Nosy Interview: Larry Benesh

Larry grills meat in A Fox Fur, a Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree, © Rolf Geissinger

Larry and I met through his lovely wife Rebecca. If you are lucky enough to have dinner at their home, you will be treated to a riot of scrumptious smells, possibly including a whiff of some of Larry's fragrant homemade bitters. While you await your invite, you can learn about Larry's latest concoctions on his blog, Loudtalknliquor.

What do you smell like?

Probably I’m a combination of my surrounding environment and what I put into or on my body. In my case, that is some athletic gear like my various soccer cleats or my surprisingly orange rock climbing chalk bag that looks like I’m a major hippie. While it isn’t officially a piece of my clothing, I do seem to always be wearing a sweater of my orange cat so I better count that in the mix. When not running or playing soccer or climbing, I’m often lazing around on my leather couch playing video games or watching soccer so I’m guessing that has worn off on me. I like to consume all things with crust so maybe I have a scent of croissant. Depending on the time of day, you might detect coffee or Côtes du Rhône. Or a cask of rye. As for products that I wear with scent – there is my Old Spice High Endurance (Sport!) antiperspirant. About once a week or so I use some terrible shampoo that is supposed to help with my rather dry head. Hopefully you don’t catch me on those days since it's rather wet dog like – the rest of the time I indulge in whatever shampoo I’ve picked up from my travels to hotels. I particularly like the W’s Bliss Lemon+Sage or the Westin’s White Tea Aloe. I’ve even sought out and bought a big bottle of the Lemon+Sage when my supply of small travel bottles ran out.

What do you like to smell?

The holy trinity of biscuits, bacon and coffee. I do particularly love summer time smells like Orcas Island, Puget Sound, and a smoky BBQ. Cardamom and cinnamon both have strong lures for me. The pleather seats in my early 80’s Porsche named Little P. And of course, my wife Rebecca. She’s a poet and occasionally wears a perfume called Poême that she bought soon after we graduated from college. But I like the way she smells without that, too.