I like both, but I prefer cured. But it depends on the strain too.
It's all about the Terps. Terps mature and change.
Terps
Whatever method I choose to utilize the cannabis that I grow, preservation of Terps is key!
Whole plant drying at fully optimal levels of 60% humidity and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, not only ensures a nice slow dry, it helps to preserve Terps. Properly dried fresh cannabis tastes great! Sometimes the curing process takes away the terp you're looking for and then sometimes it enhances it.
And some strains have a mild increased in perceived potency, in others it can be quite dramatic. When I first started using Grove bags for the cure, I gave my veteran buddy his freshly dried(14day) cannabis in a Grove bag. I gave him a quarter pound, divided it up in two bags. when he opened the second bag and sampled it, I got a text from him telling me that the most cured an untouched bag is kicking his ass! I text him back, "So I wasn't just imagining it!"
The ultimate preservation of terpenes comes when a temple ball is made from fresh frozen. It's really more than just a preservation. With that nice shiny exterior forming a sealing crust, the turbines are allowed to meld and marry together during the long aging process. People not in the know, have looked at me real funny when I told them how long age my temple balls. Those people haven't tasted a properly aged temple ball. If they had, they wouldn't look at me that way!
It's far different than freshly made hash. Freshly made hash is quite flavorful, but is actually fairly dim compared to the blast you get from a properly aged a temple ball.
......wood smoked.............
............
