We smell test five Little Trees air fresheners to see which is best

That’s what Julius Sämann did in 1952 when a milk delivery driver in Watertown, New York (also the birthplace of the safety pin as well as the setting for a depressing, little-known concept album by Frank Sinatra), complained about the smell of spoiled milk in his van. It was some very specific experience that allowed Julius to see fortune and fame in rancid dairy.

After fleeing Nazi persecution in Germany, he studied alpine trees in Canadian forests. As a chemist, he was interested in their fragrant compounds. That got him thinking about infusing the compounds into some cardboard and wondering if the resulting doodads would sweeten up a stinky car cabin. They, of course, did, and a patent was filed in 1954.

The rest is pungent history. After over 60 years, Little Trees is still based out of Watertown and in the third generation of the Sämann family hands. They have sold billions of Little Trees. Literal billions. They’ve become a design icon to boot, and the company now manufactures over 60 different fragrances. Which is a lot of choice. So what’s the best Little Tree to hang from your rear-view mirror? That’s where we enter the room preceded by our smell.

Our goal? Find the best-smelling Little Trees. The testing materials? Twenty-four Little Trees air fresheners purchased on eBay. The varieties in alphabetical order:

It would be impossible to lay out 24 different air fresheners and expect someone to make a considered judgement of their favourite. Too overwhelming. Also, people’s particular tastes differ significantly. One person’s perfume is another’s garbage juice. So, because the objectively best Little Tree doesn’t exist, we wanted to isolate a handful of the best – the odorous elite, as it were.

We separated the 24 trees into four randomly assigned brackets of six. The fresheners were placed in envelopes so they’d be assessed blind (we didn’t want unconscious bias affecting the results). Then, people were invited to pick their first, second and third favourite. First was worth three points, second worth two and third worth one. After each round we tallied each freshener’s total points and divided them by the number of testers, leaving each freshener with a maximum score of three. Each air freshener was evaluated by an average of 15 people.

We had two ties, which was a surprise. What wasn’t a surprise was Black Ice appearing high on the list: Little Trees report that it’s their best-seller. The fresheners all tended towards being non-specific mixtures of scents that use the kinds of notes you’d expect in perfume or cologne. That is, with the exception of the runaway winner: Blackberry Clove.

What came last? That’d be Mango with a piddling mark of 0.31. Strawberry didn’t do much better with a mark of 0.38. In fact, we’d avoid most of the fruit scents. Of the runners-up, only Peachy Peach and Coconut managed to get a mark over 1.0.

Blackberry Clove

“A distinctive scent of spicy clove and juicy blackberries.”

We say:

“Smells a bit earthy to me, and there’s a lime aftertaste. It’s not chemical; it smells like the natural world.”

“Smells like fruit pastilles.”

“It’s like an alcopop.”

“Smells like a duty-free store.”

“Smells like Crabtree & Evelyn.”

Black Ice

They say:

“A masculine fragrance with a fusion of sandalwood, bergamot and lemon with an air of mystery.”

We say:

“Like a new-car smell mixed with industrial floor cleaner.”

“I hate it. Smells like a teenage boy’s deodorant.”

“A little more subtle. Smells like a car wash.”

Victory Lane

They say:

“A bold masculine fragrance of cedar wood and a hint of citrus.”

We say:

“Low-key, like a hotel room.”

“A little talcum-y.”

“A little feminine.”

Passion

They say:

“A bold, zesty fragrance of amber, musk and citrus.”

We say:

“Smells new. Would make you feel like you had your life together.”

“Makes me think of aftershave.”

“Davidoff Cool Water, for sure.”

Strength

They say:

“The scent of balsam wood and sparkling rosemary.”

We say:

“Smells a bit like Christmas. A little bit too food-y to me.”

“Botanical. Not like flowers – like plants.”

“A bit like incense.”

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