[supernova87a]

That's not totally accurate. Alcohols do have smells, but true, for drinks it's probably not the dominant thing you remember.

It's quite obvious how different ethanol versus isopropyl alcohol versus methanol smell (former chemist) when pure.

[jiggawatts]

You're almost certainly smelling the denaturing agent in the alcohol, the vast majority of commercial sources add something to it, even for "technical" grades.