Leafly Strain of the Year
An annual award from Leafly, the strain database, that names one cannabis strain each year, from Gelato in 2018 to Hash Burger for 2025.
- 55results on record
- 2018–2026years in our data
- 9editions
- 55matched to strains
01Beginnings
Leafly Strain of the Year is an annual award from Leafly, the cannabis strain database. It is an award, not a festival cup. Leafly's winners list puts Gelato first, as the 2018 winner1. The sources used here do not document a founding announcement, a founding team or a stated reason for starting the award, so the best view of its beginnings is Leafly's own account of how it works.
Leafly says it modeled the award on entertainment honors such as the Oscars, Tonys and Grammys2. Nominees come from trends over time, including year-over-year changes in a strain's menu presence, search interest and orders2. Leafly also says advertisers cannot influence the pick2. The sources do not say when that policy began.
02The Story So Far
Leafly's winners list covers the award year by year. Wedding Cake won in 2019, and Leafly says the title lifted it to legendary standing. Runtz followed in 2020, Dosidos took the crown in 2021, and Jealousy won in 20221. Permanent Marker was the 2023 winner, and Super Boof, which the list says rose very quickly, won in 20241. According to Leafly's methodology page, Permanent Marker was passed over for 2024 because it had already won in 20232. That suggests winners do not repeat, but the sources do not state a formal rule.
Leafly also reports on what winners did afterward. It says Jealousy grew from 1,313 stores in October 2022 to 2,553 in October 2023, more than doubling its store presence2. Super Boof, the 2024 winner, moved into Leafly's top 10 strains after its win2. These figures come from Leafly itself, and the sources do not describe any independent check.
The most recent round has the most documentation. Leafly's tag archive shows that the nominees for the 2025 award were announced on January 27, 2026: five strains from five breeders3. Leafly announced Hash Burger as the winner on March 4, 20263. GreenState names the other nominees as Gush Mints, Dulce de Uva, Sour Diesel and Blue Lobster4. The award year and the announcement year are different: the 2025 award was announced in 2026.
03Culture and Community
GreenState describes Hash Burger, the 2025 winner, as a cross of Han Solo Hash Plant and Double Burger, and credits Respect and Mrs. Respect as its breeders4. GreenState also says the strain came out of a partnership with Skunk House Genetics that no longer exists4, and that several Reddit threads discuss it4.
A winner's influence can also show up in breeding. Leafly says Super Boof crosses became more common in 20252. The award exists alongside other contests rather than replacing them. Leafly says Jealousy or its hybrids won at least four awards at cannabis competitions in 20232, and that budtenders across the country strongly favored Permanent Marker2. Those are separate honors from Strain of the Year, and the sources do not explain how they relate to its picks.
04Where It Stands Now
Leafly says that as of January 2026, Super Boof was the ninth most available strain in the country2. For the newest winner, a GreenState article dated March 6, 2026 says Hash Burger drew about 9,000 page views a month on Leafly4. Leafly's winners list says the award is in its 8th year, with Hash Burger as the 2025 pick1. The tag archive dates that announcement to March 4, 20263.
05What Comes Next
The sources contain no announced plans or dates for a 2026 award. The only forward-looking comment comes from GreenState on March 6, 2026, and it is about the winner, not the award: the outlet expects interest in Hash Burger to keep going for some time4. That is a media opinion, not a forecast from Leafly. Future nominees, timing and any changes to the process are not documented.
The results, in our data
CannaLib holds 55 results from this cup across 9 years (2018 to 2026), 55 of them matched to a strain in the catalogue.
Recent first-place strains
| Year | Strain | Category | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hash Burger | Leafly Strain of the Year | California Seed Bank |
| 2024 | Super Boof | Leafly Strain of the Year | Blockhead |
| 2023 | Permanent Marker | Leafly Strain of the Year |  Seed Junky Genetics |
| 2022 | Jealousy | Leafly Strain of the Year | Seed Junky Genetics |
| 2021 | Dosidos | Leafly Strain of the Year | Archive Seeds |
| 2020 | Runtz | Leafly Strain of the Year | Runtz crew of “Ray, Nick, and Yung LB” |
| 2019 | Wedding Cake | Leafly Strain of the Year | Seed Junky Genetics |
| 2018 | Gelato | Leafly Strain of the Year | Mr. Sherbinski |
Editions on record
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
Sources
- Leafly Strain of the Year Winners
- How we decide Leafly Strain of the Year | Leafly
- leafly strain of the year Archive | Leafly
- The funk-fueled weed strain Leafly just crowned 2025's best | GreenState
Written from the sources above and checked on 2026-10-29. Spot an error? Tell us on the contact page.