Smell does play a small role in trying to analyze how good marijuana is, and so does looks. But dont base your decision on just the smell. I had some shit that smelled like horse shit that flipped me out, I also had some weed that smelled like herbs and spices and was very good, also had some weed that smelled like a straight up skunk and sucked ass. So I just dont base my decision on how potent marijuana is by the smell, most of the time I just look at it. But no matter how much you look or smell, nothing can tell you how good weed is like a good ol' smoke test .