I have two wonderful colleagues who know everything about perfumes—and I mean everything. Let’s call them… Agatha and Shouan. A couple of years ago, Agatha and I realized that the way she talks about perfumes is almost identical to how I talk about whisky, and Shouan once asked for samples of smoky whisky—not to drink, but to smell—which, of course, he got. It’s not just us who are similar; the industries themselves actually have surprising parallels, something I didn’t realize until I met Agatha and Shouan. Branding, the way scents are described, sampling and collecting, how a product changes as air gets into the bottle, the focus on enjoyment, and how the product is marketed to reflect the kind of person you are—or at least, the person you’d like to be. This approach makes a purchase more likely. What fascinates me about this is that despite all these similarities between the whisky and perfume worlds, there are also stark differences, making me wonder if us whisky lovers could learn a thing or two from the perfume enthusiasts?
Fragrance Notes Are a Marathon, Not a Sprint! When drinking isn’t an option, breaking down scent molecules becomes an all-day experience. When I sit down to analyze a whisky and smell it over time, I might spend a half-hour or so on it. Perfume aficionados, however, analyze scents in hours, not mere minutes! How does it smell initially? After a half-hour? Three hours? Six hours? Longer? How does it change over time? This has actually led me to think of whisky as perfume in some key ways! The other night, as I was sampling a whisky, my eldest (almost 12 years old) wanted to smell it. Since she dislikes the smell of alcohol (just wait, dear child!), I tried having her press her palm against the glass, turn it upside down, then rub her hands together and sniff. Without any prompting, she picked out nuts, spices, and raisins—yes, it was a sherry bomb. Why don’t I do this more often? Whisky can be a fascinating sensory experience without even taking a sip! And it’s something the whole family can enjoy (well… you get it). How do the hands smell after a half-hour, compared to the initial scent? Or after an hour? Two? We all know how cozy an empty whisky glass can smell on the counter the next day. We should definitely explore this systematically—let’s go, whisky geeks!
Dupes Are an Art Form, Not a Shameful Secret! Dupes have always had a negative connotation for me, and in the whisky world, we don’t really discuss copying each other’s bottlings since each distillery wants to stand out. But it’s different with perfumes—and done with class! Every perfume enthusiast worth their salt isn’t ashamed to hunt for the perfect “dupe,” but many are produced by reputable perfume houses, often without even trying to make the bottle or name resemble the original. Respected dupes don’t need to look alike; it’s more about interpretation and re-imagining than anything else. A good dupe can even earn cred for offering a new twist, longer-lasting fragrance, or a better-balanced scent experience than the original. Dupes interpret the original but can also bring improvements, and there’s no shame in enjoying them—in fact, quite the opposite! Why pay more if the less expensive version offers something just as good, or better? Value for money is definitely part of the enjoyment here. No one looks down on a perfume enthusiast trying to find similar enjoyment for less. As Agatha said to me today, no one knows if you’re wearing Kayali Amber Invite Only or Paris Corner Kaheel Lux; they only smell the fragrance, not the brand name. Imagine if we could do the same with whisky? Sure, many distilleries have their own sherry bomb or bourbon-barrel twist, but we whisky lovers tend to chase whichever distillery is deemed “best” or “coolest” to like. It’s definitely cooler to prefer the non-chill-filtered, sherry-influenced 15-year-old Macallan over Glen Moray, regardless of which one you’d actually like better in a blind tasting, and this colors so many of our whisky discussions. Maybe we could take a cue from perfume lovers and hunt for “best bang for your bucks.” What if all Swedish whisky consumers started spending their hard-earned cash on good value instead of the expensive, hyped bottles? I wonder what would happen to prices on store shelves then?
