My roommates in college used to do this. For a good month or so, our kitchen table was full of different sized bottles that all you had to do was swirl the bottle around and light it. Pretty cool the first couple of times (and also while drunk) but OP is very correct about the noise and the smell. ...If I remember correctly, this was also around the time they started lighting cotton balls on fire and "eating" them.

TL;DR: you're not missing much, don't worry about it.