>I am left wondering if anything approaching a "standard" exists for smells ...
You can buy tasting kits for whiskey or wine. They include individual scents like peaty, smokey, oaky, blackberry even some weird ones like band-aid. You can use them to train your nose to deconstruct the smell of whiskey or wine.
It's really eye opening (or nose opening if you will). Since you might even find you suddenly agree with the tasting notes on the bottle.
Interesting. Also, if I may, it seems to me there's more individual variation in "smell discernment" ability among individuals than there is for other senses.-
ie. so called "super-noses" vs. "scent deaf" people.-
I am left wondering if anything approaching a "standard" exists for smells ...
That would be one hard thing to provide standardized descriptions for - both qualitatively and quantifiably ...
PS. I seem to recall someone somewhere had developed an "electronic nose" ...
... maybe that might be way in.-