The Better To Smell You With, My Dear

It was with a growing sense of dread that I half-smiled and grimaced my way through this article on "old person smell." Hard to read, but totally fascinating. Turns out, there really is such a thing, and it has a biological cause. "The specific chemical that gives old folks their unique odor, scientists suspect, is a compound called 2-nonenal," according to the article. "Created by the oxidative breakdown of other chemicals over time, it produces what’s described as an 'unpleasant greasy and grassy odor' in people and is also responsible for some of the 'cardboard' flavor of stale beer." The kind of backhanded good news here, if it can be considered such, is that, on its own, the odor is not thought of as offensive. It's apparently the context that makes it less appealing: http://mentalfloss.com/article/51596/what-causes-old-person-smell