Couple comments...

Bluegill scent... yes! Bluegills are the smelliest fish ever in freshwater. Bluegill scent sounds good.

Dead fish smell... I have often had the impression of having "good bottles" and "bad bottles" of scent, with several manufacturers. I don't know if it's real or imagined, though. With my last two bottles of Hot Sauce, the firest one seemed much more productive, but it had obviously sat on the store shelf for years. The brand new looking bottle doesn't seem to work anywhere near as well. If it's a real problem, it must be happening when the scent is being manufactured. With both Bang and Hot Sauce there's not much chance for fresh air to mix with the scent once you open it for the first time, starting the decomposition process.

Garlic, anise... anise scented Bang (isn't all Bang anise scented?) works really well for me. Maybe if they removed the anise it would work even better. However, bass do like to bite things that are new to them. Show bass a new lure that looks somewhat alive and they'll be all over it, even if it doesn't look or act exactly like a fish (see senko). It could be the same thing with vegetable scents. It's new to them, it smells kind of nice, they feel compelled to investigate.