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Guest Post by Tim

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Hi Everyone,

A unique limited-edition collaboration between New York Retailer BKLYN Dry Goods and rising niche perfume stars DS & Durga? BKLYN Dry Goods, co-founded by Jahn Hall and Kurt Uhlendorf is a online and pop up mens apparel retailer specialising in vintage American fashion. The brand was born and bred by an insatiable curiosity and love of vintage. Tightly merchandised clothing, objects and curiosities sold on the site are a thoughtfully executed range of quality vintage offered at extremely fair prices. Inspiration for the fragrance was drawn from scented swing tags the company designed and created for their pop up store events in New York city and throughout the country.

Spent Musket Oil by DS & Durga / BKLYN Dry Goods

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Leather, birchwood, tobacco, anise, spent rifle oil

An introduction between the two collaborators was made by Ulrich Lang, co creator of the Elements Showcase niche perfume exhibition when he chance discovered the scented tags at one of the brands early pop up events. Spent Musket Oil being a more grown up and polished version of the original swing tag aroma, is a standout first fragrance for the dry goods retailer. Its bottle beautifully customised in bound leather cord and stainless dog tags, stamped with BKLYN branding and the fragrance name, housed in a draw string bag with notes listed and spunky navy iconography. This is what hooked me line and sinker. I adore the packaging. The overall look and execution of the product is done with quality and a inspired design aesthetic.

Spent Musket Oil has been described by is creators as aggressive and masculine, it’s accords include dried leather hilt, vintage birch wood, cavendish tabac, anise, spent rifle oil and musk The opening of this fragrance is original and fitting to its name, calling to mind tarry black leather and the gun smoke that lingers from a freshly fired rifle. The anise is bitter sweet to start giving the introduction a sharp resinous aroma that adds a sticky liquorice like undertone to the leather rendering it polished to a high shine finish , not unlike buffed military boots with the smell of fresh boot polish warmed by friction and heat. The first shot is aggressive and tarry, only to promptly sweeten as the anise cuts through the birch wood, clearing the smoke and balancing out the bitterness which I have grown most fond of through repeated wearings.

Photo Stolen BRKLNDryGoods

The fragrance rearranges itself into rustic combinations of rich dense pipe tobacco, sweetened chewy liquorice with herbal clove nuances and spent rifle oil that give a synthetic industrial cleaning product aroma .The overtone is masculine and militant, playing up the rawness of its ingredient to deliver a fragrance that is relevant to the brands image and customer. Button up Flannelette shirts, multi pocketed utility vests and belted army pants tucked into distressed leather boots available on the brands online store suggest this fragrance is targeted towards a rugged outdoors type of man, or the trendy inner city urbanite wannabe version. He smells of tool boxes and garage grease, packing rolled tobacco pouches and aniseed throat lozenges. Fashion forward in carefully selected vintage statement pieces.

I find it near impossible to suggest a fragrance it reminds me of or is similar to, the closest I can articulate is an army disposal store, conjuring memories of rubber soles with leather uppers over well oiled rifles and hunting accessories . The fragrance life is fair. It grows softer and sweeter over the first few hours of wear presenting a moderate sillage for up to 3 hours. I feel the unfussy selection of ingredients makes Spent Musket Oil somewhat linear after the sting of the bullet has faded. With the birch wood charring the leather with a smoky character, it leaves minimal depth on the skin in the dry down. To me the fragrance life mimics the result of a fired gun , initially loud and ear piercing when the trigger is pulled, then into a descending echo, everything unfolding quickly. This is where I feel the fragrance falls short . The dry down is missing something to anchor it long term, more woods perhaps or some dirty patchouli could have stretched out this fragrance giving it more longevity and depth in the final stages of development. This I’m willing to over look in what is a brave and daring fragrance for both brands responsible for its creation.

Spent Musket Oil is available from BKLYN Dry Goods web site for $150 usd

See you in two weeks,

Tim xx