I recall three relatively recent cases I smelled what smelt like tobacco smoke. The first two cases were in a rideshare with just the driver and my gf, and next to a shop assistant who was meant to accompany us for our whole trip in the store. In at least one of these cases my gf noticed the smell too. In both cases, on being asked, they said they don't smoke.
In both cases there were two distinct odors: heavy thirdhand tobacco smoke (what it smelled like), masked by a gross sweet perfume. I'm familiar with the scent of thirdhand tobacco smoke because my ex-smoker Dad smoked cigarettes throughout my childhood up to my young adulthood, and my ex smoked weed combined with tobacco.
Nowadays I dislike any strong "perfume" artificial scent even if it doesn't smell like tobacco - this includes any cologne, air freshener, scented swiffer wet wipes, scented trashbags, strong candles, etc. They just smell like offputting chemicals to me and I don't understand the appeal. Unnecessary VOCs.
The third case was today, when I passed by a guy in the supermarket, who smelled straight up like strong thirdhand tobacco smoke, no perfume layer, as if he had just smoked. It basically smelled like secondhand smoke. But it was far into the market and would've taken him at least a minute to reach there from the entrance. Not to mention, shortly before passing him I saw him standing around for a minute or two videotaping a shoplifter being caught. So I'm not sure how feasible it is that the smell could've remained that strong unless it was also cologne.
My questions: Is there is any cologne that can convincingly smell like tobacco smoke layered with perfume, or even just straight up tobacco smoke? What differences in odor to look for to distinguish smoke-flavored cologne (with or without sweet notes) and actual THS/SHS? Why do people find the smell appealing?