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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
A couple of members of the Gynura (plant) genus, especially Gynura bicolor have small puffy yellow to orangish flowers 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. The flowers smell of rotting fish/meat. Yum!
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.
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
