Kitchen odour, help its driving me crazy

[Smellycat32]

Moved into this house 3 months ago.
When I viewed the house it smelt of cleaning products, there was air freshers, diffusers etc, I didn't think anything of it.
On moving in I noticed the kitchen smelt odd-I still can't put my finger on what the smell is.

I have cleaned the cupboards thoroughly-several times, its a good quality kitchen, maybe 10 years old, no signs of damp or stains in the cupboards.

I decided to pull up the lino and put down tiled flooring, I genuinely thought that would solve the issue(not sure why!), under the lino was original tiles, we tiled on top of them.

I've put air freshners in the kitchen, so that masks the issue in the actual room, but inside the cupboards still smell, so much so that the crockery smells.

Its not a terrible smell, its not offensive, but its driving me slowly crazy, sitting eating/drinking and being able to smell "the smell" on the plates/cups.

The kitchen ceiling is painted wood, could that be the issue?

Thinking about ripping out the kitchen just in the hope of solving the problem, but concerned that it won't help.

Any thoughts?

What's above the kitchen ceiling and they might have nailed wood up to hide?

Maybe they smoked in the kitchen?
That smell gets everywhere & it gets on everything. it doesn't have to smell of tobacco, just a foisty musty smell.

Is there a waste drain cover outside near the kitchen? We had a brewing smell for weeks and it got so bad, found out it was caused by a blockage in a shared drain by our kitchen. Even though it was outside, the smell seeped into the kitchen and as soon as it was cleared, the smell went.

I had an odd smell and it turned out to be the drip tray in the fridge freezer!

Could it be an old wasp or mortar bee nest? They have a distinctively sweet, yeasty, slightly rotting smell. It's quite a subtle smell and quite difficult to describe unless you have smelt it. TMI here but I could liken it to breastfed bay poo mixed with honey. The nest could be in an old chimney, ventilation brick, cavity wall, or roof space - they could even be in the foundation as they nest in burrows too. They get in via the tiniest of holes. Could be rotting larvae or insect droppings that's causing the smell. Maybe give a local pest controller a call.

I’d be investigating what’s under the wooden ceiling, the plaster might have blown and the wood is there to cover it up.
Or the stench trap from the outside drain is open, allowing the smell to come up up through the plug hole.