** This order was received for free, keep walking if that’s an issue for you. This does not affect any of the ratings or opinions in this review, as usual. **
MOM Name Kootenay Craft
Overall rating out of 10: 7.5/10
Sign Up: I have been registered for a while now, it was an... easy process but they took long enough to accept my account once created. They now have a medial ID requirement on the form, but I’ve been told you can pretty much attach whatever pic there, so long as you have a decent enough ID submitted to prove your age.
Ordering & Pricing: A few months back, the Kootenay guys offered me a complimentary OZ for helping them with several website and customer service issues. At that time I was a moderator on here and opted to refuse the offer, not wanting to cause any unnecessary drama or baseless accusations due to my position. When the recent strain release happened, since I’m not in as a sensitive position, I figured I’d take them up on it. They accepted to send an OZ for review. I actually simply placed the order via email without going through the site and randomly selected among the new strains.
Communication: All my emails and questions were answered in a timely manner and the communication was good. They were a bit slow to send the tracking, but I didn’t pressure them, figured since it’s free, I wasn’t in any rush :)
Packaging: The usual plastic jars that people either love or hate, vacuum sealed into a bag, which was in a bubble mailer. They now have a foam ’seal’ on the containers that they didn’t have before, insuring a perfectly air tight seal. Nice little touch. Once opened though the foam is kind of annoying and has a lot of static, trichs and weed stick to it like crazy. Nothing dramatic, but worth xfering to proper glass jars. The seal doesn’t seem optimal if left as is, my wardrobe where I store my shit is stinky right now, lol.
Products / Photos:
Black Domina: https://i.imgur.com/RdnMv6M.jpg https://i.imgur.com/PhyyMuF.jpg Very nice nose on that one, but rather faint. The buds are nice, not huge but decent sized, well trimmed, seemed a tiny bit dryer than I’m used to from KC. Breaking it apart, the faint nose is confirmed, it has a nice floral smell, but it’s definitely not as loud as it could be. Even completely grounded, the smell wasn’t really there. Smoking this wasn’t all that pleasant, not much if any terps go through, the smoke isn’t smooth but not too harsh either, just a pretty generic boring taste. Buzz was decent, but nothing amazing. It was my first Black Domina so I can’t really judge on the strain accuracy, but I was told by others it’s usually a heavy hitter, didn’t feel that way to me. Nothing thrilling about this strain, giving it a 6/10.
Northern Lights #5 x Haze: https://i.imgur.com/yfClHE6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/sSRG5zZ.jpg Oh my, this screams old school! I hadn’t had a NL or close relative in 20+ years and the nose immediately reminded me of the 90’s, NL was a pretty common ’mids’ strain that was around back then. It’s a nice piney smell, a bit sharp and spicy but with an hint of sweetness, very nice nose. Again it was a tiny bit dryer than what I like, seems like it might have been over-dried during the curing maybe. Big compact nugs, nice trim. Unfortunately, similar to the Black Domina, not much of the taste came through in a joint. It was smoother than the Black Domina, but not much fun to smoke despite all that. GIving it a 6.5/10.
Skunk #1: https://i.imgur.com/ljbttRv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gGcRV0y.jpg Now those who know me know I’ve been looking for some old school skunk forever and I have intensified my research lately. I actually asked just a few weeks ago to KC that they bug their growers for some skunk and they told me ’Hey, we’re getting some just now as a matter of fact’. I knew Skunk #1 wasn’t the strain I’m looking for, but getting skunk from the quality growers KC deals with gave me hope that it would at least be a nice drop. First off, that nose is pungent and gassy as hell, it is bar none the most pungent weed I’ve had from any MOM. My wife had me air the house out after rolling a joint. It’s still not roadkill level, but this is definitely some legit skunk, zero hints of fruits or other shit, it’s straight up skunky gas. As you can see from the pics (that’s the whole quarter) it came as 2 very good looking buds of ~3.5g each. The cure and humidity is absolutely perfect, it’s plush, fresh, real nice. Grinding this up released the fragrance and it was very pleasant to play with. Smoking this, I can say this is one of the most pleasant smoke I’ve had from any MOM. The terps come through hard, the smoke is creamy, extremely smooth (you can take huge rips and not not cough), very nice. My only complaint is that I rolled a pretty fat joint, was the first of my day and I didn’t get much of a buzz out of smoking all of it. Skunk has never been a very heavy hitter, but this stands out as one of the weakest buzz I’ve had, reminds me of 1:1 CBD strains. Def a case of needing a little kick, be it with a bit of oil or hash. Giving this a 8.5/10, would have been a 9 if the potency was higher. I don’t usually grade weed based on potency, but this is a special case.
