Man I heard the same when I initially raised this but it has now been a few months of airing out now with the same noticeable smell. Maybe it needs to go back for another year or so of drying though lol?
Mine has never gone away and I always end up putting it back on the shelf because of this not long after getting it out.
I'm medical just like you brother, so I too mostly vape alone
I usually don't use the heat cover but every now and then I touch the hot section at the top and try to use it again, only to find that it smells distractingly bad.
I usually use my evo with no sleeve/rubber bands because I don't want any other smell distracting me from my medicine just like you - flavor = civilized!
By the way, OGB is good people, also very good at making custom vape parts
Good question!? Did you get the rubber bads or those neoprene (IIRC) sleeve type things? I'm talking about the latter.