Rockwood is popular in the BGE circles. I picked up a bag last father's day timeframe. It was on sale and I had a coupon and I picked up a bag of Cowboy Oak lump at the same time which was also on sale.
I had a slight preference for the Cowboy Oak over the Rockwood and I cooked with both on the WSK and the BGE.
I also have Lazzarri Mesquite and Jealous Devil XL.
my only critique of the JD XL is it takes a bit longer to get going than the mesquite or the Cowboy Oak. I seem to recall the rockwood was a bit slow to get going on one of my BGE cooks. There is a chance that this was just me varying the startup sequence.
Cowboy Oak, Rockwood and JD XL all are fairly mild smoke flavor and I'll toss a handful of pellets or wood chips on the lit coals to get some more smoke rolling.
For Beef I use Cherry chips along with the Cowboy Oak.
Pork I either use hickory or apple.
Lazzarri mesquite has a stronger flavor and the lump brings plenty of mesquite flavor. I only use it on hotter cooks like chicken. I might mesquite smoke a turkey breast but I've stopped using it for beef or pork.
DanHoo calls out a good point here.
When speaking of the main source of fuel for the burn - different types/styles of lump will add their given note, based on the hardwood they originate from. Most of the volatiles that would add "flavor" to a given burn (smoker or grill) using lump or for that matter briquettes (hardwood or your basic generic varieties of briquettes) is really mild and it's something one may notice as a base smell or flavor add more so durning smoking grilling.
When folks talk about "flavor added" It basically starts with how clean your base fire is running (should be blue-white smoke). This would suggest that it adds no additional flavor as it's all just charcoal
AKA "your just tasting smoke from the fat dropping on hot charcoal" - other than the base, not of it's given wood type. "Hardwood Lump" is a generic term. Oak Hardwood lump for example adds some specificity.
Coals from one type of wood does add a base flavor IMHO. When I was running a horizontal with side firebox. I would burn my own cherry wood sticks down to coals to start my smoke. I loved that base note if you will. But I would add chunks of wood of different species to layer and change things for the end depending on the protein.
When talking about different types of lump and standard briquettes that are basically just charcoal and not a specific type of wood - they each have their own base note, or none at all which can be fine.
To me it's the type of wood lumps or sticks you add in to create fresh smoke during burn that adds the additional nuance to the finish. So there's the base fuel that you use, then what you've stuffed into the mix (wood chunk type) that produces the final effect.
Else you start with hickory lump for example and just add hickory chunks to keep things constant. And the fat with the rub and marinate dripping plays along
Not to forget "smoke" only adds flavor for a short period of time - that flavor is just built on the surface.
