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Creating our No. 580 (plants & botany) signature gin was in some ways a game of two halves- an ode to a citrus-forward, sweet summery Italian holiday on the one hand and also a hint of something deeper and more complex, cue cardomom and green tea.
Sara (one of our founders) can spend a very long time hanging out in Mecca. Or the Tonic Room in Kingland, Auckland where the beautiful 100% natural fragrance brand Abel can be found.
‘The sniff test’ from the expert at Abel frangrances
We wanted to get a proper opinion on the scent (and taste) of Exhibit A so here’s Frances Shoemack, the founder of Abel to tell us her thoughts about gin and also scent generally.
Frances, on scent, just how important is it, do we actually taste with our noses?
So incredibly important! Most of the complexity, nuance and pleasure of “taste” (around 80% of the total taste) actually comes from our nose or nasal cavities. Ask anyone who’s suffered Covid-induced loss of smell and they will tell you it removes most of the pleasure of eating. In fact, the latest research suggests a post-Covid world will be one that values our sense of smell all the more for so many having lost it.
Smell is one of life’s great pleasures, often overlooked in a world devoted to appearances (in my humble opinion!)
That is so true and not something I’ve thought about til now. How terrible it must be to completely lose your sense of smell. It’s like an entire dimension of one’s existence. With that in mind, tell us about your favourite and least favourite scents?
In a world where our vision occupies 70% of our sense perception, just tuning into your sense of smell is such a delight. So many smells give me joy. The salty, pungent aromatics of our local coastline littered with seaweed after a storm, walking under any blossom tree in bloom (though the creaminess tart richness of a magnolia in early bloom would have to be my favourite), and you still can’t beat freshly ground coffee early in the morning.
Not many smells do I find truly off putting (dirty is often intriguing). But I do abhor being stuck on a plane or train next to someone with an ugly outspoken perfume!!
Dirty is intriguing- that reminds me of Halston creating his perfume (I’ve just watched the Netflix show) And I’m totally with you on strong perfumes. For me, vanilla and fake fruit smells are reasonably abhorent. Coffee, the ultimate.
Finally, I’m going to ask, what did you think of Exhibit A?
Utterly delicious!!! I’m typically known to spruce up my gin with springs of rosemary or thyme, fresh cucumber or grapefruit, but the Exhibit A has such delicate complexity that it doesn’t need embellishing and I actually thought it was most beautiful straight.
I can’t resist cardamom in any form, here it speaks in hushed tones of gin’s colonial past.
Thank you Frances, that is beautiful. I’m also a fan of Abel and have spent quite some time playing with layering up the scents to get the perfect pairing. So far my favourite is Nuture Gray label- a smell that I discovered after our first lockdown and found comforting. The power of smell is truly amazing.
