Why Does Hand Sanitiser Smell Like Tequila Or Vodka? (Hint: It Shouldn't.)
Back in March, as COVID-19 swept the world and rendered hand sanitiser a daily necessity, hand-cleaning devotees took to social media to give voice to a commonly undiscussed aspect of the product ― its smell.
They’re still wondering. “Why does all the hand sanitiser smell like tequila now?” asked a Twitter user in September. “Tequila-scented hand sanitiser has got to be the first thing outlawed in 2021,” wrote another.
The aroma could be attributed to the spirit industry’s shift to producing hand sanitiser in the early days of the pandemic. Back in March, in an effort to bolster the surging demand for hand sanitiser, distilleries stepped up to make the product.
Take Philip McDaniel, CEO of Florida-based St. Augustine Distillery, who realised he could help confront a national crisis pretty early on.
“We were fighting a war against this thing and there was no hand sanitiser,” McDaniel recalled. “I started researching and realised we can make this stuff internally ― so we started doing it.”
To make any sort of liquor, spirit companies begin with distilled alcohol, which is ethanol. Ethanol also happens to be the primary ingredient in hand sanitiser, a fact that positioned the liquor industry to enter the disinfectant market.
By definition, ethanol is an organic chemical compound that is colourless and, although boasting a characteristic odour, shouldn’t smell like any specific spirit. Which is to say that if your hand sanitiser smells like tequila, bourbon or vodka, it’s not because the products share ingredients. It’s because the company selling you the disinfectant may not be following proper production procedures.
But let’s start from the beginning.
How liquor brands got into the sanitiser business
McDaniel’s decision to shift to hand sanitiser production was typical of the spirit industry’s response to the pandemic. As companies like Purell faced an unprecedented surge in demand that depleted inventory, distillers like...
