Perfume is a very personal thing and yes one sniff and you can be transported back to being a 5-year-old rummaging in your Mum's handbag.
That happened to me with a sample of Amouage Ubar, now I believe they have reformulated it now as in a totally different bottle? I received a sample from Les Senteurs back in the early 00s and one sniff and all I could think was my Mum's handbag. Yes, I know very weird but it was exactly that. Yes, I did buy it.
For years I hated Chanel No5, and I am talking I bought the parfum! I always said it had a weird plastic bag like smell on me. I blamed the jasmine, white florals and I are not friends. They go very cloying on my skin I include tuberose in there too. Neroli turns into an atom bomb on me and I could take down low flying aircraft for others is it is a lovely fresh orange smell, vetiver is bog body. Anyway, I avoided No5 for years and then last year on eBay I was after a bottle of Annick Goutal and found a seller in Dublin selling great price sprayed once. I refused to pay £85 rrp for the 50mls in House Of Fraser. Now, this seller was having a clear-out and giving an extra freebie in with her list of sales. I got No5 EDT in with my bottle of Goutal. So first thought to give it away, actually, it looked a good 40mls in a 50mls bottle! Decided to spray it and it was gorgeous on me. Soft powdery no plastic bag. Seems No5 in every formula parfum, EDP and EDT are slightly different not the exact same perfume but weaker as you go. Also, Chanel quietly tweaks every few years anyway.