Take Your Bourbon with You
I have a guilty pleasure I have to come to terms with…”Bourbon scented” anything generally attracts me to purchase that product.
Other than drinking the spirit to ease the stress of the day, I am sure I’m not alone in stating that the nose of whiskey is what starts the de-stressing process. That first scent that connects to a memory is what takes us away from the stress and into the present. There is a reason why we start with the nosing of spirits as it is the beginning of a process.
So, why should my love for those caramels and vanillas only happen with sitting down for a drink? Why can’t I take that with me as I go throughout the day…and not smell like I’m drinking on the job?
After entering the search words “bourbon scented” into my favorite search engine, I came up with the following results:
Bourbon Scented Candles
Bourbon Scented Hand Sanitizer
Bourbon Scented Cologne
Bourbon Scented Body Wash/Soap
Bourbon Scented Beard Balm/Oil
Bourbon Scented Candles
This one is obvious as you can find them everywhere, Bath and Body Works, Target, and even Menards. My favorite memories of visits to Distilleries are some of those candles. As we learned in a prior Whiskey Corner article, there are plenty of options out there to turn your old, memorable bottles into candles as well!
Bourbon Scented Hand Sanitizer
Just a sign of the times, I guess. In celebration to all of the craft distillers who shut down operations and learned how to produce hand sanitizer, I am all about purchasing your product. Nothing better than sanitizing your hands, putting them up to your nose like you were at the distillery where white dog is coming off the still, and taking a deep breath.
Bourbon Scented Cologne
Here is where the truth or dare part comes out. Yes, I do own a couple of bourbon scented colognes. There are many out there, yet nothing tops the Olivina Men Bourbon Cedar Cologne. Priced at $35 from the Olivina website or your favorite online vendor, you too can enjoy the smell of a rickhouse all day, and a fresh spray for your evenings in your pajamas.
Bourbon Scented Body Wash/Soap
I’m combing these two categories together because men don’t really care either way. A bar of soap or a pump of gel gets me to the same result. However, for those of you who read the ingredients of body wash, it is basically detergent, so tread lightly on navigating this category.
My favorite in this category goes to Duke Cannon Supply Company and their Big American Bourbon Soap. This product is made with Buffalo Trace Bourbon and is listed in the ingredients. If you wanted to change it up a bit, you could also go with their Busch Beer Soap and smell like sandalwood and crisp mountain air!
Bourbon Scented Beard Balm/Oil
Traditionally, I would shave every day except for when on vacation. In 2017, I was able to take a two-week vacation (a rarity in my business), and grew a beard. My better half said that she liked it, so I’ve kept it ever since. That meant I had to learn how to take care of it as growing a beard is not as easy as it looks like in GQ. There are a ton of products out there to keep your skin moisturized and beard soft, and this is where I call it a tie.
If beard oil is your thing, then the Cremo Beard Oil – Bourbon Blend is a solid offering and sold exclusively through Wal-Mart.
If beard balm is your thing, then the Northern Fir Quality Beard Balm will be your favorite. While this one doesn’t have bourbon in the list of scents, I get the nose of a rye whiskey aged over six years.
Even though the majority of us do not have the opportunity to work at a distillery, or even in the Spirits Industry, that doesn’t mean that we cannot take a moment each day and remember the times we walked into that mashing room, fermenting room, still house, rickhouse, etc. Surrounding yourself in some wellness products that remind you of the spirit we all love might be what is needed to reduce that stress during the day, and it might make the evening pour that much more enjoyable.
It’s the little things that count during the day…I hope that some of these recommendations help you as much as they do for me.
Cheers!
For full disclosure, I either own or have tried each of these products through gifts received from family or through my Birchbox for Men subscription.None of the companies listed have provided any insight or samples for this article. Also, there are many ways to purchase these products with discounts if you look hard enough, as I never pay full price.
