INDY Week named Sherlocks Glass & Dispensary the Best CBD Shop in Durham County in their 2026 Best of the Triangle reader poll. The recognition comes from the readers of one of the Triangle’s most trusted independent publications, 24,000 subscribers who have relied on the INDY’s annual poll for over two decades to find the best businesses in their communities.

Runners-up were Oak City Hemp Lounge and Redhead Hemp, two legitimate Durham operations with real customer bases. Winning this ahead of them means Durham readers specifically chose Sherlocks as the standard for what a quality cannabis retail experience looks like in their city.

We want to be honest about what this award reflects and what it does not. The INDY categorizes Sherlocks under “Best CBD Shop,” a category name that reflects how hemp-derived cannabis retail is classified in a publication navigating a complicated regulatory landscape. What our Durham customers actually come in for is THCa flower, live rosin concentrates, and cannabis beverages. The CBD category is the container the INDY uses. The readers who voted know exactly what they are voting for.

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What This Recognition Means to Us

Sherlocks opened its Durham location on Broadway St after establishing the flagship on Hillsborough St in Raleigh. The Durham store brought the same sourcing standard to the Bull City market that had been building in Raleigh since 2015: living soil flower, named cultivators, and batch-specific COA documentation.

Durham is a specific place with a specific culture around quality and authenticity. The restaurant scene that gave the city its national reputation was built on the same principle that we try to apply to cannabis retail: source honestly, know your product, and treat the people you serve as adults who can handle real information. The INDY’s readership is that customer. They know the difference between a shop that carries whatever moves volume and a shop that carries what it believes in.

The Durham readers who voted for Sherlocks have been coming into Broadway St and asking specific questions about genetics, cultivation methods, the difference between living soil and conventional indoor, and what the terpene panel on a COA actually tells them. Those conversations are why we invest in the product knowledge and the sourcing standards that we do. The INDY recognition is the community acknowledging that the investment is visible.

The Recognition Stack

This is the third consecutive year that Durham-area press has specifically recognized Sherlocks.

INDY Best of the Triangle 2026: Best CBD Shop, Durham County. The reader poll that Triangle residents have relied on for over two decades. 24,000 subscribers. Sherlocks over Oak City Hemp Lounge and Redhead Hemp.

Durham Magazine Best Cannabis Dispensary: 2025 and 2026. Back-to-back wins in the publication that covers Durham’s business and culture community most directly. Two consecutive years means the recognition reflects sustained quality rather than a single standout moment.

Herb.co #1 Exotic THCa Flower Online: 2026 National Ranking. The national recognition that placed Sherlocks ahead of California and Oregon boutique operations for the quality and documentation of the living soil exotic flower program. Syndicated to Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and Globe Newswire.

Honeysuckle Magazine THCa Flower Strain of the Year: 2025. Blue Lobster, the Compound Genetics Apples and Bananas x Eye Candy cross grown in Sherlocks’ living soil program, named the top strain of the year nationally.

4.9 stars across 1,538 Google reviews. Three locations. The number that precedes every other recognition on this list.

Why Durham Specifically

The Broadway St location serves a different Durham than people outside the market sometimes expect. The Duke University corridor, the Research Triangle Park companies, the restaurant industry workers, the longtime Durham residents who have watched the city change and stayed invested in what makes it worth staying for — these are the customers who come into Broadway St and have the conversations that make the Durham location specifically worth operating.

The THCa flower program we bring to Durham is the same program that earned the Herb.co national ranking. Living soil exclusives from Seeds of Kismet, private Northern California farm drops including Toad Venom in three phenotypes, and the documentation standard that lets a customer see exactly what they are buying before they buy it. The rosin program on the Broadway St shelf is the same OR Small Batch, CO Small Batch, Marijuacracy, Rosin Tech Labs, and Jam by Emerald Sun lineup that ships nationwide. Nothing is reserved for the flagship. Durham gets the same shelf.

The INDY readers who voted for us know the Broadway St location specifically. They know the staff. They know what it feels like to walk in and have someone who actually knows the product help them find what they are looking for. That is what the vote reflects more than any product specification.

Thank You to Durham

This recognition belongs to the Durham customers who voted, the Broadway St staff who show up every day and actually know what they are talking about, and the sourcing relationships that give the staff something worth knowing.

We started as a glass art gallery in Raleigh in 2015. The Durham store opened because the demand was real and the community was ready for a cannabis retail experience that treated the product and the customer with the seriousness both deserve. The INDY vote is the community confirming that the approach landed.

Come see us at 206 Broadway St, Durham. Open daily. The full THCa flower, concentrate, and beverage lineup is in-store and available to evaluate before you buy anything.

Read the full INDY Best of the Triangle 2026 Durham County winners list

Sherlocks Glass & Dispensary: 206 Broadway St, Durham NC | 3801 Hillsborough St, Raleigh NC | 508 S White St, Wake Forest NC | Ships nationwide at sherlocksglass.com