That's a really nice memory. I also remember how the bushes would smell from when I was a kid in the garden.

Now my favourite smell is my wife, and I bet some of yours will now also be, "this guys wife".

Petrichor

I just Love it.

Orange blossoms. Everything "Orange blossom" scented just smells like perfumey oranges, nothing like actual orange blossoms. You can only smell them on the tree, this time of year.

Onions and garlic simmering in olive oil.

Smells like the start of something delicious.

Vanilla and cinnamon. I love both those flavours as well

My wife's soap.

Every time she comes out of the shower I want to pounce on her. I often grab her while sitting for a hug and plant my face in her tummy. Getting a good whiff.

Oddly enough she uses fragrance free soap so maybe it's just her natural scent. Haha.

Too many.

An Islay single malt whisky, fresh coffee, slow cooking onions and garlic, searing steak, grilled lamb, fish and chips with loads of salt and vinegar... hmm, lots of these are food related. Someone else said petrichor and I'm down with that too. Oh, and Twanquility's wife, of course.

Sunscreen and fresh cut grass. Reminds me of carefree days as a kid where everything was possible

Barbecue (like sizzling steak) or campfire.

Dawn in early Summer, in Nature. It is a mix of Petrichor, really fresh coldish air, wet grass and a hint of flowers.

A core memory unlock scent for me is any time I smell honeysuckle. We had some where I grew up, and it just instantly takes me back.

Others are a spray from Lush called sleepy time. It's Lavender and Tonka, and it is the most calming scent I've ever been around.
Dark chocolate. Good roasted coffee. Wife's body spray Tea and Bergamont from bath and bodyworks.

My weird ones are lumber and gasoline

Wood fires, as in campfires and fireplaces. Reminds me of warmth and comfort.

Lemon Verbena because it smells good

My stuffed animals after I've been snuggling with them for a while. They smell like love to me. Probably smell like weird BO to others, but they don't to me.

Almond scented pink public bathroom soap

Star Jasmine (aka confederate jasmine, not a true jasmine). Reminds me of my time in San Jose where I saw them often. It has a lovely sweet smell that reminds me of nutmeg.

Exclamation perfume. Drove me nuts in high school. Not sure if it's around still.

Lilacs are top five for me, too.

But my very favorite is the way my wife smells when she's pregnant.

Crudely burned gasoline in the late spring, only because it reminds me of being on my grandmother's old army jeep and going down to the creek to swim.

That rain smell, I remember being happy when my mom allowed me to play in the rain.

Rain. Or, rather, the sweet earthy smell of wet moss or grass and decomposition and the rest of it that is far beyond any human descriptions and impossible to even approach with words 🥹

Combined with the sound, it’s the most divine state a world can exist in, period.

Orgeat or any sweet almond flavor. Fancy hotels sometimes have the hand soap and it's amazing

When I was little my mom had an electric cookie press that made jet-puffed cookies. Why it was electric, and had to be plugged in, I have no idea. It was almost exclusively used to make Christmas cookies (trees, presents, snowmen, etc.) and the smell of the dough and the finished cookies was so unmistakable and unique that I cannot describe it exactly but can immediately recognize it decades later.

Another smell is the combination of coffee brewing and a classic American breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast being made by my grandparents. The kind of smell that instantly wakes you up and makes you stumble down the stairs half awake. I don’t ever drink coffee but the combined smell is intoxicating and always reminds me of them.

Combination of rain and grilling meat

Rose hips herbal essences shampoo

Aw I love lilacs too :) I planted lilac bushes along the side of my last house. We moved away this past fall and I really miss those bushes because they'd be blooming right about now. I hope the new owners are enjoying them!

My favorite smells are warm sleeping dog (kind of a cozy smell, hard to describe but if you know you know) and garage that is used to store cars (kind of a mechanical smell, not sure if it's from gasoline or motor oil or what but I love it). And also I love the smell of strong tea :)

A strong one is mint from the mint plants that grew along the fence between my grade school playground and the train yard on the other side

More recently cedar and coconut are a couple that I enjoy just for the aroma

The way my spouse and my children's hair smells. It's a clothes the eyes and hug them tight moment. Almost always help fight back the darkness.

Raspberries. I can't exactly recall why, but makes me feel like I'm 8 again. It's magical.

Rosin flux. Soldering is one of the most relaxing activities.

Pinyon juniper woodland after a violent hailstorm. The pulverized vegetation filling the clean mountain air with their volatile compounds. Tart resiny smells mingling with sweet floral sages combined with the earthy aroma of hummus and wet soil. It is petrichor turned up to eleven-thousand.

Gardenia flowers. Not the terrible candle or soap scents that try and fail to imitate it, but the actual live flowers.

Homemade bread. Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread. Just took a loaf of shokupan out of my oven and the smell in my apartment is incredible.

Learn to make it yourself my dudes, it is 1000% worth it.

My kid's breath. I know it won't last forever. I thought it would go away once she's wasn't a newborn anymore, but now she's about a year and a half old and every time I accidentally get a whiff I feel addicted to it