Bowmakers
D.S. & Durga (2012)

In the summer of 2019, I had a memorable visit to NYC and stayed at The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel in Lower Manhattan. The amenities included Bowmakers-scented body wash and the memory of it persisted. I smelled it again after so many years and it brought me back to that time, pre-Covid, pre-chaos, and I felt on the cusp of something really great, I just wasn't so sure what it was. Fast forward nearly six years, and I now have a supply of Bowmakers and it is more evocative than I remembered.

I recall those days in my late 20s and early 30s using the cedar dry sauna post-workout at the gym; painting classes and the smell of turpentine in the air; sawdust from a carpentry workshop. I am also reminded of the aroma from varnished wood itself: think cherry, or mahogany. The astringent, solvent quality of its first stage of development may be an acquired taste, but I really do enjoy it. What I cannot confirm is if this truly evokes the rosin used for violins. Perhaps I should visit a violin shop and report back. Great stuff.

I’m sorry to say, that this starts off so good.. FINALLY a well done mahogany note. The cypress, excellent! Maplewood though? I think not. Maplewood has a distinctive orangey smell.. I dont get that here. I think people think maplewood smells like maple, because of how its marketed in stores, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bowmakers does get a little “maple” sweetness in the middle, but no authentic maplewood here. Unfortunately.. it’s around this point where it starts falling apart for me. It gets a little sour and a lot more abrasive. Sometimes I get that from pepper, but this is more of just a real synthetic ingredient that I don’t like. This is probably overuse of Akigalawood, or one of its astringent brothers.

Although, it’s ok here. I would’ve done the base slightly sweeter, to mask the sharp and sourness. Although I think what they were trying for was a real authentic wood fragrance from start to finish, without any sweet components. This is my first DS and Durga fragrance that I’ve tried, so I don’t really have a good grasp on their style; but from what I hear they try to authenticate woodsy fragrances.

The longevity isn’t that good, for this type of fragrance - around 4 hours for me. Projects very well in first 2.

I love dry, woody scents that smell like the outdoors. As a point of reference, Jovoy Private Label is my favorite. I enjoyed DS & Durga Bowmakers, but the price is atrocious. $280 for 100 ml of Bowmakers compared to $145 for Private Label. For such a high price, I expect perfection, yet Bowmakers has a slightly bilious note lurking in the mix, while Private Label is seamless. I had fun with the sample, but not FBW.

This is a special fragrance for me, because it was my first purchase from D.S.&Durga Brand ever. I own it for 6 years now.

When I was testing it and getting to know with it more and more I was thinking of it like a leather based scent with some synthetic a'la garage aromas. But no, this is much more, much deeper than that.

It reminds me of the smell of wood preservatives mixed with an aroma of floor paste, some wood/tree resins and possibly a hint of leather. I've never played violin, but I imagine that's how the inside of a luthier workshop might smell like from the inside. Very realistic, maybe even sort of industrial smell. I like it, I really do.

The longevity is around 9 hours, sillage is rather poor to moderate.

That's what niche is all about!

Bowmakers is a gentle, contemplative, and calming fragrance.

In 1999 my more than one hundred year old French violin had to go in for major restoration, so that it could make beautiful sounds for at least another century.

Bowmakers smells like my violin on the day I brought it home after being in pieces for a month. My violin smelled of new varnish, a maple patch, new rosin on fresh strings, and new glue. The smell was lovely and lasted for months.

Bowmakers is this smell in a bottle.

For those of you who play electric guitar, Bowmakers smells something like a new roasted maple neck with stainless steel frets.

I don’t want to smell Bowmakers every day, but it is a very nice smell for days when I want to be calmed by the presence of a beautiful instrument.

On me, longevity is good, and projection and sillage are low.

Pretty weird woody smell but truly fascinating!
Pretty nice woody smell but truly fascinating!
Pretty charming woody smell but truly fascinating!