Rarely does the sight of a concentrate invoke the feeling of velvet, and it was not until we began to scrape the delicate live resin crumble that we realized the depth of perfection from our Mind Body Spirit specimen made by Venom Concentrates; it was the work of an expert. Like freshly-caramelized butter, glistening and soft, the sample was scraped from its paper surface with not a crumb left behind. It was almost viscous, one of the smoothest we’ve seen for a long time, like velvet.

  This flagship masterpiece featured the unpredictable Venom OG strain, an indica-dominant mix of Poison OG and Rare Dankness #1. Her aroma was clean and festive, peppery and floral, maybe even a little lilac. The golden sheen was a perfect shade, just dark enough to pass for an actual wad of earwax if you saw it in a doctor’s office. Venom comes from parents Afghan Dream and Durban Poison--Indica dominant maybe, but certainly loaded with a melange of categorical traits.

  Critics not only dabbed, and vaped - a few tried as a bowl topper. With such a good consistency, it was perfect either way. She did not spark like velvet, but bit like a cobra. The first rip was a teary-eyed cougher for most of us. Wow. Nothing but hair-raising stupor, demanding 30-60 seconds of reeling recovery to maintain composure. The high grew into a bowling-ball, rolling ever so slowly, up between the eyes, over the head, and down into the neck and spine.

  The whirling face and head almost separated completely from the rest of the body. We were overcome with a multitude of sensations, like a swallowing reflex, dry-mouth, visual optical illusions and block-headed depth perception. The couch was most inviting, but not due to heaviness--rather to regroup and focus. No such luck, as it was surprisingly hypnotizing to sit and listen to passing traffic, in a darkening room as the sun set. No one said anything for several minutes, and that was just fine.

  It was hard not to dab another with such perfection. One, as usual, is all you really need, even for the most dedicated cadets. But those few that ventured on into the second rip territory clearly had nothing planned for the remaining day. And that is the only reason you should dab twice with this one: if you want want to take the mountain peak you’re on, and leap into freakin’ space. “This is the highest I’ve been in a long time,” said one contributor. “It’s the session that you wait for all week while you’re hitting one-hitters. That tension has to be broken, with a giant hissing crazy high, one that takes you back to the first time you ever got rocked by good nug. Everyone needs that at least once a week.”

  The dab resided in all extremities for up to an hour, then very slowly receded for several hours longer, during a more functional plateau high hat hung just above the eyebrows, and brought many dumb mistakes. Bring this beauty to a low-key, relaxing setting, like the beach or backyard, clear the schedule, and turn off the phone. Whether epic cadet or casual vaper, this is the reward you’ve been waiting for all week.

Photography by Ry Prichard of Cannabis Encyclopedia