A person who smells a pleasant fragrance must first recite a Beracha. In a case where a person smells a fragrant fruit, Halacha requires him to recite the Beracha, "Baruch Ata Hashem…Ha’noten Re’ah Tob Ba’perot" ("Blessed are You, Hashem…who makes a good fragrance in fruit").
The question arises as to why a person in this case would not recite the more familiar Beracha of "Boreh Aseh Besamim" ("He creates fragrant trees"). After all, fruits are grown on trees, and there thus seems no reason not to recite the Beracha of "Boreh Aseh Besamim."
The Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo Ben Aderet of Barcelona, 1235-1310), in one of his responsa (1:251), establishes an important rule that determines when to recite "Ha’noten Re’ah Tob Ba’perot" and when to recite "Boreh Aseh Besamim." He writes that this depends on the primary purpose for which the individual owns the item in question. Fruits are generally purchased as food, not for fragrance. Normally, then, when a person smells a fruit, he should recite the Beracha of "Ha’noten Re’ah Tob." When, however, a person owns a fruit specifically for the purpose of smelling it, then it loses its status as a "Peri" ("fruit"), and is instead considered a "Bosem" ("spice"). In such a case, then, the individual would recite the Beracha of "Boreh Aseh Besamim," which refers to fragrant items that are considered "Besamim."
This rule would yield practical implications in the case of a person who keeps his Etrog after Sukkot to use it as the spice for Habdala. (On Sukkot itself, one should refrain from smelling the Etrog.) Even though the Etrog is a fruit, an Etrog designated for the purpose of fragrance has the status of a spice. Therefore, in such a case one would not recite the Beracha of "Ha’noten Re’ah Tob Ba’perot," and would instead recite "Boreh Aseh Besamim." This would apply as well to those who have the custom of placing cloves in the Etrog after Sukkot and using the Etrog with the cloves as spices. Since both the cloves and the fruit are designated for fragrance, they are considered "Besamim," and the proper Beracha is therefore "Boreh Aseh Besamim." Another application of this rule involves mint leaves ("nana"), which some people buy for cooking, while others use them as spices. If a person purchases mint leaves for cooking but decides to smell them, it is questionable which Beracha he should recite. However, if the leaves are designated for fragrance, then before smelling them one would recite the Beracha of "Boreh Asbeh Besamim." This rule also affects the Beracha one recites before smelling cinnamon. If the cinnamon is designated for flavoring foods, then one would recite "Ha’noten Re’ah Tob Ba’perot" before smelling it. If, however, one purchases cinnamon specifically for the purpose of smelling, then the Beracha would be "Boreh Aseh Besamim."
This is the ruling of Rabbi Moshe Halevi (Israel, 1961-2001), in his work Birkat Hashem (listen to audio recording for precise citation).
Summary: If one smells a fragrant fruit which is designated for eating, he first recites the Beracha of "Ha’noten Re’ah Tob Ba’perot." If the fruit is designated for fragrance (such as the Etrog, which many people keep after Sukkot for fragrance), then before smelling it one recites the Beracha of "Boreh Aseh Besamim."
