Proper Z selected by ProperDoinks/ProperReserve via Imperial Club, acquired on 1/28/2024. No Testing info available as it’s from the traditional market. This was listed on Imperial Club’s Menu at $55 an eighth but they were generous enough to gift me a quarter. Over the past couple years I’ve seen Proper Doinks’ project get some serious traction as a trusted voice amongst their audience as to “what’s smoking”. When I noticed they started to drop batches of flower under the Proper Reserve moniker, I became extremely intrigued. With the Proper name being associated with high quality herb (so much so they gave an award out of their own at the last Zalympix), I figured anything they are curating and attempting to showcase, and are even willing to put their branding on, must be the best of the best. So when I saw this batch of Proper Z pop up on Imperial Clubs menu, I reached out immediately to get my hands on as fresh a drop as possible. I really appreciate Imperial Club coming through on that and helping me satisfy this Proper curiosity itch. 

These buds have that classic shrub-like Zkittlez look. The surface is mostly a combo of lime and forest greens with very subtle hints of auburgene dotted across the nugscape. Cinnamon orange pistils wildly wind their way across the canopy, looking like party streamers exploding from within the bud, as a smattering of white and slightly yellowed triches finish things out, giving it a mildly sugar coated look. 

The nose out of the bag has developed over the past couple weeks, starting with more of a musty vibe with a very light orange fanta-like back end, to now, where that sugary sweet orange soda quality has pushed its way to the foreground, and is one of the first things I notice on a quick whiff. Breaking open a bud, that orange soda tone is present, but pushed aside by a note of light freshness reminiscent of Vicks Vaporub. Busting it down by hand proved difficult and left my fingers smelling of Vicks and sugar sweetness, but after putting my Santa Cruz Shredder to work, the grinds came out smelling of a semi-faint gassiness coupled with a warm yet still subtle orange fanta underpinning. 

The dry pull on the J comes through with a meek sweet orange and a touch of must. The inhale on the joint has an incredibly faint zest of orange (described in my notes as “ghost of zest”) while the bong comes through with a muted flash of gassiness that’s nearly undetectable. On exhale, the joint comes off as mostly musty with an acidic orange back end, but as you work through the joint, that mustiness morphs into a more fresh vibe that rounds out with a minor sting. Eventually the orange started to come through, but at a point where my pallet had already been fairly bombarded with must, so the end result was something I couldn’t really put my finger on, and could only describe in my notes as “chewing an old well worn orange flavored leather wallet”. It was a mix of orange and “grandma’s funky wooden spice cabinet” that I still don’t feel like I’ve adequately described. In the moment I was thoroughly furrowing my brow, smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, trying my best to wrap my arms around the sensation fully, but not being quite able. 

The headchange comes on quickly, and while it has a decent smack, it doesn’t feel like it puts a drag on my cognitive abilities at all. Mentally I feel fully alert, ready to tackle any task, and have zero fear of being spacy or bumbling through something. I’d say it’s surprisingly functional in that regard. Physically, there’s an ease to my movements, a touch of pressure behind the eyes, and a feel of general overall calm. It’s a very serviceable middle of the road type buzz and that experience was consistent over the course of the week, smoking at different times of day, via various methods. It has a pretty impressive duration but at the same time, about 30 minutes after smoking, I’d find myself in a state where I’d like to smoke more, but also found myself asking if I really needed to (the answer is always yes though). 

After sitting with it for a bit, I found this batch of Z to be adequate, but there’s nothing about it in particular that makes it stand out from any other decent batch of Zkittlez. It’s not something I’d personally go far out of my way to pick up, but if it were on the menu at a slightly lower ticket, depending on what else was on offer, I might pick it up again. To answer the question #buthowdoesitsmoke ? I’d say it smokes alright, not bad, not great. I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple recent experiences with excellent batches of Z, and with that in mind and the Proper name being attached to this batch in particular, I may have set expectations a little too high, but I found it be not much more than an acceptable level of work at the going rate. If you’ve tried this batch, or any other, let me know what y’all think. Definitely curious as to the experiences others have had on this.