What the Nose Knows - Avery Gilbert [16]
To construct the definitive chemical profile for pot aroma, one needs to perform a GC-O analysis. Remarkably, no such analysis has been published, and we don’t know for sure which molecules are critically responsible for its characteristic odor. Sensory analysis by enthusiastic amateurs can be found on the Internet and suggests a winelike variety of nuances. The authoritative-sounding Standard Smoke Report asks aficionados to describe fresh buds and smoke with terms that include ammonia, earthy, licorice, and peach. An evocative, if tongue-in-cheek, review of a Beck concert in Costa Mesa noted several varieties present in the haze above the Pacific Amphitheater: “the gorgeous and unmistakable aromatics of California Indica—a fine blend of orange-flavored Californian strains, sweet acidity and a delicate finish…” Can the average pothead really sniff the diff between California Indica and Super Afghani? I close my eyes and recall Bob Marley, barely visible in a wall-to-wall ganja cloud at the Santa Cruz Civic Center, and Jerry Garcia spotlit in the doobie fog of the Winterland arena. Distinct varietal aromas? Not back then. But the market has evolved. Jim Woodford, the forensic drug sniffer, tells me the East Coast product often smells “like minty oregano,” while the West Coast version is generally “skunky.”
THE INDEPENDENT perfumer Harris Jones once formulated a pot smell for a client who manufactured scented candles. He included beta-pinene and limonene and all the rest, but to achieve a realistic final impression (or, as he puts it, a good “touch”), Jones found he needed a skunky note. He did some research on skunk secretions and concocted his own Pepé Le Pew formula. He prepared a solution of it at .01 percent, and used that at .5 percent in the total formula. The client loved it, but Jones ultimately dropped the project once he realized how many different ways he could be sued should drug dogs and angry parents find his rendition too accurate.
The realism provided by the trace of skunk may explain an anomalous finding in the 1970s by some Canadian psychologists. Exploring aversive odor conditioning as a way to interfere with marijuana intoxication, they put finely chopped strands of human hair into a joint; when lit, it produced a highly unpleasant smell. They gave doctored spliffs to volunteers who were already high from a smoking session in the laboratory. Contrary to expectations, smoking the stinky weed significantly increased the perceived high of the volunteers. Not only did the smell of burning hair fail to kill the buzz, it boosted it.
THE SWEET, FUNKY smell of pot is saturated with social attitude, as is patchouli oil, its counterculture twin, once used by hippies to mask the smell of pot. While patchouli has become a popular fragrance ingredient in consumer products, potlike notes rarely appear in the marketplace. Is it time for marijuana to become a brand-associated scent?
How well do purported pot re-creations measure up? A car air freshener in the shape of a cannabis leaf smells like rancid compost. The Showtime network ran a scented ad in Rolling Stone for the 2006 season of Weeds. The scent was as cheesy as the “Catch the Buzz” tag line: a blend of lawnmower clippings, potting soil, and cedar shavings (the poor man’s patchouli). Cable industry pundits were coy, calling it “a distinctive herby aroma” evocative of “a certain something.” Then there is Cannabis Santal Eau de Parfum from Fresh, a fragrance division of France’s LVMH. “A forbidden blend of patchouli, cannabis and rose, this sensual fragrance captures the raw energy of a man and the desire for him.”