Incentive for Customers: The usual 20% for 4+ quarters is a very nice feature of Kootenay,. They also have a new WELCOME2019 code which gives you 50$ on the first order (I don’t think it works if you already used the older WELCOME code). Also, each month they have a 10% clearance sale, followed by a 15% strain release sale. Those do not stack with the 50$ welcome code, but they do stack with the 20% mix and match. Makes for pretty cheap OZ when all said and done.
Incentive for Review: Product was received for free for a review.
Notes: I had listed 4 strains and they only sent 3 of them. I didn’t bother asking or mentioning, figured they were either out or messed up, either way it being free, no biggie. The missing strain was Mango Tango.
Overall, this wasn’t my best order from them, but the skunk was a very nice find and I’ll definitely be ordering more of it despite the potency issue. So satisfying to finally get that long lost taste :)
Sign Up: 8/10. Typical sign up requiring ID, don’t be fooled by the request for a medical license it’s not necessary.
Ordering & Pricing: 10/10 They seem to cover all spectrums from topshelf to affordable mids, be...ing that the Cactus Breath is the most expensive I can definitely say it’s worth 265/oz. Ordered on Monday and it arrived this morning at 11am in Ottawa, very happy with the turnaround.
Communication: N/A didn’t need to communicate with them, did accept my registration request very quickly though.
Packaging: 10/10. Got my oz in 7 plastic containers with the strain name and information on them. Also contained the little 1g bovedas to help keep the product moist. https://i.imgur.com/5YOk5fe.jpg
Products / Photos: 10/10. First thoughts upon opening the containers are 1) the overwhelming fuelly grape smell and 2) how caked the nugs are. The smell like I said is overwhelmingly grapey with fuel and lemon/piney undertones, very pleasant. The nugs are beautiful, though the trim could be better I imagine the purple leaves were left for appearance and they are also pretty frosty. All of the Q’s were perfectly cured, nice and fluffy with minimal stickiness and not dry at all. The label on the containers have it as a 60/40 sativa dominant hybrid and I’d be incline to agree, though if only smoking a little it could be more like 70/30 or even 80/20. I find the high to be super enjoyable, instantly hitting me in the forehead with euphoria after a bong rip, while also slightly relaxing my body to counter the sativa effects. The taste is much more lemon and pine than grape, kind of reminiscent of a classic OG kush with a slight touch of grapes. Honestly this is easily in the top 5 strains I’ve ever smoked if not #1, though I did just receive the product this morning so I could just be in a state of euphoria, both of the actual weed and just off of receiving it. Nugs weren’t the biggest ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 but I don’t really care for large nugs, though this may be a knock for some.
Incentive for Customers: First time customers get $50 off a purchase over $120.
Incentive for Review: None.
Notes: I’ve been curios to try KC out for a while due to the mixed reviews, especially those pertaining to the Cactus Breath. All I can speak for is my experience and thus far it has been exceptional, specifically in relation to the product, though shipping was super fast as well. I paid $215 for an oz of this since it was my first purchase on the site and would have gladly paid the full price, I’m looking forward to trying their other strains through the 20% mix and match discount they offer.
Straight fire. Have only smoked 2 bowls, but the high is almost a perfect hybrid for me; great euphoria while experiencing no anxiety or jitteriness. The smell is dominated by candy grape with lemon/piney and skunky undertones, while the flavour consisted of lemon and piney flavour for me on the exh...ale of both hits. Some of the best looking weed I’ve ever smoked, absolutely caked with incredibly beautiful long and scraggly orange hairs. Perfectly cured, not dry at all and not moist either, nugs are fluffy but dense when smoked. The oz was 210 with the welcome discount and I’d rate the purchase 10/10 off my brief experience so far.
Northern Lights #5 x Haze - Kootenay Craft - Jan 2019
A proud sativa-leaning hybrid of famous parents, this Northern Lights #5 x Haze was a sight to behold and enjoy, characterized by its memorably-sharp, pungent pine aroma. Arriving as large, fresh, beautiful buds, this tantalizing flower maintained its distinct, slightly-spicy pine flavour throughout... the moderate experience, yielding an uplifting cerebral buzz that eases into relaxation, with slight adverse effects.
Score: 87-90 Grade: AAAA
Full Disclosure: This is a donated product that will be gifted towards Cannabis for Good, along with a with a matching 5g gift from 416 Strains. We are humbled that Kootenay Craft has become one of our earliest charitable sponsors. Please visit our Community Resources page at our website for more details – 416 Strains is committed to grading every strain objectively for our Canadian cannabis database.
More photos at the website, will have reviews of the Super Lemon Haze (QC Canna) + Mandarina from Sky High up shortly, as well as Death Space Cookies, Death Soul & Pineapple Haze from JJ from earlier this month, plus Living Soil Cherrygasm + Skunk #1 from Kootenay Craft.
