This dispensary has closed.
Rocky Mountain High fits in well with the expensive clothing boutiques in high-end Cherry Creek North. Not because it's got sky-high herb prices, but because the place literally is an expensive, vintage clothing boutique in exclusive Cherry Creek North.
Rocky Mountain High - Cherry CreekLocation: 300 University Boulevard Phone: 720-941-9333 Website: www.1800medicalmarijuana.com Hours of operation: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Owner/manager: Mitch Maltz, CEO Opened: February 2010 Raw marijuana price range: $45-$50/eighth. ($55 cap during my visit). Other types of medicine: Hash oil. Handicap accessible?: Yes.
I visited Rocky Mountain High the other week with my fiance, who doesn't have her medical card. The shop says they are licensed to have non-patients up front as long as only valid medical patients are allowed in the separated bud bar. I expected the room to be divided in half, but the entire floor space has been transformed into a Bizzaro-World Urban Outfitters, quirky t-shirts and all. The back wall was painted half in blue, half in brown, set off by matching blue wallpaper with a piece of crown molding and a sitting area featuring a couch in the middle of the room. Armoires full of mostly women's '70s and hippie-chic clothing were scattered around the walls and dry leather cowboy boots and vintage ashtrays occupied windowsills and low tables.
As cool as the boutique layout was, the only pot I saw after a few minutes of poking around was a fan leaf drawn on a t-shirt for Maui Waui. The dispensary was nowhere in sight.
"Instead of putting massage and wellness and other things that people don't use, [the owner] decided to go with a different theme to get shoppers into the store," said CEO Mitch Maltz . "Even if they don't have a card, they can get vintage clothing, jewelry and shoes. We are like the Niemen-Marcus brand of stores. High end." After initial investments are paid off on the seven stores that Rocky Mountain High operates in Colorado, Maltz added, the profits from the store go to one of several charities selected by owner, whose wife died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. "He owns a bunch of shopping centers and is worth millions. He isn't doing this for the money," Maltz said. "The money isn't going into someone's Porsche or Ferrari."
A blond woman sat at a small desk near the open archway leading back to what I assumed was the bud bar. After a few minutes of picking through $120 ripped T-shirts with the future Mrs. Breathes, I signed in and the woman walked back to the bud bar, leaving the shop out front unattended. The dispensary itself seemed like an afterthought, and despite having some decent product on the shelves it felt like another way to bring in revenue, even if that revenue is going to a good cause. There was no security door, no burly guard, just a second room off to the side. The space was cozy and ordering felt like being at a sandwich shop with the menu behind the bar, which was made up in part by large display coolers.
On the counter were roughly two-dozen small jars filled with samples off the menu. Each jar had a sticker with the name and a cutesy picture, like a dog in a lab coat for the Chemdawg or a (random) Care Bear on the intriguing Bubba Kush. I took my time and sniffed through several samples, including some good smelling but dull looking Golden Goat, stinky Cheese, and a cut of Zero Gravity with a nice appearance.Most of the strains sold for $12.85 per-gram, which comes out to an even $45 with taxes included. There were only two "top shelf" strains, priced way too high at $55. The Sour Diesel and Maui (I think, my notes here are fuzzy) were not bad, but they were no different in quality than the best $45 strains, so I hardly gave them a glance. Maltz said since my visit they have capped their herb at $50. The shop had a large selection of vendor edibles, but just one kind of hash (oil) when I was in; the budtender said they normally have more variety. Overall, the herb was clean, with no issues.
Up front in the boutique, my fiance had less luck. Apparently $120 for a faded t-shirt is too much money to spend, even if you do like Billy Joel. She said a lot of the clothes seemed overpriced and wondered how much of it was truly vintage, noting the number of identical (and shiny) $50 ashtrays on display. Personally, I don't need to mix shopping for clothes with shopping for herb, but with seven Rocky Mountain High locations around Colorado, apparently there are people who do.
Page down for strain reviews and pictures. Chemdawg #4 This cut had the Chemdawg funk at first, but when I stuck my nose down into the jar, it also sported a perfumed, woody finish, as if the herb had been dried in a cedar closet. Not a bad smell, but nothing like the Chem #4 I've known. Despite the heavy coating of fuzzy tan crystals, the buds had a loose trim on them, and I found a few tiny, immature seedlings when I broke up the herb. A few of the seedlings made their way into my bowls, burning harshly against a very slight Chemdawg tang. I like this strain; the ripping, uplifting mental buzz after a few bowls is just what the doctor ordered after a long day. Not a great example of this cut, but it was close -- especially next to the $55 cut of its cousin-strain, Sour Diesel. Green Crack The single nug in the sample jar was a mix of electric green with dark, almost purple crevices and fire-orange hairs. No real strong smell on this cut, but the looks were enough for me to take home this speedy, uplifting sativa. The herb was clean and easily as good as the two top-shelf strains the shop was selling. It had a berry-sweet smell broken up, but no distinct flavors to the light, non-expansive smoke. This strain always gives me a speedy buzz and instant dry mouth along with a serious case of the munchies, which is exactly why I have my med card in the first place.William Breathes is the pot pen name of our medical marijuana dispensary reviewer. Read the William Breathes bio here and be sure to check out our archive of Mile Highs and Lows medical marijuana dispensary reviews.
