A Distillery In New Hampshire Just Created The World's First 'Wearable' Gin

One of gin's most intoxicating qualities — besides the literal intoxicants, of course — is its aroma. Thanks to the inventive mind behind Hendrick's Gin, you can now enjoy that aroma more often than just cocktail hour.

Food & Wine reports that New Hampshire-based Tamworth Distilling is now accepting preorders for "Sylvan Mist." Think of it as a drinkable perfume, or a wearable gin if you'd like, because this versatile and elegant spirit can be both. The idea came to Tamworth Distilling founder Steven Grasse years ago, when he was reading about gin and perfume's shared origins.

"I remember reading a book on perfume and alchemy years ago and I thought it was really interesting that the origin of how spirits were created was the search for perfume," Grasse told Food & Wine.

Both perfume and gin were originally made by infusing the essence of botanicals — juniper berries, in the case of gin — into a liquid. After two years of rigorous research and testing, the team at Tamworth Distilling was able to crack the code and find a beverage that could smell good, and go with your favorite gin cocktail as well.

According to Food & Wine, Tamworth distiller and botanical chemist Matt Power found it difficult to work while keeping a foot in the worlds of both gin and perfume. Power had to find a balance between infusing enough of an aroma that the smell would be long-lasting enough to wear, without being so overpowering that it couldn't be consumed.

In the end, Power settled on a 151 proof recipe that is best enjoyed as a spritz on the arm or over the glass of a finished cocktail. Tamworth Distilling mixologist Lee Noble says that Sylvan Mist isn't meant to serve as the centerpiece of a cocktail, but as an aromatic garnish over the cocktail like an Aviation or Bee's Knees.

"Once you draw the drink up close to your nose, that creates a first layer, where you're smelling something that's going to be a little bit different from what you're tasting," Noble told Food & Wine.

The perfume uses a mixture of violet leaf, chamomile flowers, juniper, balsam fir, citrus, and boronia flowers, to create an aromatic bouquet that evokes boreal forests, fresh-cut grass, kiwi skin, and honeydew melon. If you've ever thought that gin would make a good perfume, you can preorder your own bottle of Sylvan Mist online for $80.