At Symrise’s headquarters in Holzminden, a quiet town south of Hanover, each day at the company’s in-house perfumery school begins the same way: sniffing out scents from dozens of tiny bottles while blindfolded.

“It’s just like tuning a musical instrument before you play,” said Alicia De Benito Cassado, a 32-year-old former professional pianist from Spain.

— Read more in Who makes laundry smell nice? Meet the professional ‘noses’ at Digital Journal.