Why Colorado Tokers Love Project 4510

I try to find the good in all cannabis, but some strains just want to watch my brain burn. That's not necessarily a bad thing when the right mix of junk food and action movies is involved, but there's that rare combo that brings both mental fog and restlessness. Too much energy to sit still, but too baked to know where to go. Sounds awful, doesn't it?

It might look great or smell like some of the best pot I've ever seen, but occasionally I'll smoke a lemon, and won't even recognize the match in hell until half the bag is gone — whether the problem is the genetics, growers, my body or something else. Project 4510 was that lemon last week, but this round I'm willing to say it wasn't the weed's fault.

My choices at the dispensary were down to two government-sounding strains, and Project 4510 won out over Area 41. Popularized by Grandiflora and Cookies across the country, Project 4510 is grown by at least three popular cultivators in Colorado. However, this project has a little secrecy sprinkled on top, and my head is still dizzy from trying to learn more.

Project 4510's genetic lineage hasn't been shared with the public yet, and the strain's smell just adds to the mystery. An aromatic gust of beer, grapefruit rinds and mushrooms flicked my nose after my budtender opened the jar, but my inability to identify any of them in the moment made me want another chance to figure it out. Wrong choice.

The smell and flavor of Project 4510 were fantastic, with sour and savory (but not sweet) notes providing an experience more mature tastebuds would enjoy. I just couldn't jibe with the effects, though, and still haven't found a situation in which the high works for me. A failure on my end, for sure, but the strong flavors make me believe this project could grade higher for other users.

Looks: Dense, dark and bulbous, Project 4510's looks are a big part of the strain's intimidation. Purple spots range from sparse to taking over half the flower, with occasional orange pistils and below-average trichome coverage.

Smell: Project 4510's aroma is more confusing than the high. Fresh lime and burnt rubber smack my nostrils around, only for musty, cheese-like smells to calm them down — but just for a second before a sour and spicy combination, almost like apple cider vinegar, pinches my nose into submission for a few extra seconds.

Flavor: There's virtually no sweetness to Project 4510, but there's plenty of sour, with a funky, zesty aftertaste. Kind of like a skunky beer, but with an herbal flavor.

Effects: Some users label Project 4510 as a daytime hybrid with a high that doesn't burn energy but fogs the brain, while others put 4510 on their couch-lock list. You're not getting very far in either situation, as the haziness caused by Project 4510 is weakening — and so are the munchies. Project 4510 turns me into a lost, starving golden retriever, and I'm consistently unable to relax after smoking it. There are users who say it's far more relaxing, though, with more giggly effects.

Where to find it: We've caught Project 4510 at A Cut Above, Cookies, Doctors Orders, Golden Meds, Green Man Cannabis, the Green Solution, the Herbal Cure, Lova, Maikoh Holistics, Oasis Cannabis Superstores, Peak, Simply Pure and Twin Peaks, but more stores likely carry it. Cherry, Cookies and Snaxland all grow wholesale versions, while A Cut Above's medical cultivation has taken on Project 4510, as well.

We haven't tried A Cut Above's version yet, but Snaxland's Project 4510 is the finest of the three wholesale buds out there, with Cherry's a close second in terms of smell and smoke. Although Project 4510 isn't for me, both of these grows have produced tasty renditions of the strain, while Cookies' take is also respectable.

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