More Focus on Flavor and Scent, Less on Ancient History! As a history teacher, I naturally tend to romanticize anything old—except maybe that slightly swollen carton of milk in the fridge. Besides, I’m all too aware of how much money some Scottish distillery owners make by emphasizing how ancient and established their distillery is, and that’s fine. It is pretty cool to imagine how these old buildings have stood through centuries of work. So this may sound like a critique of historic distilleries, but it isn’t. I’ve just noticed that I’m fascinated listening to my perfume-savvy colleagues talk about different scents and focusing purely on the fragrance, not the heritage of the perfume house. How much am I influenced by my love of history? And even if it’s not wrong—how could I learn to set that aside when I want to experience and judge whisky more freely?
Your Experience Matters More Than Others’ Opinions! If you want refreshingly honest scent notes, a quick browse on Fragrantica.com is pretty entertaining. I can’t count the times I’ve been told I’m strange or should check my nose when I pick up “gym shoe,” “tea shop,” or “grandma’s perfume” in a whisky, but on Fragrantica, there’s room for all kinds of takes. Gasoline? Sure. Toilet spray? It’s happened. Pleasant armpit? No idea what that person meant, but no one else seemed bothered. Brutally honest scent notes are common in the perfume world, and personal perceptions are more important than what you’re “supposed” to think. It’s accepted that people perceive the same perfume very differently, so perfume enthusiasts may be more accustomed than the average whisky drinker to people’s varying sensitivities to certain scent notes. It’s refreshing, and the variety in scent notes helps counter people’s tendency to get hung up on brand cred. And if what you smell as “sweaty birch sauna” comes across to your perfume buddy as well-balanced cedarwood, so be it!
Layering—Experiment More! This might be the most exciting difference. True perfume fans practice something called “layering”—creating a unique scent by applying different perfumes in layers. This way, they can complement each other and create unique expressions that amplify the scent (and likely the mood) of the wearer. Let’s pause here. Layering. Imagine buying a whisky that you’re 80–90% satisfied with. It’s nice, tasty, and reasonably priced, but it lacks that final touch to make it great. Usually, whisky lovers would:
- Finish the bottle with a faint sense of dissatisfaction.
- Offer it to friends, thereby coming across as generous or at least breaking even financially.
- Use it in the weekend’s whisky glaze for a nice steak.
But what if, instead, we tried adding a splash of smoky, sherry-aged, rye, or whatever to find The Sweet Spot? Imagine someone’s ultimate whisky being 3 cl Old Pulteney 12 + 1 cl Ardbeg 10? Or 2 cl Tullamore DEW with 2 cl Mortlach 16? The possibilities are dizzying! Imagine the fun we could have at home or with whisky friends! “Have you tried pouring 2.5 cl Glen Grant The Major’s Reserve, then waiting 15 minutes to add 0.5 cl Ardbeg 10, and finally 1 cl Teeling Single Grain Wine Cask? Mindblowing!” Sure, there might be someone who snobbily declares that it’s now a BLENDED (gasp, shocking!) whisky, while everyone else grabs their pearls. Or not. Who really cares? If it’s fun, it’s fun, and if it’s tasty, it’s tasty—and at worst, you’ll learn more about yourself and others.
And finally, a little wish… Agatha and Shouan have told me that in the perfume world, it’s common knowledge that perfumers in certain Middle Eastern countries are incredibly skilled. You can go to a perfume maker’s shop, ask them to smell a fragrance, and they can recreate it on the spot without knowing the original’s formula or notes. You can also ask them to create a unique signature scent, and their expertise is something else entirely. Imagine if we could do the same with whisky! The closest I’ve come is visiting Cadenhead’s and bottling my own whisky from casks they had in store, but that’s not quite the same. Imagine walking into a shop, opening a sample of your loved one’s favorite whisky, and asking the owner to blend something that smells and tastes exactly the same! That way, you wouldn’t feel FOMO from hell when a favorite whisky is discontinued, and buying gifts for whisky lovers would be easier and more fun. And what if you have a favorite whisky but want it just a tad smokier/sweeter/lighter—it’d be a done deal! And imagine training to become such an expert. Or wait… maybe these experts already exist? What’s the story with Irish whiskey bonding anyway? But that’s a topic for another blog post…