FKAFL is Maven Genetics' The Soap × L.A. Rouge hybrid, released in 2022 as French Laundry and renamed in 2023. The initials stand for "Formerly Known as French Laundry." The profile is savory and strange in the best way — citrus and diesel into rosemary, red fruit, cheese and lavender — and unlike most brand releases, it has a real competition record behind it.
Where It Comes From
Maven launched the cultivar as French Laundry in 2022. In 2023 the restaurant of the same name sent a cease-and-desist, and Maven rebranded to FKAFL, using the acronym to keep continuity with everything already written about it. Older French Laundry packaging and newer FKAFL packaging refer to the same branded strain — the genetics and the flower did not change, only the label.
Two disambiguations are worth carrying. "Formerly" is the correct expansion; the occasional rendering "formally known" changes the meaning entirely.
And a separate, unrelated strain also called French Laundry runs Platinum Cookies × Granddaddy Purple. Strain names are not regulated, so collisions like this are normal, and neither version inherits the other's record.
The Cross
Maven Genetics bred and cultivates it, and lists the cross as The Soap × L.A. Rouge. The Soap contributes the sharp floral-clean, minty, spiced, fuel-driven side that gives the strain its signature detergent-adjacent top note. L.A. Rouge is Maven's proprietary line and brings color, fruit and savory depth; because it is in-house, its own parentage is not published, and inventing one would be guesswork.
The finished cross opens on sweet citrus and diesel. As the flower breathes, rosemary, red fruit, cheese and earthy pine build a savory middle — the reason Maven reaches for a wine-and-cheese or charcuterie comparison instead of a dessert one. Soapy astringency and rich soil sit under all of it, with a hint of sweetness at the edges.
On the draw it runs citrus, herbs, cheese and gas into a lavender-heavy exhale. Batches vary: some push sweet fruit and flowers, others lean harder into funk and diesel.
Flower is multicolored and plume-like — green, violet and orange under dense white trichomes, with long pistils and a loose, dramatic structure rather than a tight OG ball. Spade-shaped buds in deep purple and hunter green are common, and expression differs by grower.
Maven characterizes the experience as euphoric, indulgent, serene and balanced, easing the mind without full couch lock and workable in daytime. Dose, tolerance, format, batch chemistry, setting and physiology all move it.
What It Left Behind
This is where FKAFL separates from most brand releases. The cultivar took first place at the 2023 Farmers Cup, placed fourth for indoor flower at the 2023 Emerald Cup Awards, and won Best Looking and Most Unique Bud at the 2023 California Zalympix in Los Angeles.
Every one of those is a named competition with a category and a year attached — a standard that "award-winning" printed on a jar never has to meet.
The High Rise Take
Maven's renamed French Laundry: The Soap × L.A. Rouge, citrus and diesel into rosemary, cheese and lavender, with a 2023 competition record to back it. For another cultivar from the same house, try Silver Iris OG.