Why Colorado Tokers Love Roasted Garlic Margy

There's no denying the allure of Garlic strains. Garlic Juice and GMO are both popular at dispensaries, with GMO one of the trendier varieties in commercial cannabis and home grows alike. It's a golden goose for extractors, with GMO's potency and trichome production usually cited as the main reasons for the strain's popularity — but I'm interested in the garlic.

Almost everyone loves garlic. Any adults who don't either have an allergy or still remove the crust from their white bread. The smell of sautéed garlic and onions is a simple joy of life, and the base of good eating. Garlic and weed, though? At first it sounded like an odd mixture, even for me. But while spicy, zesty terpenes usually aren't my favorite, most cuts of GMO carry a sour funk that creates a unique smell and flavor that has to be respected. And it's not just GMO and Garlic Juice carrying the garlic torch these days. Three's a trend, and Roasted Garlic Margy is here to cement the trio.

Roasted Garlic Margy is mix of GMO and Frozen Margy from Colorado's own Cannarado Genetics. The up-and-comer inherited GMO's herbal, skunky qualities, but Frozen Margy, a rare strain with Chemdog, Fire OG, LHB Headband, Pinesol, Sour Dub and Triangle Kush genetics, might've been the perfect showcase. Despite the genetic hodgepodge, Frozen Margy added little more than pine to the results, and allowed GMO's garlic flavors to blossom even more.

A stronger representation of the savory side of herbal cannabis flavors has me officially sold. Roasted Garlic Margy's slow-cooked, salty qualities rekindled stoned memories of Violet Beauregarde chewing on a stick of gum that tasted like a full-course meal, only without the ballooning blue body.

Looks: Roasted Garlic Margy's buds are tightly woven, with dense calyxes, tightly connected plant nodes and a tendency to weigh much more than they appear to. The trichome coverage doesn't seem special at first glance, but once you realize Roasted Garlic Margy's color is actually much closer to wintergreen than lime, you'll realize how thick that coating of resin is.

Smell: Skunky, savory and potent, Roasted Garlic Margy's thick fumes of gas are virtually impossible to contain. Everyone in the room will smell the chemical, diesel aromas, but breaking up buds shows off salty, briny notes, almost like slow-cooked meat. The savory side is similar to GMO, but even more food-like.

Flavor: Roasted Garlic Margy's best quality is its savory flavor, which doesn't back down in the face of those pine and Chem notes, though they're very noticeable, too. Just the fact that the herbal, garlic-like taste puts up a good fight is a win for Cannarado, though.

Effects: Although a little spacey, Roasted Garlic Margy's high left me operational for the most part, but crafting a game plan for the subsequent two or three hours takes longer than usual. The high is stress-free and helped with multiple upset stomachs, but is extremely heavy on my eyes even when I stay mentally alert, so I keep Roasted Garlic Margy around for nighttime (and hangovers), and hope no one tries to FaceTime me.

Where to find it: Roasted Garlic Margy is on a lot of menus right now. So far, we've sniffed it out at Alternative Medicine on Capitol Hill, Buddy Boy, Cherry Peak, Green Dragon, High West Cannabis, Kaya Cannabis, Life Flower, Lightshade, Lucy Sky, Marquis Cannabis, Nature's Kiss, Silver Stem, Spark, Star Buds and Verde Natural. Verde Natural is responsible for the majority of Roasted Garlic Margy out there, producing a brickhouse cut that's harder and heavier than a rock. Despite the overly dense buds, the potency and stank are top-notch, and superior to versions from Dutch Botanicals and Magic City Farms, which are usually sold in pre-rolls.

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