Perique Too Strong in Certain Blends

bullet08 · Mar 11, 2019

davidoff. been smoking their royalty and flake medallions. royalty was fine. i noticed perique right away, but it wasn't overpowering. but flake medallions had some serious perique presence. more i smoke, more i notice it and it's getting very annoying. and now, i'm getting to a point that royalty is doing the same thing. yes, i have other blends to move to. but both are pretty good blends when i first opened the tins. how does perique age? does it mellow out in few weeks, months? could it be something is off with me?

ashdigger · Mar 11, 2019

Perique mellows out after 4-5 years. I have some Davidoff Medallions that are 5 years old and are fantastic. Not peppery. Spicy, but a muted spice.

npod · Mar 11, 2019

Try taking a Perique break for a month. I do that sometimes with VaPers. I personally love Davidoff Flake Medallions (also any of the coins like curly block, escudo, LBF, Doblone d’ Oro). Recently, they all started tasting like cigarettes to me. Even my beloved Doblone d’ Oro tastes like cigarettes. I had to put these blends down and walk away. They will rotate back in a few weeks. It took me a few years to recognize this phenomena with my palet. I used to think it was my technique, or a wrong pipe, or need for deep cleaning. With some experience I can better recognize it as just a burn out on Perique.

onestrangeone · Mar 11, 2019

What npod said ^^^^ this is one of the reasons I keep a wide variety of blends, it’s not often that I’ll smoke the same blend back to back. The downside is that it takes a lot longer to get all the nuances from a blend.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 12, 2019

I agree with Npod. Now, I mostly smoke straight Virginias, and every now and then break out a VaPer or VaBur. The Virginias calibrate my tastes for the base leaf, so that when I do smoke a VaPer, I can really distinguish the flavors.
When I first started smoking non-aromatics, I went haywire for perique. I smoked VaPers of all percentages, even smoking straight perique (which is not as crazy as you might think). But, what it boiled down to is just taxing my taste buds.

jpmcwjr · Mar 12, 2019

You could also dilute it by mixing in some VA or other straight leaf.- or even a blend that has no perique.

mso489 · Mar 12, 2019

Perique, and Latakia, are somewhat overused as almost default condiments, so they tend to turn up in too high a proportion and in too many blends. I love 'em both, and enjoy them, but feel that the many other condiment options are under-used. Try mixing in another single leaf or simple blend (duly considered) and see if that can tone down the over-exuberent use of Perique.

ophiuchus · Mar 12, 2019

Try taking a Perique break for a month.

I agree as well. This is a good suggestion for a lot of things, Latakias and Kentucky included.
There are a few blends that achieve the balance. I can smoke Nightcap just about anytime; I think STG got the Cyprian Lat and Perique proportions just right. Meanwhile, I always thought McClelland's Frogs were meant to be mellow smokes, but On the Bayou went a little top-heavy with the Perique (needs at least five years to mellow in the tin).
There's no rule to this, but I've found I save VaPers and such for summer and early fall. An annularity has evolved over the years between blend types that among other things keeps me from getting sick of anything in particular.

bullet08 · Mar 12, 2019

had quiet nights, and balance was just right. i need to get rid of some aros. will smoke them for awhile. thanks all.

chilllucky · Mar 12, 2019

Sound advice smartly taken.
I don't know if it's me or them, but a couple of the perique forward C&D blends have given me the sweats lately.

PaulTheScandinavian · Mar 14, 2019

I usually smoke Vapers where perique is applied only very moderately, Orlik ,Old Gowrie,Reiners Long Gold and such offerings

krizzose · Mar 14, 2019

2 blends with perique that, at least to me, never presents as spicy are Marlin Flake and Anniversary Kake. The dark fruity side of the perique really comes out. Both have a little sweetness, so that may help in toning down the spicy side. I recommend that avoid C&D Kajun Kake, which nearly burned a hole through the back of throat with perique.

hawky454 · Mar 14, 2019

Just start smoking Tom's Dark Twist that oughta get you acclimated to both DFK & Perique. : puffy

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cosmicfolklore · Mar 14, 2019

C&D and Hearth & Home are the two companies that aren’t afraid to add a little burly to their VaPers. Perique, according to Mark Ryan, isn’t really a heavy hitter by itself. The process of fermentation reduces the nicotine in an already weak Burley. But, the more complex molecules that are formed, enhance the absorption of existing nicotine’s in the host leaf it is blended with. So, by adding a touch of Burley, you get a much stronger nicotine affect. This is what I love some of the blends by these two companies. Russ used to have one called Steam Roller that would lay my head out flat for bed, but it didn’t seam to have too much perique in the blend. I miss that one.

hawky454 · Mar 14, 2019

Perique and Dark Fired aren’t strong to me as far as nicotine goes but is strong in body and overall feel and can easily give me fatigue of the tongue. Just like Tom’s Dark Twist, to me, it’s too much of a good thing but chopped up and married with McC 5100 makes a helluva nice blend.

bullet08 · Mar 15, 2019

found out some orientals give spicy note also, but not as bad as perique for me. enjoyed last bowl of quiet nights. slight spice was enjoyable.

hoosierpipeguy · Mar 15, 2019

I like Perique just fine when it is a condiment but not when the peppery taste dominates the blend.

Perique Too Strong in Certain Blends

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