By Caren Burmeister
Shorelines staff writer

There's a whiff of something new in Ponte Vedra Beach. A light scent that triggers memories of a balmy day at the beach, the clink of martini glasses and the sound of golf balls being whacked in the distance.

Ponte Vedra the fragrance, a new perfume, is Janet Westling's way of capitalizing on the sense of smell's ability to recall a sense of place.

"I wanted something very light and fresh with a hint of citrus," Westling said.

She designed the fragrance with a blend of rose, jasmine and marine notes mixed with bergamot in a base of woods and musk. Visitors like it because they can take it home to remind them of Ponte Vedra Beach, shop owners say. Locals like it because they feel special wearing something named for their hometown.

"It's a unique gift," said Maria Litwack, who manages the shops at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. "It's a great remembrance of Ponte Vedra."

Westling also seized the opportunity to poke fun at Ponte Vedra's "snob" reputation.

"I thought it would be fun to play off that a little bit," she said. "In a nice way."

Westling launched the perfume, and her Fragrances of Florida Company, at an outdoor reception during The Players Championship in March. The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club was the first to sell her perfume. Now the fragrance, which sells for about $52 for a 1.5-ounce bottle, is available in 10 shops across the Beaches.

This summer, Westling said she will attend an international gift market in Atlanta to research a national marketing campaign.

"That's the way I will grow," said Westling, who spends days going from shop to shop to introduce her fragrance to local storekeepers.

Westling doesn't know where the scent will take her. But she has some ideas. First, she plans to add soaps, bath salts and candles. Then she wants to add a men's line of Ponte Vedra cologne. She is also considering another city for a signature scent -- a city that won't be in Northeast Florida, she said.

Westling's nose for perfume is tied to her love of flowers, an interest she may have inherited from her grandfather, a gardener at the Louis Comfort Tiffany Estate in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

She was inspired to start her own perfume line by a story about a Napa Valley woman who has succeeded with a fragrance for that area. She took the advice of a friend to design an original scent.

She almost dropped the plan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, since perfume sales are directly tied to the economy and tourism.

"I'm not going to let some terrorist tell me what to do," Westling said.

The hard part was coordinating the scent, box, label and bottle, she said.

The box was easy because she had a watercolor beach scene in mind. She got a trademark for the perfume's name and look. (The fragrance itself can not have a trademark, however.)

Then Westling found a chemist in Atlanta who understood what she wanted in the scent. She was taken by one of his first samples. She wore the scent and asked for friends' opinions.

"I got such a positive response," she said. "I knew I was onto something."

Finding the right bottle, however, almost forced her to give up, she said.

That's because, as a startup business, Westling would order only about 5,000 bottles of perfume, which is considered a small amount in the industry.

She inquired with a New Jersey bottler who didn't have what she wanted. She drove to Miami to visit a display room but was disappointed with what she saw there. Finally, the owner of the New Jersey company sent her another sample and it clicked.

"There's not one place that does it all," she said. "It was a learning process."

Westling said she looks forward to the challenge of successfully marketing her perfume to a national audience.

"If it does grow, I'm going to need help," she said.