Cherry Wine is a hemp strain that was created in 2015 to be a balanced hybrid – evenly mixing both Sativa and Indica effects into a high CBD hemp strain with little to no THC. To do this they mixed a high CBD strain called Charlotte’s Cherries with a very resinous strain called The Wife.

The jar we looked at this week came to us from Cheef Botanicals, an online hemp company that I keep ordering herb from because I have been impressed with the quality – and they ship very quickly. I must mention that Cheef includes over 4 grams of herb in their opaque eighth jars, and this one weighed in at 4.15 grams. Another thing I like is that Cheef includes a Boveda humidity pack in each jar. That keeps the herb perfectly fresh from packaging time to when the consumer opens the jar.

Cherry Wine stands out in the field of available hemp strains because it’s not trying to emulate a known cannabis strain. I admire it for that fact. I’ve been a bit disappointed in most hemp strains that companies name using a cannabis strain name that has “brand” recognition. With very few exceptions it seems like the hemp version is very different from the known cannabis strain – I find this to be confusing.

The Look and Smell

Opening the jar I was hit with a strong berry smell that was sweet, deep, rich and earthy. I gave the jar several whiffs, and each time I noted new aromas. There were strong spicy notes that danced above the deep, dank undercurrent of fermented fruit, and just a hint of something skunky lurking around.

I poured the nugs out on my tray and was surprised that most of the assembled nugs had long stems. My friend Josh, who runs a herb company, calls the long stems that should have been trimmed off “unicorns”, and dislikes them passionately. I agree. Who needs that extra wood? I trimmed off the unicorns and the weight didn’t drop below 4 grams, but those long stems sure made a bad first impression.

The small nugs (minus the stems) were very chunky and dense, well-trimmed other than the unicorns – no sugar leaves left behind, just nice chunks of well-cured herb.

As I cut up the first nug it sliced up into smaller and smaller nugs until I had little balls of hemp nugglets on my tray. My fingers were sticky from cutting up the herb and the aromas were causing a nice atmosphere of aromas to surround me.

The Taste and Feel

The first hit from my bong surprised me with a sweet and spicy taste. The spicy smells I had noticed in the aroma had transformed into a strong flavor on the exhale. Following the spicy taste was a strong taste of fermented fruit, or fermented berries. While I was mulling over the fermented flavor my wife pointed out that cherry wine is made from fermented berries, cherries to be precise. All of a sudden the name made perfect sense, and was an excellent description of the taste.

I was about three hits into enjoying the flavor… just a couple minutes into my sesh, when I notice the “marijuana fuzzies” creeping up on me. As I’ve mentioned in the past, marijuana fuzzies is that feeling like all my nerves have been insulated and I’m wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. It’s one of my favorite physical effects from smoking marijuana.

After the fuzzies came the lidded eyes… all the physical effects that let you know that the marijuana is taking effect. As the fuzzies spread around my body the herb started to bring in a lot of physical comfort. That was when my head felt like it opened up at the top and my mind expanded. Not expanded in the psychedelic sense, but like the borders of my mind were thrown open.

Mind expansion? Is that getting high? I know they say this herb doesn’t get you high but I was getting CBD stoned. I was thrust into a deeply thoughtful and contemplative mode. Ideas took on new shapes and dimensions. And while my mind was expanding I noticed that this herb wasn’t necessarily affecting my mood. Many times smoking the herb can be mood altering, but not this one. After smoking I felt like I was on the same mood path I was on before, but now with new, added stoned features.

The effects lasted a good couple of hours and then the munchies hit me. Not a deep sense of hunger, but the munchies – the desire to keep nibbling on little salty things, like stovetop popcorn. And it was a munchie compulsion that could not be ignored… and yes, the popcorn was delicious!

The Wrap Up

They say that the CBD and THC levels in a herb is just the engine that drives the effects, while the terpenes help steer the high. The terpenes for this one were strong in Myrcene (the earthy hops smell), Geranyl Acetate (fruity), Farsenene (that taste of green apples), Limonene (a citrus-like, acidic kick), Linalool (spicy) and a handful of others. Well, the engine on this one was just 14.72% CBD and 0% THC, so it was definitely the terpenes that were causing the high in this herb. And it’s a great one, in my opinion!

I’ll be using this herb for some deep philosophical thinking. I loved the contemplative mode this one put me in… the mind expansiveness was remarkable, and the way my head just felt opened up – it felt like I was ready to receive cosmic messages! And I like that feeling.

Cherry Wine is now going to move onto my CBD Top Ten list. If the nugs had more jar appeal the rating would have been higher. I love unicorns, but not in my jar of herb. 😉

Until later, best of health.