This Quebec-grown Apple Fritter bud is the best SQDC cannabis we've tried

I don’t care if this is a hot take or not: apples are a 10/10 fruit. Apple pie, apple crisp, apple juice, apple cider — I love them all. Apple fritters are another tasty treat I enjoy, so you can imagine my excitement when the SQDC rep at the counter suggested I give R’Belle Versailles a shot, since the strain is known as Apple Fritter. Thankfully, this bundle of purply-looking buds delivers the goods.

Grown by IsoCanMed in the small town of Louiseville (not too far from Trois-Rivières), this is a hybrid that smells good, tastes good and leaves you with quite the relaxing head high. How did my journey with this strain named after a Parisian suburb go? Let’s find out.

R’Belle Versailles

Could this be my favourite strain I’ve tried for this column yet? As I mentioned earlier, it’s mostly a head high that can sometimes make you feel a bit of pressure in your noggin, but it’s not so intense that it makes the high unenjoyable. Regardless, at just over 21% THC, this makes for quite a fun ride. The name “apple fritter” is also incredibly fitting, because honestly, the buds look AND smell kinda like a dessert. Better yet, it’s under $30 — excellent bang for your buck. The buds are somewhat dry but also a bit difficult to tear apart, like if you were trying to dismantle a piece of cotton candy that had hardened over time. Maybe that’s a weird analogy, but fuck it — it’s worth the trouble.

Best of all, it’s a solid strain for watching TV or listening to music. So, I smoked it while kinda doing both, by watching videos uploaded to YouTube of the recent Glastonbury festival. With Osheaga only a few weeks away now, I decided to give myself serious FOMO with clips of different artists performing at the British granddad of music festivals. First off, those crowds are disgustingly huge. They look like they go on for miles and miles, which trips me out given the pandemic isn’t over. So help me sweet lord baby Jesus a new COVID variant emerges because of this. Secondly, I really can’t tell if all those massive flags in the crowd improves or hinders the experience. Those are even trippier, honestly.

Anyhow, the performances still looked amazing and I wish I could go there in less pandemic-y times. Little Simz is an absolute boss, and she and Cleo Sol performing “Woman” together makes for pure, unadulterated vibes from start to finish. Kendrick Lamar is a generational visionary — and, as his chant at the end of “Saviour” tells us, a champion of women’s rights. It’s a welcome reference to the horrifying overturning of Roe v. Wade in America, even if it ultimately adds very little to the movement against that outcome.

Jack White basically turns the Glasto faithful into a sea full of footy fans while they chant the “Seven Nation Army” riff back to him. And Fontaines D.C. continue to show why they’re one of the best bands in the world right now, whether with guitars, bass and drums on “I Love You” or a whole string section for a piano-driven ballad version of “Big Shot.” Oh, and fellow post-rockers Squid have a singing, screaming drummer. ‘Nuff said.

All in all, it’s a comfortable high, but definitely not a weak one when it’s at its strongest. In fact, it takes me smoking half a pinner to feel well and truly buzzed from it. This means it’s either a potent bunch of flowers or my tolerance isn’t as strong as I thought. Possibly both. Whatever, I’d definitely still buy it again. 9/10

This article originally appeared in the July 2022 issue of Cult MTL.

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