London Donovan

Listed as a disposable pen, this London Donovan vape is offered in ten strains, among them Sour Tangie, Cherry Pie, Grand Daddy Purple and Sunset Sherb.

A brand that grows its own

London Donovan says it starts from its own original genetics and does everything in-house with its own team: growing, harvesting, extracting and packaging. It describes its products as small-batch and says the oil in its vapes comes from plants it grows in its own facilities, seed to oil. A sister company, The Bag Of, sells the edibles and hash and has its own page on the brand’s site.

Distillate with strain terpenes

The brand’s vape range comes as 1 g cartridges and 3 g tanks filled with refined THC distillate, under a section heading that reads 95% THC, and its site lists 16 strains in that range. Distillate is refined cannabis oil, the kind common in vape cartridges and edibles. London Donovan describes each terpene profile as true to its strain and names three main terpenes for every one: Sour Tangie gets myrcene, caryophyllene and limonene; Cherry Pie gets myrcene, caryophyllene and pinene; Grand Daddy Purple gets myrcene, pinene and caryophyllene.

Button, LED and preheat on the 3 g tanks

London Donovan’s instructions say its 3 g tanks have their own button and LED. Five quick presses switch the lock on or off, two quick presses start a preheat of about 10 seconds, and one short press shows the battery level for about 2 seconds. A long press cycles through three power levels, shown by green, blue or red blinks, and some models also carry a labelled on/off slide switch. Charging uses a connected charger: the LED breathes while the tank charges and turns off when it is full.

Its 1 g cartridges, by contrast, have a 510 thread and need a separate 510-thread battery, according to the brand. Our Yocan UNI Pro guide covers one battery of that kind, and our guide to disposable vape pens goes over choosing, using and recycling them.

Health Canada’s first-puff advice

One or two puffs of a product at 10% THC or less is where Health Canada‘s lower-risk advice starts anyone smoking or vaping, a long way below the 95% heading on London Donovan’s vape range. By the agency’s account, inhaled effects come on within seconds to minutes, though the peak may take up to 30 minutes. Driving waits at least 6 hours after use under its lower-risk guidelines.