Origins and Backstory: Golden Goat is a clone-only strain that I grew for the better part of a decade. There was a time period where this electric-highed plant was ubiquitous on the Front Range of Colorado. It was on the menu at every dispensary, in the grow room of all your buddies, and anytime one looked for clones, Golden Goat was on the tray. Everyone either loved or hated her, and I have grown fond of Golden Goat over the years. She is quick to flower, full of uniquely-tropical flavor, and when grown expertly, can be mind-bogglingly potent. Some describe her as psychedelic, myself included, which can be a double-edged sword. While I still haven’t made it around to giving Golden Goat a full review, I did find her high quality enough to cross her with Meangenefrommendocino’s Cherry Limepop F2, after finding so many wonderful things about that plant too. Hopefully a match made in Heaven, this is a test of the seeds grown outside around a mile high on Colorado’s Front Range.
Appearance: Stunningly beautiful, this cross of Golden Goat and Cherry Limepop F2 takes after her pollen donating father, CL F2. At harvest time, this plant was a rainbowed mixture of yellows, greens, purples, debatably even some bluer and indigo-like tones that made her a joy to have around and a beauty in the garden. Buds are an equal balance of spear, pine-cone, and grenade shaped—just a classic nug shape that sits well on the plant. Truthfully, the bud structure could use larger nugs with less leaf structure, but all things considered she still isn’t below average. This plant obviously put out many huge tops, and grew untopped as an evenly spherical bush. Many favorable traits with some room for improvement.
Aroma: Bursting with aroma, and certainly one of the high points of this cross, it is sweet, candied, fruity, and seemingly artificial. Gummy bears, Flintstone vitamins (the mineral-rich kind from the ‘90s), skittles, yancha or wuyi rock tea, and a medicine cabinet all come to mind. It’s a stretch for some, but there’s a chlorine-like note in the background present as well. Most prominent is the note of gummy bear, followed closely by the sweet-minerally notes of vitamins or pharmaceuticals. The chlorine I imagine comes from the Cherry Limenade, as it is a note similar to that in Cherry Pyromancer—bleachy and awesome! Primarily sweet and fruity, but more than complex and balanced enough to keep me interested. When flowers are broken apart, the tropical fruit-smoothie and mineral notes are intensified as is the chlorine. There is a sugary note so sweet it reminds me of a concentrated or powdered drink mix—that note of powdered sugar as it hits your nostrils when you stick your nose in a container of Gatorade, Tang, or any other drink mix. It is one of the smells that’s addicting and rewarding, making you want to break into bud after bud to repeat the aromatic experience again and again.
Flavor: Interestingly enough, the flavor of this cross keeps to the aroma as much as it differs from it. All the fruity notes are there, especially the specific Flintstone-vitamin-powdered-mineral note (very similar to Yancha and Wuyi tea varieties) among some generic fruity tones, but there are also velvety herbaceous and botanical notes present in the flavor. There is even some spice bordering on the back-end of the exhale that reminds me of some of the middle-eastern Kushes and landrace hash plants. Bright, sharp, fruity, sweet, complex, but quick-lived, this smoke is indeed a bit candy-like, with tones in the flavor leaning toward cotton candy. It’s very enjoyable, but the pleasure being so short-lived begs for more consumption. Dangerously tasty!
Effects: Zippy to begin, this cross can have nose-crinkling and sinsus-tickling potency. Immediate in its onset, this cross is euphoric and feel-good, giggly and happy, almost celebratory even. However, the effect is as short-lived as it is zippy, recalling Cherry Limepop’s quick roller-coaster like high in my mind. This leads to frequent re-ups on the cannabinoids in here, making me want to keep toking every 30-60 minutes or so. The euphoria wears off relatively quickly, leading to a feeling of dreaminess edging on burn-out toward later sessions—a bit of chasing the dragon of euphoria, which can become disappointing. I suppose the effect is a low point of sorts—everything about this cross is really desirable and enjoyable, and the effect is not an exception—however, it does seem really short-lived and it’s annoying to chase after the desired effect multiple times a day, seemingly just pumping up my tolerance. Certainly not a downside, but also certainly leaving me wanting for more!
Overall: All in all, I think we’ve actually achieved something here. Golden Goat is a fantastic clone-only that seems to have never made it outside of Colorado in a big way, but I have always thought should be more widely available and considered an elite. Cherry Limepop is one of Meangene’s creations that is a work of art in itself, a masterpiece of cannabis breeding in some ways. I’m of the opinion that this cross manages to wed the two varieties into something new and different. It doesn’t even necessarily exhibit the best of both parents, but does seem to pass on or otherwise combine their traits in ways that don’t really show up in the parents themselves. The aroma is vaguely reminiscient of both parents while also being unique enough to be something of its own, and the same could be said for effect and flavor as well. Overall, I love virtually everything about this plant, but I do wish that the effect was more pronounced and longer-lived. Perhaps a valuable piece of the puzzle for a future breeding project, and certainly an indicator that these are worth looking through further.