Strain Integrity

According to Leafly, “Sour Jack, one-half Sour Diesel one-half and Jack Herer, takes its name from its parents. It has developed a solid reputation and is highlighted by an intense aroma and profound cerebral effects. After combining the two sativa-dominant strains, we are left with an amazing combination of tropical, sweet flavors that mix with pungent tones of citrus and diesel. The uplifting effects can provide a spark of energy and minimize body fatigue. Sour Jack is a great strain to fight off depression and to help you stay active.”

According to the OCS website, “Sour Jack from Whistler Cannabis Co. is a sativa-dominant strain with very strong THC potency potential that’s grown indoors in British Columbia under LED lighting. Its main terpene is myrcene (also found in mango, lemon grass, hops and thyme). ”

This is the first product we bought from the OCS that includes a Boveda 58 humidity control pack.  As a result, the flower was fresh and not bone dry.  The scent is not strong but you can detect floral fruity hints.

Oh yeah!  Legalization delivers the goods

Finally, we experienced the benefits of legalization and that is access to amazing cannabis.  But, let’s start with the amazingly expensive price of over $22 a gram.  What’s with the super high price?  It is this nonsense from Bloomberg.

The Europeans are paying the equivalent but the exchange rate makes it looks like $800 oz.  Starbucks Grande cost 2 pounds or almost $5 Canadian in London, England.  The same coffee cost $2 in Canada.  Now, you see these crazy prices appearing here!  So, is it worth it?

The unfortunate answer is “Yes.”  This is the best cannabis we have tried anywhere.  We did a bit of research on why they have such amazing products and here is what they have to say  “Living soil,” something we get a sense that is not easily replicate able in million sq. ft. production environments.

The high begins a few minutes after inhalation as you slowly enter the realm of an altered reality.  You feel your mind slowly enveloped by something that is quickly making its presence known and your reality is changing.  The speed picks up nicely after 5 minutes and you can literally feel time slowing down.  Between the 6 minute mark and ten minute mark is an intense euphoric uplift with increasing time dilation, which makes the moment seem to last forever but only a minute has gone by.  The intensity of the lift feels like bubbles of happiness bursting inside your mind and body.  The body feels light probably from the high energy parent Jack Herer.

Between 10 to 15 minutes as your mind is bursting with happiness bubbles, you will also have psychedelic effects in your perception.  The first 20 minutes will feel like more than half hour has gone by and it will be the most intense part of the high.  This will continue for the first half hour before your mind levels off.

The next half hour of the first hour is a mind melding focus creative state of being.  Your body feels light.  After the first hour, you start to feel a more functional state of mind and more of the same continue for another hour or so.  There is zero tiredness at the end of the high.  Even at the end of two hours, the high is probably as good as some of the lesser products at their peak.   The first thought at the end of the high, “I got to get more of this.”  This is a Go To strain.

It is hard to be negative with something that gives you so much euphoria, energy, focus and creativity, even at $22 a gram.  It delivers.  That is four profiles in full intense expression in this Whistler Cannabis rendition of Sour Jack.  This is what we call a 10/10.

Conclusion

Sour Jack by Whistler Cannabis

It is hard to justify the price but this delivers.  We have found a hands down go-to strain.  But, the cost?

In our minds, we try to realize that the high end performance is always expensive because it takes a lot more to produce.  Sometimes those production goals may not be achievable for others.  In this case, we have not found any other products that hits as hard with as many profile expression as this strain from Whistler Cannabis.  The THC content was 22.73% at the upper end of the range for the Sour Jack strain indicating the grower has squeezed everything out of the strain.  Perfection.

The cost?  We expect this is not going to be forever.  Using California and Oregon as examples, we have seen dramatic price decrease in two years.  We expect long term cannabis prices to fall in the $150 an oz for mid range and $300 to $400 an oz in the top end, not $800 an oz.   We think it is worth trying even though it may not be priced for a go-to strain.

Is this Whistler strain price going to go down?  Given their tiny production capacity and even with expansion, it is not going to be a million sq. ft. and supply will still be relatively limited.   The real culprit to these high prices is the markup of 100% by the Province.  Whistler Cannabis gets about $11 a gram, which is what it is worth in the grey market ($300 – $400 an oz), the real market because of it’s size.   Expect prices to remain high for a while.

A solution to this high price may be applying to be a medical patient and access it directly from Whistler Medical Marijuana for cheaper guaranteed access.  This, however, is not what anyone envision legalization to be.   Consumers have to be medical patients to access their weed at a reasonable cost.  We are hoping the coming craft growers would deliver similar products at lower price points as the solution but that is at least 12 months away.  We do enjoy watching the world unfolds taking three steps forward and two step backward is comical.

Quality: 10

Intensity: 10

Duration: 10

Total: 10/10

Cost: 3.5 grams for $79.30 (not a mistake)

Taken in moderate amount, this strain is good for a broad range of active activities.  The euphoric bursts is good for mild depressive moods or to get you going on chores (not the best use of a euphoric experience in our minds but for some it helps to get going).  There are few things we do where happiness is not compatible … like a funeral?  Alright, don’t smoke this if you are attending a funeral.  So, this strain goes with everything you do and hence the much sought after award as a “Go-To” strain … albeit it is too expensive. /CRY

From an investment opportunity, we are looking at Aurora who bought Whistler Medical Marijuana Corporation (WMMC) for $175 million, and Whistler Cannabis is the recreation brand for WMMC.  Folks we are talking 5,000 kg a year expandable to 15,000 kg at the Pemberton site.  It is not going to be meaningful in terms of driving the Aurora stock price.  It is helpful but not meaningful.

It is notable in the last quarterly Aurora conference call the Company said they don’t care about the recreational market.  They can lock up the customers with their medical business.  Pay attention to the medical patient growth in the coming quarters and LPs focused on growing that segment.