Gardenias smell like sweet buttery popcorn to me. One of my favorites. Never smelled clerodendrum, although I may need to check it out.

I did a 5 min Google browse and I saw iricolor alternatively described as "artisan cheese dipped in vanillia", "sweet burning plastic", "one of those that some people love and some people hate".

I do agree with everyone who comments on the fragrance, its the most powerful of all cattleya species.

Fragrance is funny. Its not surprising tastes vary (good/bad), but it is weird that different folks experience the same smell in different ways. Wish I could get a definitive description from my dog, but alas, he still refuses to talk.

Our fragrance receptors develop hypervariable business ends early in life, as do antibodies. Not everybody can perceive all scents and they don't always perceive them similarly.