The Beginning

Earlier this year I first learned of cannabis cigars, or cannagars, via Facebook; a company in Washington State called Leira turns them out.

As soon as I saw them I wanted to try one. I’ve been thinking for a long time that it would be great to have a marijuana-filled cigar to enjoy for an hour or more. And these were true stogies: an 8” one can burn for up to 5 hours. Unfortunately they are only available in Washington.

Enter Smiling Buddah. The small, BC-based company also produces cannagars, and I made it my mission to get my hands on one ASAP. Lucky for me I have some great connections. I soon found them at the Cannabis Culture Dispensary on Beatty St, in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside area.

The Smiling Buddah Cannagar

For this review I tested Dead Head flowers with Buddah Blend indica rosin and Dead Head dry sift, all rolled in organic leaves. And, like every other cannagar, it was personally handcrafted.

Right away the small details stood out. The Smiling Buddah cannagar comes in its own glass test tube, capped with a cork and a generous amount of sealing wax with Smiling Buddah’s seal on the top. Inside the cannagar is wrapped in parchment paper tied with hemp twine.

With great care I first used my pocket knife to shave off the wax and pry out the cork to get at the ‘gar. Carefully unwrapping the cover, a most amazing sight greeted me: a plump hand-rolled green cigar with a small wooden cigar tip covered in shiny crystals. Upon closer inspection I noticed all the small serrated edges of the cannabis leaves that the Smiling Buddah cannagar is rolled into. A beautiful sight to behold.

The Burn

Knowing something about cigars I decided to use my cigar cutter to trim the lighting-end because I wanted to have an even burn. I saved the end to smoke later.

Using a good torch lighter (not my dab torch) I held it to the ‘gar to got a nice, even cherry coal on the end and soon was puffing down like an old pro.

Right away I noticed the white ash the Smiling Buddah cannagar produced. And the smoothness of the smoke was a real eye opener. I took my time to enjoy this fine product, smoking it much like you would a regular tobacco cigar.

And I only had to relight it twice. For the most part it will just keep burning on its own — another sign of good, clean cannabis.

Smoking this one by myself took just over an hour. Another that I smoked with two friends took about 45 minutes. It was just as enjoyable, but from my point of view these are best enjoyed by yourself.

The Review

The cost of Smiling Buddah cannagars, starting at $100 a pop, is on the “high” side considering how much weed you could buy in comparison. But when you figure that people pay that much or more for a good cigar I don’t have a problem with it. Like wine or anything else, you get what you pay for and you pay for what you want.

A great deal when four friends go in on one. And if you just want to celebrate an occasion, or just treat yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

And hey, Christmas is coming, so you all know what to get me now.