Hey FlyingSquid! So, like, there are different types of mj aromas, which are solely dependent on the terpenes present in the plant. That's a documented thing. There's a over a hundred terpene types that can result in citrus, diesel, skunky, or woodsy smells, for example. However, as it's been pointed out already, plants have been cross-bred so much over the years that individually named strains don't always have their "known" unique characteristics these days. And that includes smell/aroma.

So yeah, it doesn't really matter anymore. I wouldn't put much stock in how flower smells, because it's largely inconsequential save for personal preference. I prefer citrus-y flower cuz it smells better to me. There's one strain I used to buy regularly from my dealer that had a really strong but pleasant grapefruit smell (and taste, just a little), it was awesome.

Also, wrt indica vs sativa... there's never been any scientific data that can back the claim that they provide different kinds of high, like energizing versus relaxing. It's just not true. Like the meme says, weed is weed.

They did that during the medical years in my state too (AZ), but after legalization I started seeing the samples go away and start being replaced with labels on the product that not only tell you the name of the strain, but also THC and CBD percentages (sometimes CBN & CBG too), harvest date, and even terpene profile as well.

But even then, I'm finding that price tends to be more of an indicator of quality than the raw numbers. I've had $70 dabs with 65% THC hit harder than the $20 stuff that contains 80%+. The growing and manufacturing process can make a seemingly lesser product hit harder than one with numbers that look good.

I wish there was something like a Scoville scale for weed: measuring potency simply by having a panel of people test the product and put a number to how high it makes them feel, just like how chili pepper spiciness is measured.

First, the whole “Indica - Sativa” thing is a joke, the amount of genetics and number of factors that go into weed makes this distinction totally meaningless

Second for a lot of weed users the taste is important (and smell is taste for all intents and purposes), and it also allows people to directly assess the type of weed and it’s quality just as well if not better than staring at the weed in a bag.

Like others, it comes down to mold, and what I would call the "skunk factor". IMO that's the worst part of smoking this stuff. If I could get something legitimately marketed as "low sulfur" I would probably change careers if that's what it took to keep it on shelves. Otherwise, it's edibles for me.

Maybe more seasoned users know how a given flower works on your brain based on odor, but that's not me.