I thought I would make a thread on this subject as it keeps coming up in so many of the posts.

I just purchased a California King, all botanically grown, Talalay processed latex mattress. I have been sleeping on it now for 10 days. The only odor that I am noticing is a very mild sweet smell. It's rather pleasant actually, and I rather enjoy it. It has been diminishing considerably over the last several days and soon it will probably be all gone. I think I'm going to miss it, just a little bit.

From everything I have been able to read on the subject, this seems to be one of the side advantages to botanically grown 100% natural Talalay, as opposed to a petrochemical-based products.

This bed was sold by FloBeds, and the latex material was manufactured by Latex International.

Mine is Latex International's Talatech, a blended latex (part botanical, part synthetic).  I only noticed a very faint, not unpleasant, odor the first few nights I've had it - the type of odor Eagle describes.  The smell is either gone now or I'm not noticing it.  The reputed off-gassing of memory foam products was one of the reasons I decided to spring for the latex instead.

I purchased a 1-inch talalay topper from SleepLikeABear.com and it had the sweet smell you describe; I've also heard it referred to on this site as a "creme-brulee" smell. I'm fairly sensitive to smells, and after a three-day airing out, it was still a bit overpowering. The odor has dissipated a great deal in the past month, and is recognizable now only if one's nose is directly against the bed sheet (pillow gives enough distance so that it isn't noticeable).

I also got a 3-inch dunlop topper from foamsweetfoam.com, which had very little smell when it arrived. What smell it has (you have to sniff it directly to smell it) is a faint rubbery odor, like new bike tires. No creme-brulee sweetness.