I have toyed with the idea of smoking straight perique for a while. Initially I thought I’d go the rum-soaked route, but I decided to just smoke it straight from the tin for the first time to develop the palate.
I’ll preface this by saying that my go-to blends are all very high nicotine, bracing blends—GH ropes, SG 1792 Flake, Dark Flake, etc.
Tin Note / Preparation:
The tin note was quite powerful, but essentially what I expected. I actually thought it smelled a bit bad—too pungent, etc. I let my wife smell it and to my surprise she said, “Yum! Smells like chocolate!” It does have a sweet, raisin smell to it, but also the spicy, fermented aroma as well.
The tobacco was perhaps a tad moist, and ribbon cut, but it smoked just fine.
Smoke:
This was actually a quite pleasant smoke. Perique isn’t nearly as dominant to me as latakia, so the perique did not seem like a ridiculous thing to smoke straight. (I think straight latakia, on the other hand, probably would seem a bit ridiculous.) It was certainly peppery, but also had some sweetness to it. I expected it to be far more over-the-top than it was (too much reading online reviews with superlative adjectives), but this was a spicy smoke that, though unique, was quite enjoyable. It was a bit like you’d expect: like a Va/Per with the Perique really amped up and the Virginia… gone.
Though it was one-dimensional, and not quite the type of thing you’d probably want to smoke all the time, it is quite nice, and very well may become a somewhat common smoke for me.
Nicotine Level:
This is interesting, because you’d think leaf that had so much done to it would be low in nicotine, but I did detect a punch to this. I’m not sure it was quite on the level of the ropes or Dark Flake I’ve grown fond of, but it was close—certainly quite strong.
Summary:
I’m glad I tried this, and I may go the rum-soaked route next time. For anyone who likes perique, I’d certainly suggest grabbing a tin and giving it a go sometime. It was a bit of a novelty smoke, but not so crazy as you might think. Who knows?—you might like it.
I’ll preface this by saying that my go-to blends are all very high nicotine, bracing blends—GH ropes, SG 1792 Flake, Dark Flake, etc.
Tin Note / Preparation:
The tin note was quite powerful, but essentially what I expected. I actually thought it smelled a bit bad—too pungent, etc. I let my wife smell it and to my surprise she said, “Yum! Smells like chocolate!” It does have a sweet, raisin smell to it, but also the spicy, fermented aroma as well.
The tobacco was perhaps a tad moist, and ribbon cut, but it smoked just fine.
Smoke:
This was actually a quite pleasant smoke. Perique isn’t nearly as dominant to me as latakia, so the perique did not seem like a ridiculous thing to smoke straight. (I think straight latakia, on the other hand, probably would seem a bit ridiculous.) It was certainly peppery, but also had some sweetness to it. I expected it to be far more over-the-top than it was (too much reading online reviews with superlative adjectives), but this was a spicy smoke that, though unique, was quite enjoyable. It was a bit like you’d expect: like a Va/Per with the Perique really amped up and the Virginia… gone.
Though it was one-dimensional, and not quite the type of thing you’d probably want to smoke all the time, it is quite nice, and very well may become a somewhat common smoke for me.
Nicotine Level:
This is interesting, because you’d think leaf that had so much done to it would be low in nicotine, but I did detect a punch to this. I’m not sure it was quite on the level of the ropes or Dark Flake I’ve grown fond of, but it was close—certainly quite strong.
Summary:
I’m glad I tried this, and I may go the rum-soaked route next time. For anyone who likes perique, I’d certainly suggest grabbing a tin and giving it a go sometime. It was a bit of a novelty smoke, but not so crazy as you might think. Who knows?—you might like it.