Oh, Donny, you know how to confuse people ... a new user name again
The strange thing is, that in my Epiphone case there were these small Silica packs, that didn't smell at all. So the Epiphone case and guitar don't smell at all. In my Gretsch case I found these too, but here the case smells like vanilla. And in my Gibson case I found a big Silica sack, about 10x10cm, that smelled like hell. After removing this large pack, the vanilla smell slowly vanishes. It's still there, but not as intense as before.
Fact is, the smell is inside the case, it's definitely not the laquer as some people in different forums guessed.