To me, a smoke ring is for show/appearance only, so only something to focus on after you have perfected all the other aspects of the smoke with the top criteria being taste, and texture second. World famous Franklin BBQ does not have a ring and he could care less. That said, I think they ARE cool but I wouldn't worry about it until you got the above nailed. Best way to fake one is a light TQ rub, short rest, and rinse from my research. I have got my chuckies pretty much dialed in and won't be too long and I will be posting my trials for faking a ring.