1. Summary
Jack Herer is a Sensi Seeds hybrid named in homage to the hemp activist and author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes. It was the overall winner of the 1994 (7th) High Times Cannabis Cup for Sensi Seed Bank.12 Sensi's own page gives no parents. It describes the strain as 50/50, with four phenotypes and 10–12 weeks of flowering, and says founder Ben Dronkers considers it his all-time favourite.1 Two parentage versions circulate. Most databases give Haze × Northern Lights #5 × Shiva Skunk.34 A Leafly reviewer says Sensi stated (NL #5 × Haze A) × (Skunk #1 × Haze C), that Nevil confirmed it, and that the Shiva Skunk version is a myth.5 Both are disputed: Sensi has not published the recipe.64 Lab data fit the Haze ancestry, though they cannot settle the pedigree: Smith 2022 samples are terpinolene-dominant in 53 of 113.
2. Identity
- Aliases: Jack, JH; WA label "Jack Herer KC's cut" (159 tests).
- Type: Sensi says 50% sativa / 50% indica;1 Leafly classes it as sativa.7
- Breeder: Sensi Seeds (Netherlands), early to mid 1990s.14
- Propagation: seed (regular and feminized) plus clones.
3. Genetics & lineage claims
3a. Haze × NL #5 × Shiva Skunk — disputed346
A "Shiva" entry already appeared in the 1989 Cup, so the line existed before Jack Herer.8
3b. (NL #5 × Haze A) × (Skunk #1 × Haze C) — disputed5
This would make Jack Herer a sibling-line of Neville's Haze material, through the same Haze A/C males (see nevilles-haze).
4. Timeline
- pre-1994 — Bred at Sensi from Seed Bank stock (bought 1991).4
- 1994 — Overall Cannabis Cup winner.2
- Later — Officially recognised as a medicinal strain in the Netherlands (Sensi); Bedrocan reportedly chose it as its first herbal product (Cannigma, not checked with Bedrocan).14
- 2014–2017 — 810 WA flower tests, one of the top sativa labels.
5. Notable cuts / phenotypes / remakes
Sensi describes four phenotypes, three sativa-leaning; indica-leaning ones finish in about 8 weeks.14 US cuts include "KC's cut" (WA). Offspring include Critical Jack, Cracker Jack, Jack's Cleaner and Jack the Ripper.4
6. Historical descriptions by era
2010s–2020s. Focused, energetic and creative; blissful and clear-headed; pine, woody and earthy flavour. Anxiety at high doses.7
7. Cannabinoid & terpene profile
| Label | Measure | n | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smith 2022 | THC mean 17.5% (median 17.3; 5.5–28.0) | 264 | Smith 2022 data |
| Smith 2022 terpenes | terpinolene 0.44, myrcene 0.30, caryophyllene 0.25, ocimene 0.10; dominant terpinolene 53/113, myrcene 23, caryophyllene 11 | 113 | Smith 2022 data |
| WA I-502 | THC mean 19.2% (median 19.4) | 810 | WA I-502 |
| Cannigma aggregate | THC 18%, terpinolene 0.5%, caryophyllene 0.3% | not stated | 4 |
Strain names are not reliable chemotype identifiers. That said, the terpinolene dominance here is unusually consistent for a retail label.
8. Community sentiment
Leafly shows 4.4/5 from about 5,151 ratings (search snippet; the pages returned 403).7 Reddit was not sampled.
- Focused/energetic/creative daytime high — common, positive.7
- Pine/spice/earthy — common, positive.74
- Anxiety, racing heart at high dose — occasional, negative.7
- Prestige (Cup winner, medicinal status, activist namesake) — occasional, positive.12
Paraphrases: a 2017 reviewer found it clear-headed and good for creative work; a 2018 reviewer said too much made their heart race and turned paranoid.7
Overall score: 88/100 (based on Leafly 4.4/5 over about 5,150 ratings).
Conflict with lab data. The marketed 50/50 balance sits awkwardly with lab profiles typical of Haze sativas. The terpinolene-dominant profile matches the "energetic" consumer reports.
9. Open questions
- A primary Sensi statement of parentage (Shiva Skunk or not).
- The year it was bred.
- The Bedrocan link.
- What WA's "KC's cut" is.
10. Sources
Lab: src-chem-smith2022-data, src-chem-wa-i502-jikomes2018.
Footnotes
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Sensi Seeds, "Jack Herer® Feminized". https://sensiseeds.com/en/feminized-seeds/sensi-seeds/jack-herer-feminized — seed_catalog. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
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Wikipedia, "Cannabis Cup". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_Cup — secondary_database. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Weedmaps, "Jack Herer". https://weedmaps.com/strains/jack-herer — secondary_database — unverified_url: true. ↩ ↩2
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Ben Hartman, "Jack Herer", The Cannigma, 2020-10-11. https://cannigma.com/?p=20504 — secondary_database. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10
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Leafly, "Jack Herer" (reviewer statement on Sensi lineage). https://www.leafly.ca/sativa/jack-herer — secondary_database — unverified_url: true. ↩ ↩2
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Verilife, "Jack Herer strain". https://www.verilife.com/learn/jack-herer-strain — secondary_database — unverified_url: true. ↩ ↩2
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Leafly, "Jack Herer" strain page and reviews. https://www.leafly.ca/strains/jack-herer — secondary_database — unverified_url: true (snippets). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
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Ed Rosenthal, "The 1989 Cannabis Cup Awards", High Times No. 169. https://archive.org/download/high-times-magazine-1980s_202401/169%20High%20Times%20September%201989_djvu.txt — news. ↩