New York Times hires man with nose for a story

The New York Times has announced the appointment of its first perfume critic, in what the paper describes as a breakthrough for olfactory journalism and a wake-up call for a secretive, hype-driven industry. There are a couple of websites devoted to fragrance and a scent columnist at a Swiss newspaper but, as far as the New York Times is aware, Chandler Burr, a journalist and author, will be the first full-time perfume critic for an English-language newspaper. Burr’s column, Scent Strip, in the paper’s style section, will assess old and new perfumes for men and women as well as the occasional scented candle, and rate them from zero stars to four stars. In his first column on Sunday he says he will describe one fragrance as smelling like ‘fresh insecticide’, although he says he gives another from the same company a three-star rating. He argues that the industry as a whole will benefit because the column will enliven public interest. Burr said he would focus on the perfumers working behind the scenes for big-name companies, just as restaurant critics follow chefs, and promised to dig beneath the advertised ingredients and look at the chemical make-up of perfumes. (Media Guardian, August 25, 2006)

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