There's a very big machloket (dispute) among the poskim (halachic authorities) about how to handle besamim (aromatic substances) when you don't know whether they smell good. This is different from food. Food is in front of you: you have an apple, you say a Beracha (blessing), and you eat. But sometimes you have a flower and you don't know whether it smells good. Can you smell the flower first and then say the Beracha? In this case, I guess somebody would not be able to say a Beracha because he doesn't know whether it smells good or not. Some flowers smell amazing, and some flowers don't smell amazing. So there's a very big machloket among the poskim.
The focus of the machloket is mainly based on another machloket, which has a very big focus, which has to do with food. An apple is pretty simple, but let's say there's an apple and you don't know whether it's very, very sour, and you don't like very sour apples. You like it sweet, let's say. Can you try a little bit and see if it's good or not? There's a big machloket about that. Some poskim hold that if you try the food first, you have to taste it and then take it out. Meaning, you're allowed to be to'em in the mouth—the taste. The taste buds are inside the mouth, not past the throat. Therefore, technically speaking, you could taste it and then spit it out. So you're not ne'eneh min ha'olam hazeh b'lo Beracha (benefiting from this world without a blessing). Other poskim say no: you're allowed to taste it, and that includes swallowing the little bit you're tasting. We're not asking you to take it out of your mouth.
So actually, the poskim who hold, it's very similar, right? So the poskim who hold that you have to take it out are going to tell you that, in the case of smell, you have no way to take it out, so you wouldn't be allowed to smell it first. But the poskim who tell you that you're allowed to swallow it say that's perfectly okay, especially since the Gemara says, “Kol, mar'eh, v're'ach ein bahem mishum me'ilah” (Sound, sight, and smell are not subject to sacrilege). When it comes to the halachot (laws) of me'ilah, taking hana'ah (benefit) from the Kodesh (the sacred), there's no problem if you see the Beit Hamikdash, for example, and say, “Wow, what a magnificent, beautiful edifice. The Beit Hamikdash was gorgeous.” It's me'ilah, you ne'eneh min ha'Kodesh. Kol, mar'eh, and re'ach (Sound, sight, and smell) are not significant enough. It's an ephemeral kind of hana'ah that isn't sanctioned. Therefore, you're not ne'eneh min ha'olam hazeh b'lo Beracha. “If you can't do both, did I commit a gez el (theft)?” “Kol haneheneh min ha'olam hazeh” (Anyone who benefits from this world). “Ha'olam hazeh b'lo Beracha ke'ilu ma'al” (This world without a blessing, as if one misappropriated sacred property). Well, in me'ilah, it tells you that there's no problem with the smell. Smelling without a Beracha is no big deal. Therefore, the poskim tell you it would be just like swallowing beforehand, and so it would be mutar (permitted).
Lechora (apparently), most poskim say that, especially since we hold this halacha (Jewish law): if you taste something, you could swallow it, but you don't have to taste. It's like people who go to a restaurant, finish the whole plate, and say, “I didn't like it. I'm not paying. It was not good.” You could say that for the first two bites. You can't do that past the third one. Tasting is also a very small amount, but lema'aseh (in practice), we hold that it's fine.
The only thing is that I had another cheshbon (consideration) a little bit on this halacha. I'm not sure why it's not being discussed. When you smell, you can't cut the experience into pieces. Smelling is one thing. You smell. It smells good. That's it. It's like doing Netilat Yadayim (washing of the hands). It's like saying a Beracha on Netilat Yadayim after your hands are clean. They're either clean or they're not clean. You cannot say the Beracha again. If you did Netilat Yadayim without a Beracha, then you come and say, “You know what? Let me say Netilat Yadayim with a Beracha now.” Your hands are clean. You can't say the Beracha. Here, you smelled. You got the full experience. With food, you could tell me, “I had hana'ah, fine, but I want to have more.” My next bite is not a continuation of the first bite. It's not a continuation of the first bite. Meaning, a new hana'ah is coming with my next bite. With smell, I have a feeling that I already got the full experience. With food, you could have more. You want to get full. There are a lot of things that could come into the cheshbon and require a Beracha now that you tasted. It tastes good. You can't say, “Oh, it tastes good? Okay, that's it. You can go home now.” No, I want to eat.
In smell, you don't stay the whole day like this. You have 25 minutes smelling. It's not like this. Usually, you smell once: “Oh, wow, it smells really good.” What hana'ah are you going to have in part two that you didn't have in part one? That's the only cheshbon I have a little bit. But obviously, they're not discussing this. That means that maybe it's not a cheshbon. Unless, with smelling, you can also make a chiluk (distinction): you smell a little bit just to make sure that it smells good, and once you see that it smells good, then you smell it really well, and then you say a Beracha on that. But it's a point of reflection. lema'aseh, the halacha is that we do allow people to smell first, make sure it smells good, and then say a Beracha and smell the fragrance fully. Bichvod (respectfully).