I’ve heard of people dabbing a little wine behind their ears to attract a gourmet mate, but rubbing on an item from the cheese cart maybe going too far. It sounds like a bit of a hoax to me, but according to the mainstream news, the makers of the famously pungent Stilton blue cheese have launched their own perfume.

Eau de Stilton claims to "recreate the earthy and fruity aroma" of the cheese "in an eminently wearable perfume".

The perfume, blended by a Manchester-based aromatics company, features a "symphony of natural base notes including yarrow, angelica seed, clary sage and valerian". I had a run in with valerian once. It's the Durian fruit of the herb world. I bought a package of Valerian tea and within a week concluded that both it and I could not exist amicably together in one small apartment. I gave it to my mother (she lives in a big house) and she ended up cementing it behind a brick in the basement. Two weeks later the mouse problem was taken care of.

But back to the perfume. According to the Stilton Cheesemaker’s Association, the item was created as part of a campaign to persuade the public to eat their product. Meaning the cheese of course, not the perfume. But cynic that I am, I interpret this to mean that they actually don’t expect anyone to go around smelling like moldy fromage, they are just baiting a media trap in the hopes that suckers like me will bite. In that capacity, it has proved irresistible.

Nigel White, of the SCA, brushed off suggestions that it might not be the most alluring of scents, unless of course you want to attract men who are secret rats.

"Blue Stilton cheese has a very distinctive, mellow aroma and our perfumier was able to capture the key essence of that scent and recreate it in what is an unusual but highly wearable perfume," he said.

Perhaps due to her cheesecake appeal, the Cheesemakers have approached British television presenter Cat Deeley to be the face of Eau de Stilton on their ad campaign. They have yet to receive a reply from the sexy celebrity.

As for the rest of us, wouldn’t it just be less costly if we all went around without changing our socks?