Smelling like booze at 9am on a Monday is typically a sign you need to reassess your life choices. However, alcohol as a carrier ingredient has been a mainstay in perfumery since the 14th century, with more fragrance houses embracing liquor notes. Whether it’s heady notes of brandy, cognac, rum or whisk(e)y, or the light freshness of gin, limoncello or white wine, there are booze spirits aplenty. The olfactory equivalent of a welcome measure of whisky on a cold winter’s night, liquor fragrances are often warm and sensual, making for pretty much the only appropriate way to smell like alcohol during the work day.
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The only question left is: what’s your tipple?
1. For red wine sippers… Bloody Wood Les Liquides Imaginaires
Charming and unconventional, Bloody Wood Les Liquides Imaginaires is a fragrance of contradictions. Classy yet dirty, woods and rose intermingle with slightly, cherry-like wine notes. Unique and a little mysterious, it’s ideal for situations in which one requires a little sophistication. The only drawback? Its sillage and longevity aren’t the best, staying close to the skin and disappearing after a few hours. Then again, a good glass of wine often doesn’t stick around for too long either.
Scent notes: red wine, rose, violet, cherry, fruity notes, raspberry, woods, oak, sandalwood
2. For rum drinkers… Malin + Goetz Dark Rum
Drawing inspiration from the old-world bay rum traditionally consumed by sailors traversing the Caribbean, Malin + Goetz Dark Rum is deliciously dark and spicy. Sweet notes of plum and zest bergamot add a touch of lightness, while leather and creamy milk create an intoxicating scent befitting a sexy, slightly drunk sailor. Ahoy indeed.
Scent notes: bergamot, plum, anise, leather, rum, vanilla, patchouli, amber, milk
3. For whisk(e)y nursers… Tom Ford Tobacco Oud
Whiskey can be a lot at the best of times. Tom Ford Tobacco Oud manages to make it work, pairing the dark liquor with equally heady oud wood and tobacco and balancing out the concoction with spicy notes of cinnamon, patchouli, and coriander, as well as a hint of vanilla. Like pretty much every Tom Ford fragrance, it just hits right. Soft, smokey, and seductive, it smells like sipping a whisky in a small bar while waiting for the rain to stop.
Scent notes: whiskey, spicy notes, cinnamon, coriander, tobacco, agarwood (oud), sandalwood, incense, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, cedar
4. For champagne poppers… Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Le Bubbly
An unexpected contender, Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Le Bubbly is a skin scent that manages to strike the right balance between sweet and fresh. Top notes of champagne, blood orange, pink berries, and freesia start strong with a slight champagne-like ‘fizziness’ but quickly dry down into a comforting base of vanilla, woods, and praline. Bright and fresh, this is a scent to spritz when the sun is out.
Scent notes: champagne accord, blood orange, pink berry, pink freesia, fizzy mandarin, gardenia, jasmine, vanilla orchid, amber, pralines, creamy woods
5. For gin lovers… Penhaligon’s Much Ado About The Duke
Gin and rose lend this woody, peppery fragrance a beautiful freshness, while vetiver acts as an earthy undertone. Bright and fresh, it’s a distinctly playful unisex scent that works well during both the warmer and cooler months.
Scent notes: rose, pepper, gin, woods, leather
Words by Theo Rosen
