Alan Cumming Launches Fragrance, Celebrates Emmy Nom

The lights were low and the beats were dirty last night in the basement of the Ace Hotel, as celebrities and press gathered for the relaunch of actor Alan Cumming's fragrance.

The scent, called 2nd (Alan) Cumming, is the recently Emmy-nominated actor's second foray into the world of perfume. Working with the award-winning perfumier Christopher Brosius (of the CB I Hate Perfume line), Cumming has blended the smells of Scotch, cigars, and burnt rubber to create a sticky, hot scent reminiscent of the Scottish countryside and sex.

Cumming's fragrance was originally released in 2004 as "Cumming." The scent has not changed. All proceeds will go to charity, and Thursday's partygoers were able to sample the scent via a tub of donated men's underwear that had been soaked in the fragrance. Toward the end of the night, tiny samples were passed out with a note encouraging everyone to donate to their favorite charity.

Cumming, known for the diverse range of his theater, television, and film work, supports numerous charities, from the Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research to Until There's a Cure, an organization dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS. He currently stars on "The Good Wife" and found out he had been nominated for an Emmy only hours before the fragrance relaunch.

"It was very lovely because I was at work; we were doing a photo shoot for the new season for the campaign," Cumming told Back Stage. "It was the lovely Matt Czuchry that told me. I was in the makeup chair and he came over, and ironically, he's the only one out of all of us who were there that didn't get nominated. I felt bad after. He's such a sweetheart."

This is not Cumming's first brush with awards. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2010 for his role on "The Good Wife," and he won a Tony Award for playing the Emcee in the 1998 revival of "Cabaret." As a classically trained stage actor, Cumming has been able to bring things he learned in the theater to his role on "The Good Wife."

"I think I've been unafraid of the sometimes rather extreme things they ask my character to do," Cumming said.

Obviously he's not afraid to try to change the world either. The launch party made it clear that Cumming is committed to helping those in need—even if it's only one sexy perfume bottle at a time.