BOTTLING the essence of the dreaming spires was never going to be easy, but a top perfumer claims to have cracked it.

Ruth Mastenbroek, who has spent 30 years dreaming up fragrances for brands such as Jigsaw, Monsoon and Jo Malone, has launched her own perfume called ‘Oxford’.

Ms Mastenbroek, who studied chemistry at Lady Margaret Hall in the 1970s, created it to reflect her own student memories.

She said: “There was plenty of romance at Oxford and I remember many happy times punting on the river with a bottle of Champagne.”

The perfume which she describes as having “peppery and herbal notes”, took two years to develop and includes tones of citrus, basil, sage, rosemary, jasmine, amber and vanilla.

It also has a touch of oudh, a tropical tree oil costing up to £20,000 a kilogram and known as ‘liquid gold’ in perfumery circles.

Ms Mastenbroek, who studied perfumery in Holland, launched the perfume at Oxford’s Old Bank Hotel.

Aimed at both sexes, it comes in a 50ml bottle, costing £60 and 100ml at £80.

The former president of the British Society of Perfumers spent her early years in the trade developing fragrances to mask household products.

She set up her own consultancy in 2003, specialising in fine fragrances, and went on to develop her own, including Ruth Mastenbroek and Amorosa.

The first store in the country to market Oxford is the University of Oxford shop in the High Street, which is promoting the scent in a window display.

It goes on sale in London’s Fenwicks and nationally from July 8.

We asked shoppers what they thought of the scent. Linda Sumner, 63, from Witney, said: “I don’t really know what Oxford should smell like... old books?”

Malcolm Sumner, 65, from Witney, said: “I don’t think it’s possible to make a fragrance that smells of Oxford.”

Hayley Smith, 33, a PR consultant from Abingdon, said: “I quite like the idea of wearing a perfume that’s called Oxford.”