Milo Yung the man behind Big Buddha Cheese passes away age 51

Farewell "Big Buddha"

Creator of the world famous Big Buddha Cheese, Milo Yung passed away in his sleep at age 51 on April 27th 2023 leaving behind a life of work celebrating the cannabis plant. 

Big Buddha entered into the cannabis world during the late 90’s and quickly found itself as part of the global cannabis seed market at the start of the 2000’s. Founded in Birmingham by Milo Yung, the seed company based its theme around the feel good and relaxed philosophy of buddhism and cannabis culture and focussed its attention on breeding different versions of the Cheese strain that was becoming popular amongst growers in the UK. Milo wanted to get these genetics out so that anyone in the world could experience the taste sensation. 

Birth of the cheesiest strain

Milo managed to secure a very pungent clone of the Cheese strain and started work on his project to bring the world the best Cheese seeds imaginable. To achieve this, Milo grew a good number of Afghani Skunk seeds and selected the best male to pollinate the infamous Cheese that he had in his flower room. Milo repeated this process crop after crop until eventually he was satisfied with the work he had finally made selecting for the cheesiest chemotype each time. This was the basis of the Big Buddha Family Farms that would go on to develop more strains that would help change the face of cannabis forever.

Cheese seeds and their resulting flowers were an instant hit! The pungent aroma was unavoidable and created fans all over the world who now suddenly had access to grow it in seed form. It’s the kind of strain that announces your arrival before you’ve shown up, and if you’ve got some, people knew exactly what it was. And thanks to this success Milo was keen to make new varieties to release into the world.

Blue cheese, the instant hit!

Another exciting creation introduced to the cannabis genetics catalogue by Big Buddha was Blue Cheese which took top place at the 19th High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam in 2006. This cross between the popular Blueberry strain that was famed for its effective anti anxiety properties combined a fruity berry flavour with the lingering cheese aroma created an instant hit that is still incredibly popular today.     

Big Buddha strains have been available in coffeeshops such as Prix d’Ami and throughout the Netherlands ever since  Milo eventually relocated to Ibiza where he focussed on breeding new strains in an environment that was more suitable in both temperature climate and the right to grow at home thanks to Spain's famous privacy laws that allow cannabis social clubs to operate.

Milo was so successful at breeding seeds and the business of cannabis that The Daily Mail once tried to expose him claiming he was responsible for as many as 500,000 cannabis grows in the UK due to the sale of his seeds which can be purchased legally as souvenirs.

More recently Milo releases Cheese crosses such as Mac & Cheese and Space Invader, a cross between Alien OG and Badazz Cheese. 

Milo Yungs legacy lives on with The Original Big Buddha Family Farms seedbank and his collaborations with European and American breeders.