D.S. & Durga Bottles the Nostalgic Magic of 2000s New York Romance With “Ain’t That Sweet”

Cult-favorite Brooklyn fragrance house D.S. & Durga is stepping into uncharted olfactive territory. Founded in 2008 by self-taught perfumer and musician David (D.S.) Seth Moltz and architect-turned-creative director Kavi (Durga) Moltz, the brand has built a global following by transforming unconventional ideas into rich, narrative-driven perfumes. Now, the duo is tackling a notoriously polarizing scent category with its newly unveiled “Ain’t That Sweet” — an amber fragrance billed as the ultimate gourmand for people who don’t usually wear gourmands.

Inspired by the optimism of young love and the magnetic pull of NYC in the early 2000s, the scent bottles the energy of late-night romance and the annual migration of dreamers arriving in the city to find their purpose. The fragrance paints an intimate picture of a note left between lovers alongside a slice of dark, malty date cake and a glass of golden milk waiting on a kitchen counter for a midnight return. Built on top notes of myrrh and Sri Lankan cinnamon, the scent moves through a heart of date, praline and lily before drying down into a warm, grounded base of condensed milk, bourbon vanilla and nutmeg.

True to D.S. & Durga’s ethos, the new release is treated as a multifaceted work of art. David, who views perfume and music as intertwined invisible art forms, composed an original “party soul” track specifically to score the campaign, while Kavi spearheaded a bold new packaging design utilizing the brand’s signature “peach concrete” hue.

Gourmands can often be polarizing or overly sugary, but you’ve described “Ain’t That Sweet” as a gourmand for people who don’t usually wear gourmands. How did you balance notes like date cake and golden milk to keep it sophisticated rather than overly sweet?

David Moltz: I balanced the decadent date cake fumes with materials that are grounding and perfumey — musk, patchouli, real vanilla absolute. Sweet but not too sweet.

The scent is rooted in early 2000s New York and the DIY Brooklyn scene. What specific memories or cultural moments from that era were you trying to bottle with this release?

David: Well, we are rooted in that scene for sure! “Ain’t That Sweet” recalls young romance in the city (now and then). The possibility of finding love. The early stages of courtship. The note left behind before texting all day was a thing. There is something timeless about your twenties. Think of how many of our favorite songs, poems and stories come from people in their 20s. You have an open channel to the Universe and you don’t even know it. I’m not trying to be nostalgic for a time now gone — I’m more interested in bottling that energy of romantic nights and possibility in the city for new people to wear and make their own stories with.

“That thrill in the beginning when you’re excited to go over the top for your new love… It feels otherworldly… “Ain’t That Sweet” is just like that feeling.” – David Moltz, Co-Founder

You paint a very vivid picture with this scent — a note left between lovers, a midnight return, date cake and golden milk waiting on the counter. Why was this quiet, intimate late-night scene the ultimate hero image for “Ain’t That Sweet”?

David: That thrill in the beginning when you are excited to go over the top for your new love — bake a cake, write a song, surprise them. You have to go to work, but you know you’re coming home to sleep next to them. It feels otherworldly when it happens to you. “Ain’t That Sweet” is warm and familiar, just like that feeling.

Where do you see “Ain’t That Sweet” fitting into the evolving landscape of how people wear fragrance today?

David: It’s a great fume for nights out. Attractive and heavy with a rich, spicy sillage. I actually showed this and 50 other things to a few people whose opinion I really respect, and this one got the most “OMGs.” Shout out Mr. Cologne!

How does your background as a musician shape the way you compose fragrance? And how did these two creative processes converge when making “Ain’t That Sweet”?

David: Music and perfume are both invisible art forms. They have a real structure, but you can’t see them. So you interact with both in a very immediate and mysterious way. You see and feel things out of nowhere. I write music and make perfumes almost instinctively. Stuff flows through and I try to organize the word, sound, or scent in a way that is most faithful to the idea.

I’ve been really into scoring the scents lately. I make singles or EPs for each launch now, and I make sound vignettes for the ads and socials. For “Ain’t That Sweet”, I made a sort of party soul track that became the theme of the campaign. So now the fumes are even more linked to sound than, say, just making a playlist with someone else’s music.

Kavi, what inspired the new packaging design? How does the artwork and packaging shape the fragrance experience and scent storytelling?

Kavi Moltz: We wanted to go bolder. The worlds of the fragrances are all so rich, colorful and full of life. Adding images and bringing our “peach concrete” color to the forefront does a better job at showing the depth of each perfume. We also wanted the box to be useful, so it’s more of a keepsake — a minimally branded, sturdy box that can hold things in its second life.

D.S. & Durga’s “Ain’t That Sweet” launches on August 25, 2026, via the brand’s official webstore and select retailers. The fragrance is priced at $225 USD for 50ml and $300 USD for 100ml.