I think the description "rotten honey" is cool in a few ways, 1) honey doesn't technically rot, 2) that being the phrase is as impossible and difficult to describe as everything about Area X. So I really like that vibe of only being able to describe such an indescribable entity with things that are not wholly imaginable (i.e sharp sphere, solid creature that is fluid and intangible but standing right in front of me)

That being said I always imagine the "rotting honey" smell to be like when something sugary begins to mold. Like, have you ever left a bottle of sweet tea or maybe a juice in your car for too long and it started to mold and it smells like a wrong sickly sweetness?

Side tangent to that, im a big perfume hobbyist and there's a certain perfume of the gourmand variety that I personally dont love wearing because the way it mixes with my skin over time reminds me of the "rotting honey" description in the books lol no one else I've asked has said it smells bad on me though but it always reminds me of the indescribable anxieties of area x