Photo: Spigoo / Flickr

What comes to mind when you see the word ‘Lithuania’? Not much? Entrepreneur Dainius Rutkauskas was afraid that might be the case, so he created Lithuania’s ‘national perfume’, Lietuvos Kvapas – or, the ‘scent of Lithuania’. It’s hoped the fragrance will help create a positive national brand, showing the world what Lithuania can do. At the very least, its creator hopes it will be a conversation starter.

Distilling Lithuania

‘If I say chocolate and watches, what do you think? Switzerland. If I say Guinness and leprechauns? Ireland. Fish and chips? England. But here in Lithuania we don’t have an internationally recognised symbol of our identity,’ said Rutkauskas.

The £25 fragrance has sold 1,000 bottles since it was launched earlier this year, mostly to Lithuanian tourist offices and businessmen eager to create a good impression of Lithuania abroad.

Rebranding a nation

Politicians are fans of the perfume, too. Bottles were ordered by the minister’s chief of staff to be given to the heads of Baltic states at a summit, and the foreign minister sent one to all the foreign ambassadors in the capital, Vilnius.

Even the defence minister is sold on the scent, having recently flown 20 vials of Lietuvos Kvapas to Lithuanian troops in Afghanistan to remind them of home.

‘The fragrance is a marketing tool,’ Rutkauskas said. ‘It’s a way of showing the world what we can do. It’s a way of promoting Lithuania as a modern country, rather than just an old Soviet satellite state. To many people in the west, Lithuania has a bad image. They read in their newspapers of Lithuanians committing crimes or doing weird stuff. But we are not criminals or bandits.’

Smells like… tree smoke

Lietuvos Kvapas is a mix of wild flowers, bergamot, raspberry, ginger and grapefruit. Its base notes are of cedar, amber, patchouli, sandalwood and ‘tree moss and smoke’.

At the very least, as Rutkauskas said, ‘The perfume is unusual. It’s a way of starting a conversation.’

Tags: fragrances, perfume