After I had submitted the second version of my note (thanks to Beth Sweeny for posting it!), I noticed that kisel' (a non-alcoholic Russian half-drink, half-meal) actually comes from kislyi, "sour." This adjective forms a gustatory triad with gor'kiy (bitter) and sladkiy (sweet). A word about the third component. Marina, Van and Ada are the three dulcinists (people who love sweetmeats: 1.5). Pushkin used to exclaim Sladko! ("Sweet"), when he was bitten by the mosquitoes in Yukonsk (1.17). On the other hand, in Cervantes' novel, Don Quixote calls the Lady of his heart Dulcinea. Of course, any Russian remembers Derzhavin's line (quoted by Chatsky in Griboedov's "Woe from the Wit"): "Even the smoke of Fatherland is sweet to us and pleasant." According to Suetonius, I think, The Roman Emperor Adrian said that the corpse of one's enemy smelled good (this is also quoted by Vyazemski in "The old notebook"). In Ada, Van muses that dead soldiers smell better than dead cats (1.40). I could have said more about certain pleasant smells, but I'd better stop, lest anyone vomits.
best,
Alexey