Macaron from Balanced via @showgrow.official on 9/17/2020 (shoutout to Travis at Show Grow for the swoop). THC tested out to 27.63%. I was lucky to get this for a little under $50 but going price for Balanced jars at Catalyst is $57 out the door. Having only seen Balanced pop up on @theblacklistxyz now and then, when I saw their herb was hitting recreational shops in SoCal, I made it a point to get my hands on some. The surface of these banana shaped buds are a mix of pear and office greens coupled with deep rich indigos, intermittent pops of sunset orange pistils, and is absolutely inundated with a flood of well preserved brilliant yellow triches that give the buds a jaundiced dusty glow.

The nose out of the jar is a very muted grungy fruit scent that’s similar to gelato, but paired with this air of vanilla and a chalky freshness, all wrapped up in an overall musty sugar sweetness. Busting open a bud that fruity sweetness amps up but also brings with it a warmed sugary baked good sweetness. Grinding it down by hand my fingers are coated in a trich grime that smells of equal parts fruity sweet and must, while that warm baked good sweetness takes center stage on the grinds themselves, pushing the formerly dominant fruity sweetness to the background. It has a smell similar to a thumbprint cookie but one made with fresh berry chutney as opposed to a preserve. It should be noted that I came across two seeds in this batch. Not a huge deal to me personally, and a come up for some without a doubt, but worth mentioning nonetheless. The dry pull on the joint had a muted deep sweetness that came across like a vague pancake syrup with a bit of herbaceous fruity must underneath. The inhale is smooth, and has a toasted sugar quality off the bong, whereas the joint is a mix of sugar sweet and fresh with a floral lilt. The exhale is a soft sweet cream with a winterfresh edge off the bong, where the joint is more of a caramelized sugar, underlined by slightly fresh and sour herbaceous must. Cross checking the flavors on my MV1 from @ghostvapesofficial , at 170c I get a minty pine freshness with a sweet floral backside, whereas at 185c it’s a very light caramel with a fresh floral underpinning. The headchange comes on quickly and puts some pressure behind your eyes while making your head feel lighter and like it’s losing contact with your shoulders ever so slightly. There’s also a feel good aspect to it that had me busting up with rosy cheeked laughter at things I’d probably just crack a smile at typically. Over time, that joyful energy fades slightly as a haze settles in across the eyes and a weight makes it’s way into the body, which doesn’t leave you couch locked exactly but you’re not going to want to run any marathons either. All said and done, I enjoyed my time with Macaron as it’s a solid smoke for a chill Sunday afternoon, but at $57 out the door there’s a lot of great herb to choose from so I might lean towards something else depending on what’s available. Great job on this one Balanced, even though there were a couple stowaways, it was still an enjoyable experience and has my curiosity piqued as to the rest of your offerings.