Launched in 2016 by American indie house DS & Durga, perfumer David Seth Moltz says Radio Bombay was inspired by a “radio sitting in a small hot shop in Bandra – the ‘Brooklyn’ of Bombay (sorry). The heat deconstruct the oils in the wood. Ragas and Geeta Dutt tunes jangle out of its tiny speaker in the busy city.”

It opens with a rich woody note bolstered by cedarwood. The metallic tang of copper, appears suddenly and disappears quickly on me, like a spark, and makes the opening exciting and intriguing. But RB is just getting started. As it warms on my skin, a beautiful, pure note of Mysore sandalwood emerges – soft, sweet, warm, creamy and woody. Iris adds a powdery feel to it that gives the EdP an elegance. Boronia, that shrub native to Australia, has a vivid floral/fruity aroma with hay-like aspects that are shown here. As it moves to the base, I smell sweet, milky coconut and woody, piney balsam, joined by musk and ambergris and I am beyond smitten. Mr. Durga is talking to me and I am listening with my nose.

Mr. Durga says that “Radio Bombay a deconstruction of the Mysore sandal rebuilt from aspects of musky cedar, peach, coconut, lactones, milk” and exactly what it smells like.

The drydown is warm and sultry, elegant and transporting, with a rich woodiness that runs all the way through it. 

Notes: radiant wood, copper, cedar, sandalwood, iris, boronia, balsam fir absolute coconut, musc, ambergris.