Heathrow installs 'Scent Globe': Which country smells best?
By Barry Neild and Chuck Thompson, CNN • Published 7th November 2014
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We all know long haul travel stinks, but when we finally step off the plane and inhale those heady aromas of our destination, it somehow stinks a little less.
Fragrances, apparently, help create some of the best memories we take home from our vacations.
With this in mind, the UK's Heathrow Airport has installed a "Scent Globe" to try to cheer up departing passengers with a squirt of the exotic smells awaiting them at their destinations.
The globe, positioned in the newly opened Terminal 2, offers whiffs representing five nations -- Brazil, China, Japan, South Africa and Thailand.
"These specially created scents will give passengers traveling through Terminal 2 an exclusive preview of destinations that only Heathrow connects to [from the UK]," says Normand Boivin, the airport's chief operating officer.
So what do these countries smell like?
Design in Scent, the team behind Heathrow's globe rely on complex odor infusions to bring them to life in a nasal-compatible form.
'Mystical temple incense'
Heathrow's Scent Globe: "I love the smell of Nepal in the morning."
Courtesy of Heathrow Airport
South Africa's fragrance "captures the adventure of safari with notes of tribal incense, wild grass and musky animalics through the scent of Hyraceum."
Brazil "embraces the scents of its rich rainforest fauna with a palette of coffee, tobacco and jasmine."
Japan "is brought to life through cool, oceanic tones with a mix of seaweed and shell extracts, green tea and Ambergris, capturing the essence of small coastal villages so synonymous with the great Pacific Island."
China's features "mystical temple incense and subtle Osmanthus Fragrans flower" while Thailand's uses "an appetizing mix of lemongrass, ginger and coconut."
Leaving aside the fact that the true scent of intercontinental travel is actually a warm blend of stranger's armpit infused with essence of brutally stewed airline food, pairing countries with odors is an entertaining idea.
Above are a few we came up with.
Feel free to share yours in the comments below.
