And here it is ! the strain that finally dwarfs anything else in terms of aroma intensity. The strain whose aroma clouds penetratively rise into your face right after having opened the stash box, inducing an intense prickle feeling and spreading in the whole flat at lightning speed: Warlock. While one can argue over its fairly martial name, there`s no doubt about the unique smell and taste of this strain which represents something very special within the often genetically synchronized Dutch seed bank stock.
People who are not into marijuana will cry out, it stinks like hell!, when taking a nose of fresh Warlock bud. Marijuana lovers, however, will rather praise its heavenly stinking scent. But its incredible aroma is not the only celestial dimension of Warlock: According to Gerrit, owner and breeder of Magus Genetics, Illinois state troopers measured awesome 29% THC in US-grown Warlock plants, it is not that often that a state`s institution provides excellent PR data to a cannabis seed bank.
The two Warlock plants grown in a 2001 German indoor garden indeed turned out extremely potent, but they didn't quite seem to come up to those 29% of the US Warlock plants. I would suppose 20-23% THC, values that are common with first-class cannabis strains, as proven e.g. by an independent laboratory on occasion of the High Times Cup 1998: "Ice" 23.7%, Haze Special 21.8%, Sage 21%, Neville`s Haze 20.3% THC etc.
"Warlock" Both the origin and development history of Warlock are very unusual. It`s the only case I know of where a cannabis seed breeder offers a strain for sale that basically still consists of the same genetic material that he started his grower career with a long time ago: In the early 90ies, Gerrit selected some incidental Skunk x Afghan seeds from coffee shop weed and decided to start his first indoor garden on this basis. These random bag seeds proved as true 'lucky punches' for Gerrit, after years of selective breeding and inbreeding they supplied the charismatic genetic profile for Warlock. Gerrit started the breeding process with a selected female Skunk x Afghan grown from the original bag seeds, pollinating it with selected male flowers of another plant. Gerrit reports on the next step: The second generation was split up in 50 families (from 25 females & 2 males) and developed separately. Half of the families where judged useless, because the male used to create them was causing too much unwanted "Sativa throw-back" in most of them. From the other half, the best family was reproduced (I've kept copies from the parents) and was sold as Warlock seeds from '98 till '00. With plants selected from the remaining families, I made several 3rd generation families and selected a few healthy males from the family that was most similar to the ideal and used them for several test crosses, the male that performed best of them serves now as a father to all my strains (including the Bluebirds Starwarz). Already after the fourth generation, Gerrit had ended up in something that he considered as genetically stable, high-quality seed strain.
"Warlock" The breeding process of Warlock was accompanied by the simultaneous sale of Gerrit`s Warlock breeding results in the popular Amsterdam coffee shop 'Blue Bird' (beginning from the mid-nineties). This successfully served two purposes: On the one hand, getting a constant feed back from lots of smokers upon the results of his work, on the other hand, binding these smokers as future seed customers, because Warlock was not available as seed until 1998, and when it came out, there were lots of eagerly waiting Warlock fans who could finally grow their beloved strain by their own hands. Gerrit had decided to release Warlock to the seed market right after the Cannabis Cup 1997, since the strain had taken 3rd place in the Bio Cannabis Cup and successfully proven its quality to the public. Although, genetically seen, Warlock is a mostly indica, its inner and outer traits show more of the sativa spectrum, for example elongated stem growth during flowering, a very high calyx-to-leaf ratio and a roaring sativa up-high. The dark-green leaf colour, however, reminds of the Warlock`s indica heritage, the same is for its bud structure.
Female Warlock plants tend to grow into a huge main cola, along with some nice tops resulting from moderate side branching from bottom to the middle of the plant. The resin content is very good and satisfying, though not able to compete with those abundant amounts of so-called white strains. Some plants showcase funny looking popcorn buds, consisting of unusually evenly rounded calyxes. It is no accident that this look reminds of Original Skunk#1 plants, as the latter, respectively something closely related, are contained within Warlock. In spite of the compact and dense look of its flowers, the Dutch aroma wonder cannot compete with Skunk#1`s extra heavy yield (judging from my test cultivation). But its still more than solid harvest amount will surely not disappoint any grower. The flowering period of 55-60 days is comfortable considering the sativa qualities of Warlock. Already in the vegetative stage, the typical spicy-sweet aroma of Warlock builds up and quickly fills the whole room. You`ll need a good air-filter system when choosing Warlock for your grow room.
The charismatic smell finds its equivalent in the rich and full taste: spicy, but not acrid, the smoke actually is pleasantly mild, making for a long-lasting, cerebrally and physically activating sativa high, mixed with a slight degree of indica stonedness.
GBI - Green Born Identity
