How a Skunk #1 selection, underground growers, the Exodus collective and a Cannabis Cup victory turned Cheese into one of Britain's most recognizable cannabis strains.
So, Where Did UK Cheese Come From?
The story begins in Britain during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
According to Wing Commander Blue (WCB), a friend of a friend brought Sensi Seed Bank Skunk #1 seeds from Amsterdam.
Of 4 female plants, 3 were disappointing. The remaining plant was considered reasonably good.
WCB never publicly identified the original grower or selector.
The keeper was cloned and initially shared among a small circle of approximately 3 or 4 growers.
How Did It Become Cheese?
WCB later acquired the Skunk cutting alongside Northern Lights and Silver Pearl.
While other growers preferred the latter 2 varieties, WCB continued preserving and cloning Skunk.
According to his account, after 7 or 8 years, the plant became noticeably louder, stronger and more pungent.
He eventually named it Cheese, comparing its distinctive aroma to concentrated blue-cheese flavoring produced at a food-essence factory.
The name would become inseparable from British cannabis culture.
The Clone Reaches Luton
For years, Cheese circulated among relatively few growers.
One important connection was Of the Hill, later identified in online discussions as Cheese Farmer (C.F.).
According to the account, Of the Hill requested 21 cuttings for an Exodus-associated grow in Luton.
C.F. described Of the Hill as a private nickname.
He reportedly gave an early cutting to C++l at a Woodside gathering before taking additional plants to HAZ Manor, where growers including Captain, Smurf and THD were involved.
Those connections placed Cheese within a much larger underground community.
Exodus Turns a Clone Into a Movement
The Exodus collective was part of Luton's alternative music, housing and community activism scene.
Its network included growers, squatters, ravers and sound-system culture.
THD helped establish cultivation at HAZ Manor, while other members and associates distributed Cheese through personal connections.
According to the accounts, cuttings were often gifted rather than sold.
This reflected a wider community ethos built around mutual assistance and resistance to economic exclusion.
As the cutting traveled between trusted growers, Cheese spread beyond its original circle.
When Cheese Reached Amsterdam
By approximately 2002–2003, Cheese had reached Homegrown Fantasy in the Netherlands.
The strain reportedly placed 3rd in the 2004 High Times People's Cup.
The precise person responsible for transporting the clone remains disputed.
That uncertainty matters because the plant's movement between underground growers was rarely accompanied by formal records.
The Brightside Connection
By 2004, a grower known as Brightside was holding a Cheese clone associated with HAZ Manor.
He offered cuttings through ICMag, creating a more traceable line of distribution.
Many growers later regarded Brightside's material as an authentic representation of the original Exodus Cheese.
Another project, #39 Back to the Cheese, represented a separate backcross rather than the original clone.
Claims about the authenticity of modern Cheese cuts remain difficult to prove without a documented preservation history.
How Did Big Buddha Get the Cut?
Another important connection involved Milo Yung, known as Big Buddha.
While distributing Red Eye Express, Milo encountered Cheese grown by editor Nick "Zorro" Craston.
According to the account, Nick's material originally came from Of the Hill.
Milo received 3 Cheese cuttings.
He subsequently brought Cheese into the Cannabis Cup scene and developed a seed line using an Afghan backcross, allowing the cultivar to enter a breeder category.
The distinction is important.
The original Cheese was a preserved Skunk #1 selection. Big Buddha Cheese became a separate seed-breeding project.
2006: The Cheese Epidemic
In 2006, Big Buddha Cheese won the High Times Cannabis Cup's Indica category.
The victory helped introduce Cheese to a much larger international market.
Seed production allowed growers who did not have access to the original clone to work with Cheese-related genetics.
The resulting popularity helped create what Milo called a Cheese Epidemic.
An underground British cutting had become the foundation of an international cannabis family.
Legacy
Cheese became one of Britain's defining cannabis names, comparable in cultural importance to OG Kush on the West Coast and Sour Diesel on the East Coast.
Its history also demonstrates how different people can contribute to one strain without performing the same role.
The unnamed original grower selected the Skunk plant.
Wing Commander Blue preserved and named it. Cheese Farmer helped carry it into Luton.
Exodus, HAZ Manor, THD and Brightside helped spread the cutting.
Nick Craston connected it with Big Buddha, whose breeding and Cannabis Cup success introduced Cheese to a broader international audience.
The original clone's exact modern identity remains debated.
But its influence is unmistakable.
One unusual Skunk #1 selection became the smell of an era in British cannabis.
Sources:
Wing Commander Blue, historical account reproduced in the ICMag discussion The Exodus Collective: History of UK Cheese, referencing Weed World, issue 65. Primary grower testimony about the Skunk selection and Cheese naming.
ICMag, The Exodus Collective: History of UK Cheese. Historical forum discussion covering preservation, distribution and disputed clone identities.
UK Cheese strain history, Prime Cuts Nursery. Secondary overview of the original Skunk selection and Exodus connection.
2006 High Times Cannabis Cup results, historical winners record. Supports the Big Buddha Cheese Indica victory.
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