I ended up talking with a wholesaler from Vancouver yesterday. He actually found this thread and called me up about it. At first I couldn't figure out how he got my phone number
but my profile has my business website in it. In any case we had an interesting conversation about who buys what from where, and the different ways the LR actually ends up in Canada. He explained that you can get LR in at any time as long as you are willing to pay for it, but that would price the LR out of the market. So, to keep the product affordable sometimes shipments get bumped. Oh, and he sells ONLY to retailers NEVER to individuals directly.
He told me of a few places that buy his rock but I'm not sure if I can disclose it, I'll ask him today. Now when I think of "Ultra Premium" rock
this is what I have in mind. Here's a thumbnail:
Light, porous, nice shape, and covered with all sorts of interesting things. I might be a newbie, but anyone can put two different rocks besides each other and do a comparison. And yes I know it's all just a matter of opinion depending on what you want your LR for.