Gouda by Woodstock x Snowtill

95 Points

Last week, I had the privilege of getting to run a flower tasting bar at Urbana Dispensary in Oakland for a California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce meetup event. Alongside fellow Budist Leah Cerri, I had two cultivars from Woodstock Heritage Strains, cultivated by Snowtill, for guests to sample from Volcano vaporizers. The two cultivars we were tasting were Gouda and J1. J1 I was already familiar with, and I knew that it was one I enjoyed. I had never tried the Gouda before, however, and the genetics were intriguing.  Gouda is Norton (Sour Diesel x Cheese) X Jesus OG (Jack the Ripper X Hell's OG). As you can see, there are lots of different flavors and terpene profiles coming through, which should lead to a very unique and diverse experience. I was fortunate to be able to pick up a five gram bag of Gouda to try before the event, and it was one of my favorite cultivars I've tried this year.

This flower is grown indoors using living soil, giving the plants all the nutrients they need directly from the soil and everything living in it. I usually prefer sungrown flower to indoor grown, but if I didn't know any better, I would believe that this flower was grown on a farm in Humboldt County. It looks the way a sativa is supposed to look, with long, thin buds that are lime green and covered in bright orange hairs. This is beautiful cannabis. A closer look under my microscope yielded expected results. Dense trichome coverage with ripe trichome heads, accompanied by those bright orange hairs, made for one pretty picture (see photos), and I was hopeful that they would lead to some pretty powerful flavors and effects.

With the diverse genetics, it was tough to tell what was going to shine through the most. I can usually detect any Jack Herer and its terpinolene profile in any cultivar, so that's what I was expecting to smell and taste the most. Upon opening the bag and sticking my nose inside, I quickly discovered I was wrong. It was cheese. Pure cheese. And it smelled delicious. It was like I stuck my nose into a bag of white cheddar popcorn. After going back a few more times, I started to pick up the underlying notes of citrus and fuel from the other three strains that make up the genetics of Gouda, but the cheese was still front and center.

I rolled up a one gram joint and immediately went for the dry hit, anxious to see what I would discover. Like the aroma, it was instantly cheesy, as if the joint had been rolled in white cheddar powder (maybe I'm on to something here?). Even after a few more pulls, where I was actively looking for other flavors, they would only show themselves in brief flashes before the cheese came back to knock them out. Once the joint was lit, those accompanying flavors began to present a little more, with some bright citrus, earthy pine and diesel fuel notes poking their heads through, but the cheese was still winning the day. There was also something very distinct on the exhale only, and it was killing me trying to figure out what it was. I couldn't figure out if it was the flavor or the aroma that was nostalgic, which was making it even tougher to figure it out. I smoked the whole first joint, not being able to figure it out. It wasn't until I smoked another joint much later where I finally figured it out. It was incense. Like the Nag Champa that we used to get in college. I couldn't narrow it down any further than that, but it was a unique flavor that I hadn't experienced in cannabis before.

As with the aroma and flavor, I was unsure of what effects to expect due to the diverse nature of the genetics. Cheese just in itself has a pretty interesting terpene profile of mycene, beta-caryophyllene and limonene, so add in the rest of the lineage, and I was expecting something unique. What I got was the best of everything. It started out instantly cerebral, with my brain bouncing. From there, the terpenes seemed to work in harmony, with the limonene from the Cheese keeping the terpinolene from the Jack from being too racy, and the myrcene from the Hell's OG and the Cheese keeping the limonene from being too jittery. It was a symphony of balanced effects. I felt euphoric. I felt uplifted. My brain was active, but in a creative way, not a racy, anxious way. My body was floating, but I wasn't stuck to the couch. I still had motivation. It was truly a wonderful experience from start to finish.

Snowtill is doing it right. From their cultivation methods, to their genetics, to the care that they put into all aspects of their grow, they are producing high quality flower. Woodstock and Snowtill have a good thing going here, and I hope to see their collaboration continue to flourish, with exciting new strains on the horizon. They've certainly got a winner with this Gouda, and my review for the J1 will be along soon, so stay tuned!

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