Can 1970s Maui Wowie Still Hold Its Own In 2024?

Finally, like something out of a dream, I finally got my filthy haole hands on some of the one, the only, the Maui that makes you say Wowie. 

That’s right. Today is an epic review of a true classic strain that has stood the test of time without being crossbred a thousand times, revered just as much today as it was in the 1960s when Maui Wowie first exploded onto the scene. 

Thanks to the homies at High End Market Place in Vancouver for the recommendation. I think it went something like this:

So yeah, picked up some infused pre-rolls on that trip as well, a Pineapple Tart #24 and a Purple Thai. Read reviews of those by clicking on the links in the previous sentence! 

High End’s selection seemed solid, but I don’t have much to compare it to because I buy most of my bud in Oregon. Regardless, the service was top notch, and the recommendations all turned out to be winners.

But, you’re here for an overview of “the” Maui Wowie, and godamn it, you’re going to get one. 

Also, I’ll be referring to it as Maui Wowie in this review because that’s how it is written on the jar. Some people apparently spell it Maui Waui or Mowie Wowie too. Vote at the end of this review to let us know what YOU think it should be!

Grower: Rochester Farms

This is I think the first time I’ve purchased flower in Washington State. Smoked a ton of pre-rolls and even bought some topical balm but have only been up there for short periods of time and so I just never ended up with flower. 

This time though, curious how different the scene was just across the river, I wanted to walk out with some flower. On strong recommendation, I ended up with an eighth of Maui Wowie from Rochester Farms, my first time smoking anything from them. 

I’m not sure if I’ve smoked Maui Wowie before. Definitely smoked Tropical Punch, which has a Maui Wowie parent (Maui Wowie X Goji OG), and am an openly self-professed slut for fruity strains. 

Closer to Tacoma than Vancouver, this was an exciting new adventure. Checking their website, it looks like they’ve got a crazy impressive indoor setup with a shit ton of LEDs. 

They’ve got a killer Instagram with what I consider to be straight-up flower porn. It’s seductive and sexy as fuck. Perpetual purp. They have a Purple Pineapple Express (Huckleberry Soda X Pineapple Express) that sounds downright delectable. 

So yeah, let’s open up this glass jar and see how Rochest Farms does the legendary Maui Wowie!

Appearance: Movie Prop Nugs

They ain’t huge, but they ain’t all that small. The biggest nug in the jar was probably about the size of one of those big marbles. The ‘shooter,’ I think it was called? Do marble references age me?

Whatever. They’re smaller in size, and it’s not like the eight-sized jars could hold a turd intact anyways.

What these buds lack in sheer size, they make up for in appearance. There are multiple shades of green layered throughout, adding some subtle complexity to an otherwise pretty “green” nug. 

There are thick chonky stigmas. If typical stigma diameter could be equated to hair, then these would be pubes or beard hair, maybe. They look thicker than usual. Remind me of dried-up rust-colored butterfly feelers

So yeah, if I bought these in college, not knowing what they were, and I was playing amateur weed detective with my buddies, I’d be happy with this investment. Would I take bigger ones? Sure.

Does Maui Wowie ever result in big chonkers? IDK, maybe, maybe not. I’m no cultivator; just ask my snake plant I’ve been waterboarding to death.

The good thing is it really doesn’t matter because the smell, smoke, and flavor are where the actual magic starts to happen, so what does the famous Maui Wowie smell like?

Smell: Fancy Buffet Fruit Section

Currently, I’ve got some Ice Cream Cake, Donny Burger, and Orangeade on rotation for reviewing in addition to this new Maui Wowie, so I’ve got a variety of nasal genres to compare back-to-back to, which helps provide clarity for me.

In terms of what I have, Maui Wowie is about at the opposite end of the scale compared to a GMOnster like Donny Burger. The old Orangeade would more easily be logical friends with this Maui Wowie, both with soft sweet concentrated fruit juice notes coming forward

Maui Wowie over-ripened pineapple and Sunny Delight but not pucker-level sweet, a milder sweetness kind of like papaya. There’s not a lot of chem or gas or skunk or anything, no sharp edges. More fruit with slight citrus zest as opposed to an outright citrus bomb like Sparkling Lime, for example. 

Sensation: Backyard and Beach Fun Everywhere

This is a party weed; there’s no doubt about it. This socially beneficial genre is usually well on the sativa side of the seesaw, but they are also still firmly tethered to reality with a supervisory bit of indica to keep things under control. 

To also be a good party weed, you want to be at the correct level of potency wherein you get high enough to kind of float above common social anxieties but are also still grounded enough to reply to required human interactions like common greetings and saying “hello” without frustrating whoever you’re talking to. 

Finally, a strain with a uniquely divine ratio of the over 500 distinct compounds found in cannabis besides just THC and CBD that is able to heighten your sensitivity to music also makes for a solid party strain. 

Maui Wowie tunes primarily alternated between deep progressive house like Ben Bohmer, Kasablanca, Yotto, or essentially anything Above & Beyond (see you at Weekender?!) and more cocktail hour upbeat house groves found in this utterly superbly curated “Yacht Club” playlist below:

So did harmony occur when Yacht Club played ZHU’s ‘Good Life’ while I was sitting here writing this review after getting back from a 2-hour nap by the pool in 80-degree May heat, topped off with a pin of Maui Wowie?

Yes, and it was fantastic. Absolutely glorious.

This is why I honestly feel so Blessed2Blaze because, man, when you pair the correct strain to the correct genre of music (that suits your personal predilections, of course), it’s a lovely thing. 

In terms of precise breakdown, I’ve seen different sativa/indica ratios on different sites, none of them with any proof of what they claim. If I had to ballpark, I’d say it’s closer to the 70/30 side of things because it’s not jittery or triggering for me in any way, like some more jet fuel-smelling sativas.

Pool parties, backyard BBQs, shit, late-night listening party to Toro y Moi’s MAHAL album, which is itself a stoned listening party. Yeah, if you’re into meta-shit and/or chill tunes, it’s worth investigating.

Maui Wowie had a good tail on it, the high reaching its tabletop slowly before leveling out and just kind of staying there from beginning to end. Even the end is really smooth, so you have plenty of energy to grind up another joint’s worth for an obviously necessary 2nd round.

While I wasn’t getting as much of that delicious fresh fruit flavor on the palette when smoking as I did when I just smelled it, the experience was pleasant. Pleasant enough, in fact, that I usually went through two a night compared to my long-term average of a jay a night. 

Wanting to keep smoking more of the same thing means it is a good thing, and so it’s quite obvious to me that the budtender at High End Marketplace dispensary was telling the truth when he said the whole crew had copped it. 

This is an upbeat thang that just wants to be your friend and have a good time. It’s always looking on the sunny side of things but in a mischievous sort of way vs. an annoyingly vocal religious person type of way. 

Now all that widespread popularity across all different societies for decades now is making more sense.

I had incorrectly assumed Maui Wowie’s success was entirely due to its superlative name that also happened to rhyme, and I still DO think the rad name DOES impact subconscious opinion of this weed somewhat, but not as much as I’d assumed.

Maui Wowie is a legitimately great high. Its popularity is well-earned. As Dope Viewz so succinctly put it in 2021:

This was like what’d call the Runtz now, but back in the 70s. It was some exclusive shit you couldn’t get. You’d hear mother fuckers talking about it, but you wasn’t going to get it. Now it’s like a fuckin relic.

I’m curious to know what most people think when it comes to how they spell this stuff…