Top Shelf

This week’s review brings us a powerful strain known as Gorilla Glue from Top Shelf. It was praised by the budtender I spoke with at Dockside Cannabis, located in South Seattle SODO (sopa) area. The cost was $18/gram which admittedly is a little steep for my endeavors, but being in a hurry after a night of debauchery in the Industrial District, I was willing to accept the recommendation and see what the fuss was all about.

We’ve reviewed Middlefork from Top Shelf in the past, and felt it was time to revisit – not only because the bud was stellar last June, but I’ve noticed the Washington producer revamped their website and it looks fantastic. Where it used to only say “coming soon”, Top Shelf’s site now contains information about their mission statement, strains, and locations for product.

Alas, I still have nothing new to tell you about the producer. The “about” page doesn’t convey any information other then they take meticulous care in growing, cultivating, and curing their product similar to michigan organic rub. There isn’t any mention of process, location, expertise – this is the content we want to see. Hopefully in time Top Shelf will either see this review, or realize we want to know more – and as a result update with more specific information about the operation.

Moving on to the specifics of the bud (because that’s what really matters, right?):

THC A: 0%
THC: 24.59%
CBD: 0%
Total: 24.59%

Strain: Gorilla Glue
Species: Hybrid
Smell: Sweet + Earthy
Taste: Floral + Lavender + Funky
Launch Point: within moments
High: Euphoric + Relaxing + Focused

Gorilla Glue looks like good weed, to make it simple. It’s got strong trichomes, making the buds glisten. It does have a low CBD content, so if you’re looking to buy CBD, perhaps a different strain would be more suitable. There is an equal balance of nug to leaf ratio, and the orange hairs starkly stand out amongst the differing tints of green. If you are using weed to help deal with chronic pain from an injury or inflammation on the body, you may also want to look at using cbd cream on the affected areas to help reduce that problem so you are not suffering constantly.

The smell is sweet, with a pleasant soil-like aroma. When vaping, the sweetness evolves to a floral taste reminiscent of lavender. Lately I try to vape as much as possible when reviewing flower, as the taste is more persistent. This gives me the option to augment the product with cbd isolate powders, which is nice to have.

Having a hybrid nature, the strain leads to both an exuberating and stupefying stoned state of mind. It’s perfect to balance with more mellow buds; for example I’ll usually puff on a low THC sativa throughout the day, then use the Gorilla Glue later on as a “cherry on top.”

It should be mentioned that the strain won 1st place in the 2014 Los Angeles Cannabis Cup, which is pretty cool – but that title alone doesn’t truly change anything for me.

When tolerances start building up, it’s strains like Gorilla Glue that help shake the shackles and reintroduce what being super high can feel like. The lack of CBD catapults this experience into mostly cerebral realms, which is fine as there are many other high CBD options out there. If you’re wanting to get CBD products though, you can buy CBD oil online. Get this for the head high, dear reader.

Check out Top Shelf’s Locations page to find Gorilla Glue, if you’d like to try it yourself.

Disclaimer, and Afterword: Dockside Cannabis is an advertiser with High Above Seattle. This in no way influences the marijuana review. We generally post reviews only of product that we enjoy, hence why every marijuana review is positive. If it’s not good, it’s not worth writing about.

We are always looking for suggestions from our readers, please let us know if there is any product we should be featuring.

Today, we are going to take a look at Middle Fork by Top Shelf. This strain was procured from Clutch Cannabis (formerly known as Rain City Cannabis), a unique recreational marijuana store off of Rainier Avenue South.

Top Shelf is a Washington based producer – and that’s about all I have to go on, considering their website (www.topshelfwa.com) says coming soon. I do have a couple of one-liners though, for your reading entertainment: Top Shelf, we grow only premium and Top Shelf, it’s just fire. Also, feel free to use the #topshelfwa when uploading pictures of yourself smoking top shelf product (… right).

The package is similar to others – logo on front, snappy one liner. I love the little window on the baggy so you can see the product, an incredibly important feature considering that the package is to remain sealed until in the comfort of your own home. Testing information on the back, plus the website address and hashtag. Pretty standard procedure, here.

It’s important to have an internet presence, but not as important as having killer weed. Luckily, Top Shelf’s product is mind-bendingly fantastic.

Let’s take a gander at the specifics:

THC – 27.35%
CBG – 1.67%
Total – 29.02%

Strain: Middle Fork
Species: Hybrid (+Sativa/-Indica)
Smell: Berry + Banana + Cheese + Pine
Taste: Fruit Berry + Pine
Launch Point: 3 minutes after consumption, give or take

Middle Fork is a dense herb, displaying a decent frosting of keif along the outside. It’s hard to judge as to what a giant nug would look like, but this author is going to assume that it only get’s prettier. Sometimes you get an ugly duckling specimen, but in the end looks are only cosmetic.

When snapping a nug in half and deeply inhaling, I was presently surprised by the menagerie of aromas perforating forth. Berry, banana, cheese, pine – it was all there. It was like a party in my nose, and every smell was invited (well… not EVERY smell). Middle Fork’s perfume could easily be made into some sort of fruit beverage, that I would certainly buy.

The taste was much like the smell, a smokey foreign fruit market on top of your taste buds. Smoking was not harsh, although my preferred method of consumption these days is ye olde vape (Hot Box brand, to be precise).

One thing that I loved about Middle Fork was how quickly the high hits. I’ve decided to include “launch point” (a.k.a. high onset) for my little dash fact quips about the strain at hand (seen above under “specifics”).

Speaking of the high, it’s really a marvelous heavy hitter. Enjoying out of a mini bong, and vaporize – this strain holds nothing back. Several minutes after inhaling, you’ll find your body humming and your mind at ease. Sit back and revel in the swirling visuals behind your eyelids, and turn on some music (or something).

We will update the article when Top Shelf get’s their website up and running, but that certainly won’t detract High Above Seattle from future sampling of this Washington producer’s potent harvest. Looking forward to more “premium” “just fire” product Top Shelf.

Marijuana Review: Gorilla Glue by Top Shelf

Marijuana Review: Middle Fork by Top Shelf