Sep 27–28, 2025 · Edmonton, AB · CANADA · 📍 13204 Rainbow Valley Road
Reps: Brenda Black, Ken Black · Prize money: $15,000
Phantom Smoke & BBQ won Grand Champion at the Smoke in the Valley on September 27, 2025 in Edmonton, AB at 13204 Rainbow Valley Road, scoring 694.8916 in a field of 23 teams. SMELLAQUE took Reserve Grand Champion with 688.5144. Category winners: Chicken — SMELLAQUE (179.4400); Pork Ribs — No Measurements BBQ (175.4172); Pork — Q Cartel (174.8456); Brisket — SMELLAQUE (177.7144). This is the 6th of 6 editions of this contest on record; the 2018 edition was won by UNDER THE RADAR.
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
What it has taken to win here, 2014 to 2025 — this edition picked out.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 87 times in 100
Phantom Smoke & BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, SMELLAQUE, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 13-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
Phantom Smoke & BBQ won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 3rd. Consistency beat fireworks.
This was Phantom Smoke & BBQ's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 11th tracked contest.
4 of 6 tracked editions
UNDER THE RADAR has won this contest 4 times across its 6 tracked editions.
Pork Ribs places 2–3: Brisket Butts and Kreiser Barbecue tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 9–10: Fire BBQ and MOTLEY QUE tied on 167.9888 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: Phantom Smoke & BBQ edged Hawt Hawgs BBQ by 0.0116.
SMELLAQUE won Chicken, Brisket — a double.
This contest was away for 7 years — the previous tracked edition ran on 2018-09-21.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10, 2014 | Pikeville, TN | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 11 | 693.6456 | UNDER THE RADAR | SMOKE ON THIS |
| Aug 28, 2015 | Pikeville, TN | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 26 | 702.2744 | SMOKE ON THIS | ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN |
| Aug 26, 2016 | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 12 | 689.0856 | UNDER THE RADAR | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES |
| Sep 22, 2017 | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 19 | 706.2400 | UNDER THE RADAR | SMOKE ON THIS |
| Sep 21, 2018 | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 12 | 698.8456 | UNDER THE RADAR | HIGH ON THE HAWG |
| Sep 27, 2025 ← this one | Edmonton, AB | 13204 Rainbow Valley Road | 23 | 694.8916 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | SMELLAQUE |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 179.4400 | 174.8456 | 170.2972 |
| Pork Ribs | 175.4172 | 171.4400 | 167.9888 |
| Pork | 174.8456 | 170.8456 | 167.4056 |
| Brisket | 177.7144 | 172.0116 | 167.9772 |
23 entries · top 694.8916 · median 663.3256
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 2 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 3 | Q Cartel | |
| 4 | Brisket Butts | |
| 5 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 6 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 7 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 8 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 9 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 10 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 11 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 12 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 13 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 14 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 15 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 16 | Mc Que It | |
| 17 | Smokinbox | |
| 18 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 19 | Fire BBQ | |
| 20 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 21 | Grilling with Short | |
| 22 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 23 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ |
23 entries · top 179.4400 · median 170.2628
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 2 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 3 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 4 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 5 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 9 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 10 | Brisket Butts | |
| 11 | Mc Que It | |
| 12 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 13 | Q Cartel | |
| 14 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 15 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 16 | Grilling with Short | |
| 17 | Fire BBQ | |
| 18 | Smokinbox | |
| 19 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 20 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 21 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 22 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 23 | YOU NEED A BBQ |
23 entries · top 175.4172 · median 167.4516
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 2 | Brisket Butts | |
| 3 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 4 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 5 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 6 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 9 | Fire BBQ | |
| 10 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 11 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 12 | Smokinbox | |
| 13 | Q Cartel | |
| 14 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 15 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 16 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 17 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 18 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 19 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 20 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 21 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ | |
| 22 | Mc Que It | |
| 23 | Grilling with Short |
22 entries · top 174.8456 · median 166.5430
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Q Cartel | |
| 2 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 3 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 4 | Brisket Butts | |
| 5 | Mc Que It | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 9 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 10 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 11 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 12 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 13 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 14 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 15 | Smokinbox | |
| 16 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 17 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 18 | Fire BBQ | |
| 19 | Grilling with Short | |
| 20 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 21 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 22 | Homestead Smoke Shack |
22 entries · top 177.7144 · median 165.9944
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 2 | Q Cartel | |
| 3 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 4 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 5 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | Brisket Butts | |
| 9 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 10 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 11 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 12 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 13 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 14 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 15 | Grilling with Short | |
| 16 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 17 | Smokinbox | |
| 18 | Mc Que It | |
| 19 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 20 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 21 | Fire BBQ | |
| 22 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. |