Smells, Smelling, Noses, Nosing and Knowing

The nose is one of the most fundamental yet underrated of all the senses and in some regards is still somewhat a mystery. A critical skill for survival for wild animals we have evolved systems in order to make the sense of smell almost redundant. How does it work? The distilling industry and distilling professionals still ultimately rely on the human nose in order to assess the quality of the products being produced. How do professionals train their noses? And what are the rituals used in industry to assess the sensory characteristics and sign off on product that could cost the company millions of pounds if released when out of specification.