Why Colorado Tokers Love Lucinda Williams

A common gripe about millennials is that we’re unable to appreciate classic music. We’re more likely to associate timeless R&B hooks  with hip-hop beats that sample them instead of the originals themselves, while Guitar Hero has bastardized an entire generation’s knowledge of classic rock. You can definitely lump me in with the rest of the tasteless turds, because I had no idea who Lucinda Williams was until I smoked a bowl of her.

Apparently Lucinda Williams was a big deal long before I bought an eighth with her name on it. If you’re a fan of Williams or country music in general, I apologize; anyone who’s been nominated for fifteen Grammy awards and won three deserves respect. But having a strain named in her honor might be one of Williams’s biggest achievements. Lucinda Williams the strain is bred from Cinderella 99 and William’s Wonder, an Afghani phenotype named after Willie Nelson. Does that make her the equivalent of Willie Nelson’s daughter in the weed world? Who knows? But it’s still cool, even for a woman named “America’s best songwriter” by Time in 2001.

Anyone familiar with Cindy 99 knows about its starch sativa genetics, full of citrus flavor, bright colors and an uplifting high. Willie’s Wonder, however, is nearly a pure indica, making this clash of titans quite the roller coaster for smokers. The sativa influence is fully present is every sensory aspect, holding sweet, tart orange flavors and a bright-green glow, but indica characteristics are noticeable in the strain’s stout bud structure and sometimes-drowsy high.

Despite not yet having a strong reputation outside of Colorado, Lucinda Williams has become one of the more steady, attainable strains in Denver. I’ve seen it at Botanico, Euflora, Kind Love, Kind Meds, Herban Underground and Sante recently, and I know more shops carry it. Kind Love’s cut leans sativa but kills my concentration — but it also might be the most potent Cindy 99 I’ve tried. Herban Underground’s take is sweet, sour and delicious, and could be the truest to its Cindy 99 heritage. Botanico provides the best value, at $35 an eighth; the potency might not be as strong as Kind Love’s or Herban’s, but the flavor is all there.

Looks: Bright green and dripping with milky trichomes, Lucinda Williams’s outer layer is like a glazed doughnut. Although its color, which ranges from lime to algae with rusty-orange pistils, looks very sativa-like, its bud structure can be short and dense, closer to that of fifty-fifty hybrids and indicas.

Smell: Expect a combination of sweet citrus, fresh pine and an occasional minty, wintergreen aroma. The Cindy 99 genetics usually ensure a strong clementine orange presence no matter the cut, but some versions are more earthy and piney than others.

Flavor: It’s hard to drown out the Cindy 99, but don’t be mad about that. Tart orange flavors combine with subtle piney and minty notes from William’s Wonder to create an invigorating, tea-like taste that’s perfect for a calm evening after work.

Effects: Lucinda Williams can lean either way depending on the crop, but it’s best to expect a hybrid high somewhere in the middle, peaking about an hour after smoking. I’ve always had issues with concentration and patience, and I’ve heard tokers rave about the focus this strain gives them. Because of its potency, quick sativa euphoria and inevitable indica relaxation, patients suffering from anxiety, stress, stomach pains and insomnia could all find this high soothing.

Home grower’s take: “I think this is a great strain for any growers with a couple harvests in the books. She’s not very difficult in the grow, and for how strong she gets, the harvest is really short — no more than nine weeks at the most. I’ve always been told Lucinda is a sativa-dominant hybrid, but her bud structure is short and fat, and the plants don’t get tall, either. I kind of like the contradiction, because fluffy, tall sativa buds aren’t for everyone.”

Is there a strain you’d like to see profiled? E-mail [email protected].