Where'd the Smokey Flavor Come From (Grill Related)

OK, over the weekend I made a small 3lb. pork roast on the Weber using my regular Kingford Briquettes and my standard techniques. What is so different is that this roast had a mild and pleasant smoky flavor to it. I've made pork roast countless times on the grill and don't ever recall this flavor, or at least this pronounced (a good thing, btw). The only significant difference was that the meat was sourced from a small processor in Southern Indiana and animal probably was not raised and slaughtered in the normal industrialized manner. The meat did have a reasonable amount of fat (again, probably not a hog raised for its' leanness) and I'm wondering if the fat somehow absorbs and retains the smoke from the fire differently than leaner cuts?
Help me understand.
'Winger

It's my understanding that fats and oils are very good at absorbing odors. I recall going on a 2 week vacation once and forgot to clean out the fridge. Something spoiled and generated an absolutely putrid aroma. After cleaning out the fridge and scrubbing with Clorox, I discovered that I had to throw out all the butter as it had also absorbed the odor.

Another possibility, as fats cook they melt and drop onto the coals causing smoke that rises and flavors the meat. Something I learned from my mother-in-law, when cooking shish kebab, that is trimmed to be lean, a seperate skewer with just trimmed fat is placed on the grill to produce the preferred smokey flavor. M-I-L called it "donbay" (though I have no idea of proper spelling).

[Jenise]

Another possibility, as fats cook they melt and drop onto the coals causing smoke that rises and flavors the meat. Something I learned from my mother-in-law, when cooking shish kebab, that is trimmed to be lean, a seperate skewer with just trimmed fat is placed on the grill to produce the preferred smokey flavor. M-I-L called it "donbay" (though I have no idea of proper spelling).

I think you've got it right, Susan.

Susan/Jenise-
Dunno. I used an indirect roasting method with a drip pan (with a bit of water in it) under the roast with the briquettes off to each side of the pan. I'm pretty sure any drippings fell into the pan and not directly on the coals.
I'll have to try "donbay" sometime when grilling kabobs. Thanks for the tip.