Fine Dining With Some White Truffle

Alright, full disclaimer off the bat (because transparency is sorely lacking in America today, and we must be the change we wish to see in the world), you must know that Focus North is probably my #1 favorite cultivator, ever, anywhere.

It’s a close race, there is no doubt about that, like an Olympic sprint event where you need a slow-motion camera to see who actually crossed the finish line first, but my camera says it looks like Focus North Gardens by a hair or, shall I say stigma. 

Dad puns aside, Focus North is one of the most reputable purveyors of quality craft cannabis in Oregon. They live by the “dirty hands, clean smoke” mantra using living soil free of bottled nutrients or pesticides of any kind. 

Focus North focuses on keeping fungal and bacteria levels high to let mother nature do its thing to nurture some insanely memorable phenotypes. Paging through my little notebook, I started the other year I smoked Focus North’s Colorado Sunshine, Tropicana Cookies, Terple, Cold Snap, Pot Roast, and now, White Truffle or “White Truffles” depending on who you ask. 

So, while you should be on the lookout for reviews of the abovementioned all-stars, this review is specific to White Truffle. This strain is almost universally highly regarded as an undeniably top-shelf product. The longevity with which I’ve seen Focus North’s White Truffle on shelves is a testament to its popularity in the local market. 

So friends, without continued adieu (my high school composition teacher forbid us from using that expression, but I can’t remember why), let’s dip our toes into the warm, sultry, decedent waters that are the world of the White Truffle.

What is White Truffle?

White truffle is most commonly found as an indica-dominant phenotype of Gorilla Butter, a cross of Peanut Butter Breath, and the classic Gorilla Glue #4 (GG4).

I feel like Peanut Butter Breath has been experiencing somewhat of a renaissance as I swear I keep seeing it on menus, and I also just smoked a Peanut Butter Breath child (with Mendo Breath F2) ala Puppy’s Breath not that long ago. 

If you like indicas, I’d recommend you keep an eye out for anything with Peanut Butter Breath in it, as it has a sticky way (figuratively and literally) of winning over your affection.

If you’re a sativa person, then uh yeah, I wouldn’t go out of your way to pick this up unless you want a nice chill smoke once and a while that won’t completely incapacitate you; then yeah, White Truffle is gentle without being that sedating.

Appearance: Truffles is a Sticky Gal

If you like your nugs looking like they were cut directly out of Photoshop, then you might be a little disappointed in bud structure, but hey, bud structure shaming isn’t cool. Buds come in all shapes and sizes and don’t necessarily translate directly into quality. 

A lot of people don’t like the more knobby-looking bracts that look like a bunch of little pieces loosely sticking together vis the density monsters where the bracts are almost indistinguishable from one another. 

I wouldn’t say White Truffle is as beady as Tropicana Cookies, but they’re somewhere in between. I’ve been smoking on this for a while, so I’ve broken up some of the larger nugs, but in terms of overall “how much would this bag appeal impress your friends,” I’d give this White Truffle a 7/10, which is decent. 

They make up for what they lack in overall size with a cornucopia of contrasting colors, ranging from downright decadently deep purples to bright, vibrant greens.

The buds are dense as fuuuuck with the trichomes. These particularly bulbous bracts undoubtedly equate to a larger overall surface area than other more tightly packed genetics, resulting in particularly high volumes of clingy, sticky resin glands. Mmmmm, sticky resin glands.

So yeah, most of the scoring here is due to the colors and the trichomes. I’m a size queen, so if these were blown up double in size, then my heartbeat might quicken a tad more; but hey, looks are just skin deep, so I’m going to judge this book by its contents, particularly the smell and sensation.

Smell: Deep & Dark Like the Earth From Whence It Came

Yes, from the first whiff of the jar at The Vth, I knew I had found something I’d liked in White Truffle. It was a hard choice; in the end, picking out what I wanted and White Truffle won out simply because the budtender helped me rationalize out loud the fact that if it’s got a long-lasting shelf presence, then it’s probably worth trying. 

So for the smell here, we have earth. This stuff falls squarely in the “dank” category. I wouldn’t say it’s stinky. There’s no twangy funk or cheese, per se. To me, it smells more like the freshly decaying leaves on a mossy forest floor. 

There’s definitely an earthy kind of potting soil dampness to the nose. The buds are perfectly cured; I’m talking purely smell here. There’s a little bit of pepper, but it’s not fresh ground. Don’t fret, though; it’s not sneeze-inducing or anything that spicy.

A very soft faint sweetness overlays this White Truffle, like an empty cardboard canister that previously held a bunch of prunes.

It’s an inoffensively layered series of rich, dark, yet creamy notes deserving of the luxury implied in this cultivar’s name.

I know this is heresy to say but fuck it, I would love to roll a few grams of this White Truffle up in a Backwoods Cognac XO wrapper shit…

Guess I’ll suffer along with my Heir water pipe for the time being…

Sensation: Lexus Smooth

If you’re looking to live la vida dolce, then White Truffle is for you. By dulce here, I mean shit is fucking luxuriously smooth. The smoke is thick and creamy and hangs in the air forever. Even when fanning the smoke away, it seems to curl and stick longer than normal before dissipating. Shit is c-r-e-a-m-y. Yeah, I said it.

This velour whore is reflective on the draw and goes down smoother than a peanut butter chocolate smoothie on a hot, humid summer day.

The initially bold scent is a complete teddy bear when it comes to getting along with your throat and lungs. It’s just rumbly and tumbly, all soft edges here. No coughing. No horse throat, even through conversation.

I smoked this mostly in half-gram pins and a water pipe, and even down to the filter, it smoked smooth. White Truffle is a real pussycat of a smoke, that there is no doubt.

This smoke is old-money luxurious. We’re talking fully loaded (Mark Levinson audio and all) early 2000s Lexus LX470.

You pair this bud with truffle butter on a slice of freshly baked sourdough bread. Yes, I just did that. It’s a perfect culinary analogy to the smoking experience. White Truffle would no doubt pair heavenly with some prawn, scallops, and white truffle butter pasta. Dolce, like I said. 

I don’t know about the cultivation chemistry that must go into achieving this feat, but it definitely justifies the name, so hats off to you, whoever grew this crop at Focus North. 

Personally, I enjoyed this strain most when just chilling on the couch or pre-movie theater experience. It’s calming and doesn’t make me feel very productive. It’s taken me a few weeks to finish this review you’re reading simply because I keep smoking it and giving into lazy Erik whispering in my ear to watch some more YouTube. 

Sorry.

Summary: Exhaling Extravagance

I feel accomplished by finally smoking this beauty that I’d had eyes for a long time but, for one reason or another, had yet to find the courage or make the time to approach seriously. 

Yet White Truffle continued on living her best life, self-confident and already plenty popular with what I can presume to be hundreds of thousands of smokers. It was perhaps serendipity that our paths crossed again, and sparks flew.

I wish there were a quick way to peruse a strain’s lineage while at the dispensary that doesn’t involve spending 10 minutes on your phone standing in a dispensary like a geek.

I probably would have opened my wallet for this bud sooner if I had known White Truffle’s parents were Peanut Butter Breath and Gorilla Glue. I can’t think of a bad time I’ve had when those two troublemakers have DNA in my smoke. 

This is an excellent strain with exceptionally smooth smoking properties and an equally gentle high to match. It won’t knock you out of commission with intensity but instead wrap a dense, heavy blanket of stoney bliss around you to keep you cozy regardless of your plans.