This is the best i can offer you.
brakes - Smells metallic/electrical type smell and you will burn your self by touching the rims.
Clutch - Smells like nasty fish.
almost anything can make a burning smell, do you have any strange sounds is it stronger in the car out outside, you said not all the time, when does it smell?

...I had to gun my car a few times to power through snow mounds. Could it be the clutch? 

I think you answered your on question. You may have a clutch going out, and putting pressure like this on one can lead to clutch slippage, heat, and burning smell. Depending on how hot the clutch got will determine how long the smell will linger. I tried to back a trailer up a hill in my Toyota Pickup some time back, overheated the clutch, and the smell lasted for a week.