Originally Posted by
JeffreyAK 
Steven, considering I didn't know there was alcohol in either the dip I was tasting, or the goo I was sniffing, this makes no sense. There's an objective reality here that many of us, including it sounds like Carlotta, have experienced that I think ought to be folded into your theories. That does not invalidate the experiences of those who have never had these kind of surprise cravings, but it does invalidate any claims that they don't exist, and might suggest that a more complete theory is needed.
Oh, forgot to add the follow-up story. About a year after my goo-sniffing incident, I very deliberately sniffed a bottle of the same hand sanitizer just to see what would happen, knowing based on the previous year and half's experience, it was not going to drive me to drink no matter what happened.
The result was interesting: Nothing. It very obviously smelled like strong booze, but there was no craving at all. So clearly there was some physical sensitivity, an allergy if you like, that subsided over time with continued abstinence. Perhaps there are other ways to make it subside, or subside faster, but that was my experience, and it was night and day: Intense gut-knotting craving, vs. nothing.