If you didn’t get what you wanted yesterday for Christmas, here’s an opportunity to gift yourself with an unusual if also unusually pointless gift: for £25, you can buy an empty half-litre bottle.
Oh, not empty, really: The company selling them, My Baggage, says they are filled with aromatic air captured from native habitats around the UK, each with its distinctive aroma. The choices are Nottingham, the Highlands, Snowdonia and a field near the Irish border.
Company chief Paul Stewart told a Guardian (UK) reporter that “Our sense of smell is known to be linked to emotional memories and this year Britons living abroad have been coming home less than usual – so we thought we’d offer something novel to remind them of home. And, of course, it works for those in lockdown and not able to travel.”
Each bottle has a cork stopper so you can take a quick whiff now and then; you could also refill it once you can travel to whence it came. The company says it collects the air and aroma by “traditional methods,” which apparently means waving the bottle around and putting a cork in it.
For those who aren’t satisfied with the basic outdoor aromas, other scents are on offer including freshly-mowed village greens, urban traffic fumes, the London Underground, and even a fish-and-chip shop in Norfolk.
Shipping is free in the UK; international shipping is available, but Gumbo has no word on whether the EU will impose tariffs on British air as Brexit comes into effect.
