# "Non-traditional" Favorite Smells **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026 "2016-01-23T22:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/121 "2016-01-26T21:55:03Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Skunk is good, but just a whiff at a distance of a few miles, because it reminds me of riding in the car in the summer when I was a kid. Up close, it’s way too stinky. This. Also… My brother used to own an early 1980s Alfa Romeo Spider. The leather interior of that car didn’t smell like any other car I’d ever been in. It smelled exotic, and somehow matched the car’s European pedigree. I wish I could smell it again. I like the smell of the first wisp of smoke from a freshly-lit cigarette. After that, it smells horrible, and I don’t know why. It’s not me: if I walk up to somebody who’s halfway through a cigarette, the first sniff I get smells nothing like a freshly-lit cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/122 "2016-01-27T01:58:50Z")
^^ Pipe tobacco, all kinds, especially flavored ones. Can’t smoke it, but love the aroma, even lit. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/123 "2016-01-27T02:30:45Z")
I love the smell of tobacco curing in the barn. It is absolutely delicious. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/124 "2016-01-28T00:04:37Z")
Horse. I love the smell of a horse, I will happily press my face against an equine neck and inhale deeply. Dogs’ feet. A popcorny-Frito-esque scent. A whiff of skunk. Rain. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/125 "2016-01-28T14:13:24Z")
Another for skunk, and YES, dog feet! They smell like corn chips. I love the smell of the stuff they feed cows - it’s like chopped up cornstalks/cobs drenched in sorghum or molasses. When I was a kid, we’d visit the animal barns and they smelled so lovely. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/126 "2016-01-28T16:04:16Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > No, you are not. My dear friend Loki loves the smell of skunk. She lives in a rural area where skunks routinely end up orphans. The mother gets hit by a vehicle and it leaves her litter wandering around aimlessly near the road. Somehow, she spots these situations often, and has raised litters of kits often. Oh, that warms my heart so! :o I love skunks. I bought some perfume just by (a rather detailed) description alone. Basically: Christmas trees, oranges, and sugar cookies right out of the oven. It was only so-so, but I simply couldn’t resist buying it. Pure rose-scented incense, those hair thin sticks from India. I used to burn them at my grandmother’s house when I stayed there, and it reminds me of her so much. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaPickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BubbaPickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaPickles)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/127 "2016-01-28T17:53:33Z")
Book store (new books, not old). Reminds me of walking into WH Smiths when I was a little kid. Unfortunately old books just smell musty to me. Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t there a common base to many of the smells mentioned here - creosote, tar, skunk, etc. Sulphur? Floor wax, shoe polish, fuel oils, etc. Petroleum? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/128 "2016-01-28T19:09:37Z")
I noticed the common base also. And what is interesting is some of them are toxic to humanoid life forms. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/129 "2016-01-28T19:33:44Z")
My favourite smell will always be my old cat’s forehead. We were together for 17 years and she passed in 2008. I miss her so much. I also like the smell of “lake”. It kind of smells faintly like dead fish. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/130 "2016-01-28T22:01:24Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Oh, lighter fluid! Perfume of the gods. > > Snow. I swear, I can smell and also taste snow. It’s very subtle. Love opening the door in the overheated house and breathing deep, with the scent of snow. > > Rubber bands-heavenly! and cedar shavings from a pencil. Absolutely enticing. I had some ‘cedar’ essential oil once and when I got some on my hands, would be sniffing them furtively all day. Me too on the snow. I can smell approaching snow as well. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/131 "2016-01-29T17:00:25Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > Me too on the snow. I can smell approaching snow as well. Yes. Similar to the rain smell. It seems snow, rain, and water are all inter-related. The smell of an old wooden dock. The smell of fish, seaweed, creosote, mud, fuel for boats, and the wood heated by the sun. Whether it’s fresh water or salt water, it is a distinctive smell. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/132 "2016-01-29T17:46:00Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > The smell of an old wooden dock. The smell of fish, seaweed, creosote, mud, fuel for boats, and the wood heated by the sun. Whether it’s fresh water or salt water, it is a distinctive smell. This. Also any aged, sun-bleached, untreated wood. Our departed dog Sadie had a very distinct sweet smell on the top of her broad, flat head between her ears. She was an unusual-looking mix, probably Basset - Beagle - Pit Bull, maybe with some Corgi. The fur on the top of her head was short and silky, and always had that unique scent, unless we’d just bathed her. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/133 "2016-01-29T19:29:57Z")
Me, too, on the smell in the air when snow is coming. Here in Colorado, when I say that people think I’m nuts. Back in Chicagoland, everyone knew what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/134 "2016-01-29T19:47:43Z")
newsprint a light smell of skunk oil refineries gasoline ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/135 "2016-01-29T20:20:30Z")
I dislike the smell of dock myself because it reminds me of being bored. I am conflicted at the smell of outboard motors because like a lot of fossil fuels it has a good base smell but also reminds me of being bored. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/136 "2016-01-30T00:29:50Z")
A couple of members of the Gynura (plant) genus, especially Gynura bicolor have small puffy [yellow to orangish flowers](http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~shoyaku/photo/Japan/Hiroshima/011224suizenjina.jpg) which have a unique aroma of old sweatsocks. Very evocative. Those wishing to experience this odor should get the most popular Gynura (commonly known as purple passion plant), give it good light and await the floral essence. I am also partial to the scent of the flowers of certain plants which have evolved to have flies do their pollinating. These include species of Amorphophallus and [Stapelia](http://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2013/01/stapelia_gigantea_sized.jpg.638x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg). The flowers smell of rotting fish/meat. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/137 "2016-01-30T01:00:34Z")
Jet-A fuel. Reminds me of going places. Chlorine after being in a pool. “Wet dust” - or what I call the smell of fresh rain in the desert. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/138 "2016-01-30T02:37:03Z")
This whole thread reminds me of [this](https://youtu.be/lo65h-Lws9w)scene from _Harold and Maude_ I think Maude was definitely ahead of her time. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/139 "2016-01-30T03:51:06Z")
Yak butter tea. I spent around 8 months in Tibet in the 1980s on about 8 different trips. First time, was the dead of winter. There is almost no food in Tibet, being that most folks are nomadic herders and not all that much stuff grows at high elevation. Yaks are a key component of life, and yak milk is used to make yak butter. Tibetans drink gallons of this stuff every day. Tea bricks (made of stems and other non leaf parts) are boiled for a long time, then churned with yak butter and some salt. It is both pungent smelling and tasting. I thought it was revolting the first few weeks it was offered. But a few weeks where the temperature doesn’t get above freezing and there is very little food, one day I had a bowl and it was great. Now, albeit very rarely, when I get a whiff, I’m instantly transported to a magical land far away in big mountains and really great people. I love the stuff and wish I could get some here in Seattle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/140 "2016-01-30T03:59:13Z")
The smell of a V8 engine on the first startup after an overhaul. The smell of osage orange bow wood being heat treated just before it reaches its target temperature. The smell of a baby pigeon in its nest Puppies Drying fish Very, very fresh eggs, like 5 minutes out of the chicken [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026.md?page=8)