D.S. & Durga Gateau Blackout was launched in 2024, created by David Seth Moltz. It is inspired by the blossoming of friendship, "akin to a slice of Black Forest cake and ashy pines." Notes of pine, black cherry, incense, cacao, orris, jasmine, vanilla, fireplace and musk. D.S. & Durga Gateau Blackout is an eau de parfum, edp.
From the brand -
"From the ashy pines of dark times, the fruit of friendship flowers like a hunk of Black Forest cake."
"This is the first perfume made as part of our perfumer David’s Perfume Quest! series. Watch the idea and process by which this fume was made in partnership with Joe Talbot below.- D.S."
D.S. & Durga Gateau Blackout Reviews
Fragrantica - "A blind buy that really paid off. This bottle is insanely complex with forest and smoke notes orbiting the cherry. There is a brief pop of camphor on opening but it quickly fades. The smoke is more complicated than with other fragrances. It's not simply smoke but... the ghost of smoke. A place that has been steeped in smoke and taken it in as a part of itself, so thats its become something else. The incense ties it all together. Its amazing that such wildly different notes ehance each other, yet work seemlessly together in a really intoxicating way. The cocoa arrives slightly later, as part of the ensemble, not the star of the show. I disagree with comparisons to Black Magenta. Had these fragrances not been released in such close proximity, I don't think this would be a conversation. While they share a warm sweetness to the ultimate dry down, you wouldn't mistake one for the other. So glad I risked this one and can't wait for more Perfume Quest bottles to release."
Fragrantica - "This is one of the most complex fragrances I’ve encountered. It is an example of what DS does best. It reminds me of the genre of perfume that seems unique to them, with scents like Mississippi Medicine and Debaser."
Fragrantica - " wouldn't classify this as a gourmand, as it's definitely not sweet. Reminds me a lot of Deep Dark Vanilla, a bitter, medicinal vanilla atop some damp hay (I was always fond of that one, though I thought it would have been better marketed as a witchy scent in the vein of Coven or Hexensalbe). Gateau Blackout shares a similar bitter, medicinal DNA to DDV. I think of what vintage coca cola might have tasted like at the drugstore soda counter. There's boozy cherry and cocoa up top, but the entire thing is subsumed in a smokiness that is less campfire, more rubber tire on asphalt. I would have liked more cake dialed up, less smoke. Yet there is something cozy about this that will wear well in cold weather. This performs like a skin scent."
