Origins and Backstory: A clone-only strain boasting a hype-worthy lineage of Grape Pie x Wedding Cake , this plant was gifted to me by @divineareslain. Originally released by Cannarado, this plant must have been selected by someone relatively locally to Colorado and eventually made its way to my garden. While mostly reviewing my outdoor plant that was grown beyond organically along a creek in one of Boulder’s little farming communities, I also have some indoor-grown organic flowers (grown by @divineareslain) pictured and incorporated in the review as well. This plant was pollenated in my garden by a Cherry Royale male. She was late to finish, the last plant I harvested, making it nearly to Halloweeen. Luckily the weather on the front range cooperated and we didn’t get any significant snow until Pyxy was ready.

Appearance: Certainly the most beautiful plant in my outdoor garden this year, and debatably the most beautiful in a bag as well, this plant finished entirely purple to the point of almost being black. I harvested it right around Halloween, and the aesthetic was completely fitting. While the plant and leaves do not generally turn purple indoors, the plant in its entirety (with the exception of some stems) turned purple in my outdoor garden. The buds are dense, fully-formed, and outdoor nugs are so frosty and multi-colored that they appear to be grown indoor. The flowers have an excellent structure, frost-factor, color variation, and the overall bag appeal is off the charts really.

Aroma: Another high point of the strain, Pyxy Styx is an apt moniker. The smell is skunky, sweet, and is super-loud when cured properly. The outdoor plant’s flowers emphasized a super-sweet aroma that is present in powdered sugar, fun dip, and yes, Pixie Stix candies. It is something to behold in cannabis, and honestly makes me wonder—am I being duped through evolutionary means to smoke this weed? I mean, it smells like delicious artificial candies more than anything natural, and I wonder how much of my yearning to smoke this weed is wanting the effects (which are potent) or if I’m merely chasing the olfactory sensations that seem impossible to occur in a plant. In any case, the sweet, perfumey, candied, and skunky aroma is complex and wonderfully enjoyable, and warrants the name.

Flavor: At least equally as enjoyable as the aroma, the flavor of Pyxy Styx is perfumey, sweet and candied, dankly skunky, with added floral tones that aren’t always detectable in the smell. Probably the high point right next to the effects, the flavor of this weed keeps everyone coming back for more, long after ideal blood levels of THC (and other cannabinoids) have been achieved. Of course the sugary-sweet candy notes are there, again bringing Pixie Stix and Fun Dip to mind. Additionally, classical “dank” notes are present as well, coating the palate in an herbal and perfumed skunkiness that really can only be associated with high-quality cannabis. Nobody has complained about this one!

Effects: When you thought Pyxy Styx couldn’t shine any more, you feel her. The stone of Pyxy is immediate and strong, certainly not lacking in potency, or really anything else. This effect is a complete package and total representation of cannabis really. The effect is euphoric, wonder-inspiring, numbing, thought-provoking, stoney, and spacey. It is feel-good as well as relaxing, and tends to blast my mind into a silly space of introspection, reflection, contemplation, and giggles. While coming on immediately and strongly, the full effect takes maybe 20-30 minutes to fully onset and “bake in.” I tend to feel the more heady effects in the beginning of the experience, while the later experience is more stoney, felt in the body, numbing, and frankly a bit dumbing too. Sometimes my mind makes connections on Pyxy Styx that are pretty far out, and my ideas require some extra explaining to those around me. This is high-THC cannabis, guaranteed to stone you to the bone. What I really enjoy about Pyxy is that she isn’t a one-dimensional narcotic-like indica, but also features all the heady, giggly, fun, and enjoyable effects of cannabis that so many folks love.

I should also note, perhaps because of its potency (or some other trait), Pyxy can cause anxiety for some. Mainly, me! Sometimes I’d get paranoid when smoking Pyxy Styx, or start contemplating some of my deepest fears. This is a semi-typical experience for many folks on weed in general, but it was interesting to me that none of my friends had this experience with PS—just me. Go figure! I thought it was worth noting.

Overall: A winner in every category, Pyxy Styx was the unanimous favorite among my friends from my own personal harvest this year. She really does hit in every category. Pyxy is beautiful to grow (especially outdoor), yielding cookie-structured buds with copious amounts of resin (yes, she is probably a fantastic hash producer). In cold temps outdoors, she has the potential to completely purple over, which is really something. Her loud and diverse aroma make her an instant hit, both with mainstream folk at parties as well as weed snobs. This translates beautifully into flavor, and leaves one’s mouth nearly sopping with sweet, skunky, perfumed and candied terps. Often, so much modern cannabis stops here, being bred merely for commercial production and bag appeal. Pyxy Styx distinguishes herself and offers a complete and impressive stone, one that frankly I don’t think anyone could complain about, with the exception of the guy who only smokes pure sativas and landraces (has anyone run into him recently?). This is an easy daily driver, because she is such a complete package. Personally, I do see potential for improvement in the aroma—I think there could be more funk, or chemicals, or fuel, or some other aromas to complement the sweet and candied side. However, that’s really just me trying to find something wrong here. She’s a complete package, very enjoyable to grow as well as smoke, and I have thoroughly enjoyed her in my stash.