The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Riyaz Kalsekar Signature Plus arrived in 2024, and the composition marks a clear shift in direction for Rasasi. The fragrance opens with bergamot and cypress, both bright green notes that immediately announce something fresher, less dense than what the house typically puts forward. Davana sits at the heart, a slightly fruity, herbaceous note with a wine-like warmth that most woody-aromatic compositions tend to overlook. The base pulls everything down to earth with patchouli and cedarwood, the kind of dry, grounded finish that keeps the green opening from feeling too fleeting. It's a tighter formula than expected, built around a small cast of notes that do a lot of heavy lifting.
Davana brings a soft, fermented fruit sweetness to the middle phase, something that sits somewhere between dried plum and warm hay. The note does real work here, bridging the bright citrus opening and the earthy, resinous base without either side feeling disconnected. Patchouli and cedarwood anchor the drydown with a depth that feels older than its 2024 launch date, like a library rather than a showroom.
The evolution
The first fifteen minutes are almost entirely citrus. Bergamot cuts in bright and sharp, almost bracing, with that clean, slightly bitter edge Italian fruit is known for. By the thirty-minute window, the green notes take over. Cypress arrives dry and resinous, like crushed needles, while davana brings a soft, fermented fruit sweetness that sits somewhere between dried plum and warm hay. The middle phase runs woody, yes, but not heavy. The base settles in around the two-to-four-hour window. Patchouli takes over with that damp, earthy richness, while cedarwood adds a drier, pencil-shaving quality on top. Six hours in, the fragrance has gone quiet and intimate, a warm woody skin scent that lingers on a jacket collar into the next day.
Cultural impact
This release feels purpose-built for warm-climate wear, the kind of woody-aromatic that plays well in shared offices and outdoor evenings where heavier compositions would suffocate. It wears like a daily signature for someone who wants green, clean, and grounded without paying for the niche markup. A straightforward composition that gets the basics right, nothing more, nothing less.
