What is the best smell in the world?

[NeonPhantom32]

Smell is a strange sense. It can carry us back decades in a single second, to a grandparent's kitchen, a school corridor or a summer holiday we had almost forgotten. Scientists say smell is closely linked to memory and emotion in the brain, which might explain why certain scents hit us so hard. Everyone seems to have a few favourites that never fail to cheer them up

Some answers come up again and again. Freshly cut grass, bread baking, coffee brewing, rain on hot pavements and a baby's head are all popular choices. The smell of rain even has its own name, petrichor. Then there are the unusual favourites, like petrol, new books, creosote, swimming pools or the inside of a new car, which some people love and others find awful

My pick is bonfire smoke on a cold evening. It reminds me of Bonfire Night as a kid, standing in a field with a sparkler and a burger, wrapped in about four layers of clothes. Whenever I smell it in late autumn, I am eight years old again for a moment. It is probably not the healthiest thing to breathe in, but I love it anyway

Bad smells are welcome too, if you have strong feelings about them. Everyone has one smell they cannot stand, whether it is fish cooking, wet dog, burnt toast or a certain cheap perfume from the nineties. Sometimes the worst smells carry the funniest stories

So what is the best smell in the world? And which one do you avoid at all costs?