My mom's home had the smell of death my late stepdads final months. When he was moved to the hospital room the nursing staff needed to install special scent release contraptions by the door.

It's really not like anything unpleasant that one would find day to day it's a different type of unpleasant as the body begins to decay from the inside out. Which I could give a comparison to you. Certainly it's an expression used throughout the years.

The scent of death is like no other. You know the person is dying.