Lifestyle Mirror

Sipping a glass of wine and savoring its complex flavors as it fills the palate is—for many—comes automatically. To do the same with tequila, however, is another story and may sound like a cruel joke. But when the fragrance pros at MiN New York teamed up with the mix masters at Herradura Tequila, they proved that this Mexican spirit is ripe for the full tasting experience—whether sipped neat or shaken in a cocktail. 

“Tequila is more akin to a wine than any other spirit,” says Herradura’s Mark Drew, citing its acidity, minerality, and the 800 or so organic compounds it’s made up of (around double that of vodka) as evidence. These components give the spirit a multifaceted flavor profile, making it versatile for mixing with other tastes and aromas.

And since taste is 95 percent smell, sipping tequila while sniffing a well-paired fragrance—as we did at MiN—can enhance the overall experience of the tasting, bringing out citrus (lemon, orange, grapefruit) top notes and spicy (vanilla, clove, cinnamon) heart notes and base notes of the spirit as much as the fragrance itself.

Mark created three different cocktails using three different Herradura tequilas—Silver, Reposado, and Añejo. Then, vice president and curator of MiN New York Mindy Yang expertly paired each drink with a complementary fragrance: a peppery, woodsy scent (Kerosene’s Wood Haven) to fortify the citrus notes in the Silver, perhaps, or a robust, spicy masculine worthy of an expensive Añejo.

To truly experience the scents and spirits, Yang insists emphatically to “Roll the tequila over your tongue. Savor it!” If you’re a fragrance rookie, that same methodology applies to your spritz. Let it sit on the skin and evolve—and keep smelling as it changes.

With the recipes provided for you in the slideshow above, your fragrance is bound to last longer than your delicious cocktail. But much like your buzz, it will make your evening much more enjoyable. —Sasha Levine (@sashalevine) and Phillip Picardi (@pfpicardi)

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