'characteristic smell' is correct and can be used in written English.
You can use this expression to describe the smell of something that is associated with it. For example, "The characteristic smell of freshly baked bread filled the bakery."
It even had its own characteristic smell.
They lose their characteristic smell of oil and exhaust.
Everybody knows that characteristic smell of marijuana, but this vapor is different.
Hydrogen sulfide, however, can be recognized by its characteristic smell, suggestive of rotten eggs.
These secrete a type of mucous that is broken down by bacteria on the skin to produce the characteristic smell.
The meadows have a characteristic smell compounded of the briny ooze, factory smokestacks, and concentrated animal husbandry.
Empty monumental prospects in the centre, tumbledown wooden houses on the outskirts; vainglorious slogans and glistening spittoons; the intensely characteristic smells of low-octane petrol and frying pirozhki.
These fats become fatty acids, which in turn become smaller molecules with many of the characteristic smells and flavours of blue cheeses.
January 6 2012 Offering the sites and sounds of a great heavy-metal bar without any of the characteristic smells, this chic Greenpoint haunt opened its doors (which are actually made of black metal) in April, making it a much needed watering hole for the heavily inked, denim-vest set.
They identified 23 volatile ingredients and 12 of them have characteristic smells.
The fact that the dogs could not recognize cancers other than ovarian cancer strongly suggests that different cancers have different characteristic smells, thus enabling both diagnosis and differential diagnosis.
