First came Betty Grable’s legs, Dolly Parton’s chest and Keith Richards’s hands. Now a Dutch winemaker has set a new standard for the insurance of strange body parts by taking out a £3,9-million policy on his nose.
Ilja Gort, a Dutch musician, prides himself on his range of wines and clarets. Taking out a policy on the Lloyd’s of London insurance market last week, he claimed his nose was his most important asset because a good sense of smell was essential to guarantee the quality of his wines.
He argued that the tongue has only five areas of taste but the nose can distinguish millions of scents.
In 2003, the British supermarket chain Somerfield insured the tongue and taste buds of its senior wine buyer, Angela Mount, for a record-breaking £10-million, arguing that the skills of her “olfactory system” were responsible for greatly increasing its sales.
Lloyd’s also insures the nostrils of perfume specialists. —