# Why does this cedarwood and sage scent remind me and my wife of cigarette smoke?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-cedarwood-and-sage-scent-remind-me-and-my-wife-of-cigarette-smoke/637889>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 16, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-cedarwood-and-sage-scent-remind-me-and-my-wife-of-cigarette-smoke/637889 "2012-10-16T14:48:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-cedarwood-and-sage-scent-remind-me-and-my-wife-of-cigarette-smoke/637889/1 "2012-10-16T14:48:54Z")

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I have this surface cleaner that is labeled as having a “cedarwood and sage” scent. I’d describe the scent as sawdust and sausage, so I guess that’s about right. But for some reason, my wife and I also find the scent strongly reminds us of cigarette somke. It doesn’t smell like smoke, it simply _reminds_ us of it.

We can’t figure out why this should be. Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-cedarwood-and-sage-scent-remind-me-and-my-wife-of-cigarette-smoke/637889/2 "2012-10-16T14:51:41Z")

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Scent memory? Did you spend time around a place that had those scents (butcher shop, campfire, drum circles, hippies etc?) that also had people smoking?

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-cedarwood-and-sage-scent-remind-me-and-my-wife-of-cigarette-smoke/637889/3 "2012-10-16T14:54:29Z")

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There is a theory that smell, like taste, is actually a combination of 6-8 receptors rather than one receptor for each unique smell. So, it could be that there are common receptors between cigarette smoke and sandalwood, enough to trigger memories, but they are otherwise different enough that they are categorized as completely different smells by your conscious brain?