PipesMagazine.com was the exclusive media to see the advanced unveiling of the new Decade Series Perique Tobacco before it was announced to anyone else - a day in advance of the actual media event. On Saturday March 20, 2010 L.A. Poche Perique Tobacco celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Curtis Hymel, their Operations Manager’s service to the company. All the tobacco press was invited. However, a day earlier, on March 19, PipesMagazine.com owner, Kevin Godbee got an advanced tour of the factory and a preview of the announcement to come the next day.

Cornell & Diehl’s Kajun Kake is aptly named. It has Perique Tobacco, hence "Kajun" and it is a crumble cake cut, therefore, "Kake". We have another reason for the word "Kake", as it is a mildly sweet blend with its’ main component being Red Virginia Cavendish. When you open the tin you see a solid, slightly rectangular block that actually looks like a piece of cake or a brownie. It looks delicious, but keep this one out of reach of small children as they make take a bite out of it! It looks that good. The tin aroma smells like cake too - like a mild rum cake. That must be the Cavendish and maybe the subliminal suggestion of the cake look of the tobacco cube. It is quite interesting how this blend melds together Cavendish and Perique to form a unique taste.

Blakeney’s Best Acadian Ribbon is in a word, "Tangy". In two words, it is "Tangy & Sweet" I like it. I’m not sure why it doesn’t say so on the tin, but this tobacco blend is from McClelland. I have heard many people describing different McClelland blends as having a "ketchup" tin aroma, and a few of them even saying that it translated to the smoking taste. I have not experienced that, but if I really try hard to think of ketchup when I take a whiff of the tin, I can somewhat see where this comes from. Ketchup is tangy and sweet. So is Blakeney’s Best Acadian Ribbon. Although I do not really get ketchup from this blend, if you have picked it up in other McClelland blends, you might get it here too. If so, maybe you should try it with a burger and fries!

Perique is a unique and rare type of tobacco that comes exclusively from one small swath of land near New Orleans. It is used as a "condiment tobacco" to make nearly a hundred different brand name pipe tobacco blends from around the world. It’s existence has been in jeopardy more than once, first in the late 1990s and then in 2005. It may have become "extinct". In 2005, the L.A. Poche Perique Tobacco company was purchased by Mark Ryan, and a new era for Perique began. This tobacco has an intriguing history, and it adds a delectable nuance to many different blends. We sat down and chatted with Mr. Ryan recently so he could tell us the story of Perique tobacco.

So you’ve been thinking of trying a pipe but you’re not sure of which tobacco to try? Perhaps it’s time to stop pondering which tobacco to use and just take the plunge and buy something that the tobacco store clerk recommends.

You see the fact is that the type of tobacco that a pipe smoker uses ultimately comes down to their own personal taste and what suits them. Just about every one of us has started off with a tobacco that was recommended by someone else but I would wager that almost none of us are still smoking that brand or blend of tobacco that we first started with.