“Best” is subjective, but there must always be a champion. That applies to most things in life, and cannabis is no different. Year after year, strain after strain, we smoke our way through some of the best weedy weed on the planet, and here at the end of 2019, a queen has risen to the top.

Last year it was Gelato, confirmed by data, impact, and overall experience. This year?

Leafly’s 2019 strain of the year is Wedding Cake.

In a year where Purple Punch powered through search rankings and GMO Cookies’ loud aroma made all kinds of noise, Wedding Cake, with its proliferation throughout the world, cultural influence, and overall impact on the cannabis world, ultimately reigned supreme.

What is Wedding Cake?

Wedding Cake (sometimes known as Pink Cookies), looks, tastes, and feels just as good as when you click “RSVP No” to an actual wedding. Come on now, don’t give me that face. You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

It is widely believed that Wedding Cake is a cross between Cherry Pie and GSC, but the breeder, Seed Junky J Beezy of Seed Junky Genetics, lists it as a phenotype of Triangle Mints via Instagram. We reached out to him for discussion about the discrepancy, but weren’t able to connect. Still, we’re choosing to ride with the creator on this one.

Aesthetically, most Wedding Cake flowers will be c-c-c-coated in trichomes that are stacked on top of dark green buds with purple accents, thoroughly flushed by orange hairs. Buds are thick and dense, busting into a perfect pile of green goodness when run through a fresh grinder.

WRITER’S NOTE: “Fresh grinder” is a reminder to run some salt and alcohol over your grinder every now and then. You’ll collect more kief and get more volume out of your flower.

Chemically, Wedding Cake is a THC-dominant cannabis cultivar. On average, levels hit around 21%, sometimes even higher—she’s a potent daughter-of-a-gun. Terpene-wise, she’s usually dominant in limonene, caryophyllene, and myrcene, showing how influential GSC genetics can be.

When you sniff a freshly harvested batch of Wedding Cake, your nasals will take in a range of aromas from a vanilla doughiness to a sweet earthiness to even a peppery aftertaste. The smoke flavor can be just as variable.

You may have read that Wedding Cake tastes exactly like that lovely white cake we all know and love, but truthfully the flavors are a little difficult to pinpoint on a 1:1 basis. Some phenotypes of this strain produce a thick smoke that tastes like an earthy plant, while others have a sweeter flavor that makes the smoke taste like vanilla icing.

It is important to note that with how far and wide Wedding Cake seeds and clones have spread amongst growers all over the world, many phenotypes of this strain exist and experiences will vary between them.

Why is it special?

There’s a reason Wedding Cake grew by 100% in year-over-year search interest since the top of 2019: the experience.

As you know, cannabis strains affect us all differently so reported experiences can vary. Personally speaking, this strain usually leaves me feeling Superman high and extremely relaxed. Not necessarily sleepy, but definitely heavy-eyed enough to kill productivity.

For most Leafly reviewers, the experience appears to be the same: rating multiple effects, 61% reported feeling relaxed, 53% said they felt happy, and 43% said they felt euphoric. A nice walk or a nice conversation go great with how this strain will make you feel.

Culturally, it’s all over the place. At this point every cannabis circle is familiar with this cultivar. Its high-quality nature and staunch reputation have won Wedding Cake a lot of hardware. These awards include: 1st place and 2nd place for Indica Flower in the SoCal High Times Cannabis Cup and the Seattle Cannabis Cup, a.k.a. DOPELAND, respectively, and 2nd place for Vape Pen and Cart in the Oklahoma Cannabis Cup.

Currently, Wedding Cake is available on thousands of menus across legal markets—seriously, between flower, dabs, and cartridges, Wedding Cake is available on over 10,000 store menus. The level of interest in this strain has led some to create many other strains that we love: Ice Cream Cake, Jungle Cake, and Wedding Crasher are just a few of them.

When we look back on the cannabis game in 50 years to decide which strains are on the next generation’s Mount Rushmore, don’t be surprised to see Wedding Cake shining bright in a fresh white trichome-covered coat.

Leafly's Faves of 2019

Dante Jordan Dante Jordan is a former Leafly Associate Subject Matter Expert and current freelance cannabis writer living in Seattle, WA. He specializes in content about cannabis strains, culture, and education. Reach him at dantenetworks@gmail.com or on Instagram: @dante_jordan. View Dante Jordan's articles