I think there tends to be some ‘mood’ association with many scales, but entirely subjective, and no two people will agree.
The distinctive characteristics often come from a specific note / interval in the scale. For me
The flat second in Phrygian … sort of Spanish
The raised 4th in Lydian … can evoke a more ‘dreamy’ sound e.g. Vai /some ambient
The natural third in the Phrygian Major … arabic sounding
Also, as renowned guitarist Guthrie Govan points out, blues sounds arose from slightly different tuning, and many pro guitarists would do a microtonal bend to the flat 5 to give a non- 12 TET flavour.
From my personal perspective I think it’s more than just the flat third in minor tonality.