I have always been fascinated by the ancient indigenous cultures of North America. I have spent a lot of travel visiting the ancient sites. This includes the numerous Mayan locales in the Yucatan peninsula. When I was in the country traveling around during the 1986 World Cup, I ended up visiting a cenote with some of the other soccer fans I had met. A cenote is a pool of water surrounded by limestone. They often have a deep coloration to them. Most often blue but the one we were visiting was emerald green. We had gone late on a summer day. While I was waiting for the others who had driven us out, twilight was falling. The jasmine was beginning to perfume the air. It was one of those perfect memories of leaning against a post breathing in the heady flowers and the watery pool just beneath them. D.S. & Durga Jazmin Yucatan took me back there.
David Seth (l.) and Kavi Ahuja Moltz
Kavi Ahuja and David Seth Moltz have also seemingly traveled to something similar. In the press release they mentioned this fragrance was inspired by their travels through Mexico. It came about as fashion brand Opening Ceremony asked them to produce a perfume to celebrate the brand’s “Year of Mexico”. To anyone who has spent some time walking through the jungles of Mexico I think Jazmin Yucatan will strum some chords of scent memory.
It opens with that sense of humidity that exists in the tropics. The air is saturated with water which finds a full-spectrum jasmine. This is an indole-laden jasmine. It is what you smell when you find the real thing. Mr. Moltz then adds two modulating ingredients which work well. First a layer of passionflower takes the floral component of jasmine and gives it some more oomph. Clove finds a spicy harmony with the indoles. What this captures is that slightly piquant scent of the earthy jungle floor. The humidity also turns waterier as the surface of the cenote becomes more present. The base accord captures the ever-present vegetation through vetiver and some other green notes. The final piece is copal resin as if a hint of an ancient Mayan ritual at the edge of the pool is breaking through.
Jazmin Yucatan has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
This is a beautifully realized perfume of a jasmine in the tropical jungle. It is also different enough from most other jasmine perfumes that if you are a fan it is worth checking out. I adore it because it captures a cherished memory of twilight at the cenote.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by DS & Durga.
–Mark Behnke
