What does your exhaust smell like immediately after starting the engine cold and before the catalytic converter lights off ? Does it smell like alcohol, or does it smell the same as regular gasoline fumes ?
In addition the alcohol smell, burning ethanol produces aldehydes that have a slightly sweet smell. Think of the frogs under the mystery fluid in biology class.
i use E85 frequently, and just never took the time to notice if it smelled differently. Same for biodiesel that gets put in my diesel equipped vehicles and equipment. Just smells like diesel to me, but it is never in any concentration greater than 20%.