With OG Kush, there's definitely a right smell and a wrong smell.
The smell of these is perfect. It'll blow the face off even the most hardened person behind a shop counter. Why? Because I monitored the drying process CAREFULLY. As Cheeze so astutely warned, the air has been really dry lately. My close proximity to the ocean wasn't having a major impact as my overall room RH was holding steady at 30%. I noticed that this was causing the buds to dry too fast, so I turned off the suction fans in both dry areas. I was just a little worried that the fans may have caused too rapid a rate of evaporation and so may have impacted smell. Just a little...
So I let them hang with no air movement for another two days. The lower nugs in the tub showed crispy so I jarred them. Smelled incredible. But again, after leaving them sealed for a few minutes, the smell was almost 'speed-fermenting' with too much moisture still trapped in the jar. Take the lid off, let breathe, back to beautiful OG smell. So this should tell you how critical it is to seal you jars at the right moment. If you're not checking on this constantly, the OG smell could change on you, then your stuff has less shop value.
The lower nug jars go into the dark storage bin, lids off, storage bin half open. The next day, I decide to re-jar the top nugs I dumped out previously and cut down the remainder of the branches still hanging. Again, freshly jarred off the branch, these buds smelled like OG orgasm. So as a test, I tried sealing a jar and let it sit for fifteen or so minutes. Again, that trapped fuel smell started changing into something quite musky and almost rotten smelling. Open the jar, the trapped fuel fumes air out, and you have lovely OG smell again.
The jars then sat for a span of 24-36 hours in the dark tub, lids off, tub lid partially open, a gentle turning of the jars every three to five hours throughout. Allowing that last bit of stem moisture to leave like this as opposed to having them simply continue to air dry for another two days has done wonders for the bud. That 'roasty caramel' smell from earlier was just a temporary stage of drying. That's gone and all that's left is an OG fuel smell that's through the proverbial OG roof. Bingo. Lids go on, and nothing left to do but burp every now and again.
It's not simply a matter of jarring when they feel crispy. Putting your lid on the jar at just the right time, trapping just the right smell is of paramount importance. OG growers, if any of you have been disappointed by the smell of your crop after it smelled so amazing while growing, this is probably why. Watch that shit... with your nose. And seal only when the smell and dryness are just right. But it's best to let that last trace of stem moisture leave in open jars rather than letting them hang too long.
And that's how you cure your OG to smell like OG. With your nose. Constant monitoring with your nose and sealing at just the right moment of dryness. It's a tricky art that I'm still learning to master fully. I think I did a pretty great job with these, and it was also a valuable learning experience.
Edit:
I would imagine the same would hold true with any strain, but since OG Kush is so strongly associated with a certain smell and taste, it's especially important to time the dry / jar process just right. I think Cheezeman agrees?