KGD does have a scent (at least mine does), but it is very mild and not unpleasant at all. Dunno how to describe the scent though. I opened up my pack just now (purchased earlier than u) to take out a few more pieces, and the mild scent is still the same.

I have been giving my Muji's unpleasant smell some thought, and maybe I can postulate a hypothesis by drawing a parallel with a certain meat I buy. I will not name the meat in deference to those who are observing their religious duties this month.

That meat from the ordinary wet market is oily and has a heavy smell, which before cooking can be a bit strong. About 3 months back I discovered a shop selling the same kind of meat, but it came from an organic free-range farm, and I was assured it was less oily and smelled/tasted way better than the wet market variety. I bought some to try. The seller was telling the truth, and I've been his customer ever since.

What can I extrapolate from that with regard to Muji? Cotton not grown organically is fed with chemical fertilizers. It boosts growth rates far better than organic fertilizers (which are lower in nutrients by weight) and could have resulted in a higher level of oils in the boll/seed. As the Muji cotton I have is untreated and unbleached, perhaps what I had smelled/tasted in it was cotton oils going rancid.

On a related tangent, my problem with tasting iron in normal kanthal coils has gradually grown. I now get a very heavy taste of iron from kanthal claptons/normal stainless steel coils. I'm now forced to use only nichrome. Not much hardship cos I can wind my own simple claptons using nichrome 26g core and 36g wrap. Googling around, I found that there are others (not many though) who have the same iron-taste problem. Spoke about it to a doctor friend and he said that it's probably just my body adapting to new conditions (no nicotine) gradually. Hopefully given time, my sense of taste and smell will stop being so hyper and settle down. This hypersensitivity may also account for why I can't take Muji cotton anymore. I'm also adjusting my DIY juice recipes to have max 4-6% total flavorings.