Printed from smellbook.com/smells/cheese. This printout keeps the entry for Cheese itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A broad dairy category ranging from mild creamy smells to aged, savoury and pungent profiles.
Cheese covers a wide range, from the mild, milky softness of fresh cheeses to the deep, savoury and pungent smell of aged ones. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, where you meet it, molecules and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHEESE
Cheese covers a wide range, from the mild, milky softness of fresh cheeses to the deep, savoury and pungent smell of aged ones. Younger cheeses smell creamy and slightly sour; older ones grow nutty, sharp or even barnyard-like, with a lingering, heavy presence. The texture in the nose can feel rich and fatty. Strong cheeses are sometimes compared with feet or a damp cellar.
It is met at a cheese board after dinner, at a deli or market counter, and in the kitchen when cheese is grated or melted. Opening the fridge after a strong cheese has been stored inside is another familiar moment.
Typical settings: cheese board, kitchen, market.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Potent odorants of Cheddar cheese. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
5 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. Each molecule this claim names has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell.
Cheese is intentionally broad because style, age and rind can create radically different smell identities.
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Potent odorants of Cheddar cheese
Aroma extract dilution analysis identified 39 potent odorants in Cheddar cheese; compounds such as acetic and butanoic acids, dimethyl trisulfide, methional and 1-octen-3-one differed most between cheeses ripened for different times.
Cheddar ripened for 6 to 14 months; cheese aroma varies widely between cheese types.
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work.
J. Wang, Z.J. Yang, L.Y. Xu, B. Wang, J.H. Zhang, B.Z. Li, Y.P. Cao & L. Tan
DOI 10.3168/jds.2020-18757Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
MY SMELLBOOK · LOCAL ONLY
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Cheese.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0055 — Cheesesmellbook:smell:cheesehttps://smellbook.com/smells/cheeseSmellBook. (2026). Cheese (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:cheese. https://smellbook.com/smells/cheese@misc{smellbook_cheese_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Cheese},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:cheese},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/cheese}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-cheese-r3 TI - Cheese AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/cheese N1 - SB-0055; smellbook:smell:cheese; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/cheese ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Cheese is intentionally broad because style, age and rind can create radically different smell identities.
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