Ever wondered why certain scents instantly uplift your mood, while others make you wrinkle your nose? You’re not alone! Scientists have recently teamed up to answer this age-old question: What is the best smell in the world? Their findings reveal that while people from vastly different backgrounds often enjoy the same scents, personal preference and memory still play a big role.

Researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and the University of Oxford conducted an international study to uncover if there’s a universal “best” smell, and surprisingly, they found that the answer is… vanilla! According to the study, people from all over the globe consistently rated vanilla as the most pleasant scent. Ethyl butyrate, a smell reminiscent of peaches, was a close runner-up.
These results suggest that, more often than not, humans tend to enjoy the same smells because of an instinct that associates certain scents with safety. In fact, the molecular structure of a smell plays a role in our preferences about 41% of the time, particularly if it signals something edible or beneficial in nature. While culture influences scent preference only about 6% of the time, personal taste plays a big part, accounting for 54% of scent preferences. This explains why some people might love the aroma of fermented herring, while others find it off-putting!