Backwoods and Gashouse Reach New Highs

The ever-popular cigar brand Backwoods has teamed up with GasHouse for its first ever official collaboration with a cannabis company. The Backwoods X GasHouse limited-edition “ZaZa” cigar is a classically mild and smooth, vanilla-flavored treat that doesn’t disappoint.

The Backwoods ZaZa cigars hold true to what the Backwoods brand is known and loved for: all natural genuine tobacco leaf wrappers. Although made in a machine, Backwoods found a way to still use natural wrappers for their cigars. The genuine and whole Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper lends itself to a more rustic, old-school look that people love. Special rolling machines give Backwoods Cigars their distinctive tapered shape and shaggy foot. Founded in 1973, you can find this longtime brand in nearly every convenience store and smoke shop nationwide.

For decades now, Backwoods cigars have been taken apart, filled with weed, and unofficially designated as blunt wraps. There’s certainly part of the cannabis culture that’s wrapped up with the Backwoods brand. Some of the most legendary and influential players in the industry have identified themselves with Backwoods, and years and years’ worth of the cigars have been used to roll blunts. Finally, the iconic Backwoods brand has come out of the woods to do its first collaboration with a cannabis company. The Backwoods x GasHouse collaboration is the first of its kind and highlights the growth happening within the cannabis industry, led by companies like GasHouse. At the same time, it feels like a tip of the hat to the past and the relationship that’s been long held between Backwoods and cannabis.

Testing the Merchandise

When unrolled, the broad shape of the tobacco leaf that wraps around a Backwoods is just the right shape and size for a blunt wrap. The cigars are packaged fresh and should hold a balanced amount of moisture which makes for a great smoke.

Upon opening up our 5-pack of Backwoods ZaZas, we noticed the warm and subtly sweet vanilla scent right off the bat. The pack was sealed well and felt perfect for rolling, so we began dissecting and got right to it. As we had hoped, the tobacco leaf unfurled and re-rolled with no problems and had just the right amount of moisture to it. For the fillings, we wanted to select a strain that met some criteria to give homage to this special Backwoods X GasHouse collaboration.

First, we wanted a strain that was gassy and “terpy.” Next, we needed it to be both top-shelf and exotic—afterall, “exotic” is the word that ‘ZaZa’ has become slang for. Lastly, we didn’t want to completely cancel out the more subtle notes of vanilla from the tobacco leaf. We selected two strains. The first was GastroPop, which is a cross of Apples & Bananas and Grape Gasoline. Secondly, we chose a classic earthy and “skunky” OG Kush strain. Both choices paired well, and most importantly, they smoked great.

The Backwoods X GasHouse cigars aren’t much different from any other Backwoods cigar. They’re similar to the Vanilla and the Sweet Aromatic Backwoods as far as taste goes. In terms of physical appearance and quality, we noted no differences between the Backwoods ZaZa and any other edition of the cigars.

What is absolutely special about the Backwoods X GasHouse limited-edition ‘ZaZa’ cigar is the cannabis company GasHouse and the hype around this brand. Felix Murray and Kingston joined forces to create GasHouse in 2014 and have been on a roll ever since. With Murray’s visionary brand-building skills and Kingston’s earned title of a master cannabis grower, the two have built a recognizable and sought-after brand.

GasHouse has chosen a select few dispensaries to carry its brand, among them being the Cookies chain co-founded by rapper and entrepreneur Berner. As a brand, GasHouse jumped into the recreational cannabis game and made a big splash, winning various first place cannabis competition awards and introducing top-shelf exotics developed by the legendary grower, Kingston. One of their most recognizable strains is OG Pluto, known for its pleasant aromatics and for inducing a strong, euphoric high.

GasHouse also has a presence in the hemp CBD marketplace with various smokable and ingestible hemp products that are all “Kingston approved,” as the slogan for GasHouse CBD reads. Various rappers and other celebrities have affiliated themselves with the brand, adding to the hype. This energy is also on display across the multiple GasHouse Instagram pages, which feature lively events and a culture of excitement and celebration.

Backwoods has an impressive variety of flavored cigars and has released a handful of limited-edition drops for their Collector’s Edition Program. The cigar brand seems to always be looking for new things to try, and it just feels right for them to do a partnership with a cannabis brand after being used for blunts for so long.

The Backwoods GasHouse ZaZa cigars come in a black package with GasHouse’s logo, which is a gray gas mask, printed all over it. The special edition cigars launched early last year and that first drop will be the one and only.

The limited supply that’s available makes the Backwoods X GasHouse cigars hard to find. So, if you do happen to get your hands on some before they run out, then hold onto them for a rainy day or savor the unique experience of smoking on a Backwoods that is, for the first time, openly intended to be rolled up and smoked with some “ZaZa.”