I was thinking of getting one of those scent kits to work on my ability to identify different smells in wine (box of 12-80 different vials of liquids with particular smells). I did a quick search online and there seem to be several options that come up. I don’t recognize any of the brands so I had a hard time picking. Has anyone purchased these types of kits or have a brand they would recommend?
Thanks!
First of all, welcome!
At least Aromabar and Le Nez du Vin have been reliable.
12 is basically nothing. Something like 50-ish vials starts to be good. However, they are also quite pricey.
I think it’s helpful to get a kit that also has off-aromas and faults - I think many people can’t identify different faults from one another, but committing them to smell memory with an aroma kit is really helpful here.
Welcome! 
Thanks for the recommendations Otto and the warm welcomes!
Le Nez Du Vin was great for me as I was retraining my sense of smell after a head injury.
Another vote for Le Nez Du Vin, great tool. Don’t pass on the faults kit too. I imagine my vials are pretty tired by now.
That’s really cool, but $400? They definitely know their market.
A silly question. Do these vials eventually loose their aromas with time?
Le Nez du Vin claims the vials will last 10 years with proper storage (upright, proper temperature, out of sunlight).
yes they do, my kit is at least 12 years old, probably between 15-20, and while the vials are still useful they are definitely not as potent.
One thing to remember about all of these kits are they are synthetically created. Therefore, they will not be identical to what you will experience with the actual item.
I have found that the fruitiness with some of these vials is more similar to a candied version of a fruit rather than the actual version of a fruit
And therein lies one of the biggest challenges with trying to define aromas. Because smells are memories, one person‘s idea of a specific fruit will not be the same as others, regardless of what a kit tells you.
Yes, we can get a group together and smell one of these and all agree that we are smelling is a specific fruit or herb, but that is not the way we will all perceive it ‘in the wild’ so to speak . . .
Cheers
Clearly to be stored in your wine cellar 