We use a 22" and 18" Kettle (meat over drip pan), and a 22" WSM, and always reuse the charcoal. Never had an issue with odors from reuse. There are a lot of myths when it comes to BBQ, this sounds like it could be one of them.
As @JBooker mentioned, you oftent won't see smoke once your wood is burned down. It could be the seal on your lid, try to place it a flat surface, and see if it's sitting flat, or perhaps was warped when you bought it.
Those are looking fantastic, nice cook! I was just at our Costco last night, and didn't see these, I'll have to keep my eyes open - though I'm loving the prices on their prime briskets.
This thread is getting a bit old, but thought I'd add on thing that helped me a lot with the crutch: This article from Greg Blonder is great: http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/thecrutch.html
and highlights that a tight wrap (as a number of peoople have mentioned) is really important.
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