Garlic I've sniffed more than most people during their lifetime and still confuse jasmine and neroli... Giving words for what me smell is notoriously difficult, perfumers train in a very rigorous way (like a musician or a ballet dancer; most common single notes and raw materials first, then two-, three- or four note basic accords, and also certain reference perfumes to groups). The human nose is very poor at distinguishing mixtures - we get the forest, not the individual trees. Training can overcome some of this but the average perfume wearer will never get to that point.
In some ways I detest the reductionist language that puts a lot of emphasis on notes. "Rose" is not a single molecule; it can be a mixture of 500+ molecules in an absolute extracted from rose petals. You can make a raw sketch of rose with a handful of molecules that are the main constituents of the smell. To simplify, you put together some component molecules from rose but often the nuances are given with molecules that are common in other flowers too (geranium, violet for example).
Personally, I leave the language of notes and perfume chemistry to professionals and prefer to talk about the moods, feelings and fleeting associations that perfumes evoke in me. But of course it is useful to have some shorthand for comparing experiences - you all get how different a "rose" perfume and a "leather" perfume can smell.
Perfume free today. Not sure if I'm coming down with something, feeling slightly strange 
But if I can make it, going to a perfume event tonight. Ladies you'd rip the place up 
- sniffing vicariously for you...