boozy colognes, thanks to its perfect balance of booziness and other notes that don’t make it smell entirely like you spilled a cocktail on yourself. The old-fashioned glam of cognac shares the stage with slightly sweet scent notes like caramelized bergamot and tonka bean for an overall sophisticated scent you could definitely wear to work.
| Fragrance Family | Woody, spicy |
| Notes | Caramelized bergamot, antique wood, cognac essence, concrete of orris, tonka, limousine oak |
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