New York Times Smells A Hit

The New York Times is launching a scent critic to review new and classif perfumes and frangrances. Says Chandler Burr, the critic with a yacht-club name:

“The creation of fragrance is one of the highest art forms crafted for the senses, the equal of painting for sight and music for hearing, and this column is about treating perfume as the art that it is,” Burr said in a statement. “Every other true art has a serious criticism. I believe perfume should as well.”

One of the highest art forms crafted for the senses? Surely it's the HIGHEST art form crafted solely for the senses, unless he thinks the Odorama effects by John Waters are more important. It's a billion dollar+ industry so why not. But I understood one of perfume's mysteries was how it interacted differently with every person. How do you rank that? And on a par with movies and music? That's just silly. But if he rates the smell of the dumpster at the end of the block or Union Square Station on a sweltering August day, I'm in.