True Perique

hmhaines · Sep 8, 2016

I'm still an incredibly new smoker, but I've already fallen in love with Perique. A lot of you may think I'm nuts, but I enjoy smoking it straight.
When I say Perique, I'm talking about McClelland's; I haven't tried straight Perique from anyone else. (Ordering C&D's in the next week or so.) My concern is the ambiguity of the descriptions: I'm enjoying the tobacco regardless of the geographic origins, but I would like to know if I'm smoking true Saint James Parish Perique. If not, it would be awesome to get some into my pipe.
Does anyone have info on the sourcing behind McC and C&D Perique? Or an idea of where to get undoubtedly authentic St. James Perique?
Thanks!
Searched the site before posting, but couldn't find anything too helpful. Sorry if this is a repost!

cosmicfolklore · Sep 8, 2016

Mark Ryan told me that both McClelland and C&D perique both come from him, true St James. I was facing the fields as he said it.

clickklick · Sep 8, 2016

St James Perique can be bought, normally to the consumer it comes in a cute little glass jar. I believe Mark Ryan is behind it, pretty sure its the same Mark Ryan from Daughter's and Ryan Tobacco Company, but I'm not so good with names.

greshapa · Sep 8, 2016

i found C&D granulated perique to be less than satisfactory. it was unbelieveably wet - wetter than anything ive ever gotten, from samuel gawith or any other brand. I ended up having to dry it under a lizard lamp. it also wasnt as strong as i was hoping, the nicotine was about on-par with Royal Yacht. the taste was right though. Not sure if a got a bad batch or what, but i wont be ordering that particular perique again

torque · Sep 8, 2016

My understanding is that very little "pure perique" is used in today's blends. From Wikipedia.....

The perique used in pipe tobaccos now is the less expensive Acadian Perique, consisting of Kentucky Green River Burley (from various states) that is processed in the same manner as perique and blended with St. James grown tobacco. The Acadian perique is made by L.A. Poche. Although the process produces a strong, spicy tobacco, it is a different product from the original straight St. James perique grown on the Martin and Poche family farms.

Not sure how old or up to date the info in that entry are, but I remember reading an interview with Mark Ryan that basically said the same as above.
So, the question isn't if McC or C&D get theirs from Mr. Ryan, that's pretty much a certainty. The real question is if it's pure St. James grown and processed or if it's the Acadian mixture. I also remember reading that Mr. Ryan said that only a couple of barrels of the "pure" is held back each year for special customers, the rest is mixed with the green river burley. He said that this helps them meet demand and also keeps the price point around where the manufactures find exceptable. That's purely from memory but I don't think I got too many of the details wrong.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 8, 2016

The tour of the factory last year was fantastic.

I can't remember what the perique was cut with, but it smelled like it was dark fire processed. I thought that Green River was tasteless and odorless, pretty much.

Which surprised me that it was all cut with anything, but all perique that leaves the barn is cut. He didn't mention any that was left pure, but he may have said so on the radio show. My mind is perique addled, and I may just not recall.

Mark said that the perique process actually reduces the nicotine content of the leaf, but adds new chemicals which gives it a better absorption rate. There is also a certain percentage of people who get no effect at all from perique, and others who get a huge physiological reaction to it.

Me, I am in love with it's effects.

I had problems getting the barrel on my car, but...

Ha ha, if any of you gets an opportunity to tour the factory, I highly recommend it. And, I highly recommend Mark's 1882 perique and Madura cigars. Oh wow, what a great way to view the New Orleans night sky.

torque · Sep 8, 2016

What a cool experience that must have been. I need to get to that area just to take a tour.
We know at least a small amount was left "pure" for Mr. Oulette's new blends. The perique in those are single farm sourced, so by definition, they can't be the Acadian variety.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 8, 2016

I didn't know that torque. Thanks, even more incentive to try them.

hmhaines · Sep 8, 2016

Thanks guys! I'll try and reach out to Mark.

leacha · Sep 8, 2016

C&D had a video of them opening a barrel.

B18 · Sep 9, 2016

Hi, do you guy's know if the perique of My Own Blend is also true St. James?

Because i bought a tin of it, but find flavour abit lacking and not peppery.

C&D Bayou Morning is the best VAPer blend i ever had. It was very musky, full flavored and peppery as hell, though the peppery feeling faded after a few bowls.

pappymac · Sep 9, 2016

Torque, could you explain the statement "The perique in those are single farm sourced, so by definition, they can't be the Acadian variety."?
My understanding was for the tobacco to be true Perique it had to be grown in St. James Parish but no one said it had to be from just one farm in St. James Parish.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 9, 2016

Brendan18, I would think that PMing Russ (aka Blendtobak on here), who is the tobacconist there, would get you a more immediate response to whether they use Mark's perique or not. He does occasionally check out the forums, but it may be hit or miss whether Russ will check out this particular thread. But, just as a guess, I would think that Russ would want to just work with Mark's perique.

But, also keep in mind that perique is a condiment tobacco that reflects the tobacco that it is mixed with to give different tobaccos, different flavors, depending on what the leaf is and how much is used. I use the analogy that it is like cinnamon. Just a sprinkle on something sweet, and it makes the sweet taste more sweet, as in a cinnamon bun. a bunch of it is like a candy red hot, peppery. And, it can be added to meat to give it an exotic spice flavor. By itself, it's not very pleasant.

So, a VaPer is not necessarily going to have the same flavor profile from blend to blend, because it has a unique reflection, depending on variables.
I hope that helps.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 9, 2016

Pappy, I thought that it was you who told me that some of the perique farmers in that area had started making their own perique and competing with Mark. Eh, I am loosing my mind, ha ha. ...trying to remember who had given me what information, ha ha. Maybe I was thinking that it was you, because you were at the tour also.

jvnshr · Sep 9, 2016

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/passionate-about-perique/

pagan · Sep 9, 2016

My understanding was for the tobacco to be true Perique it had to be grown in St. James Parish but no one said it had to be from just one farm in St. James Parish.

Although there may be several farms/sources, some are just more notable or have better name recognition than others

cosmicfolklore · Sep 9, 2016

My old brain, it seems like I had heard somewhere that someone was experimenting on a commercial level with fermenting other strains of tobacco in the perique method. But, I don't think they are calling it St James or even perique. I know that there are many hobby tobacconist that are making very tasty tobaccos using the process as well, plus farmers, so I've heard, who have been bypassing Mark and making their own St James. Wasn't there a farmer doing this that was interviewed by Brian recently on the radioshow? maybe a year ago? It's all interesting, but these company dynamics and competitions doesn't affect my enjoyment of VaPers. But, it is definitely entertaining. I am no expert, ha ha, at all. But, there are conflicts between what I remember Mark saying from the lecture and Russ's article. But, Russ was also at the same lecture.

Hell, I have to look at my phone every time someone asks me for my number. So... : puffy

:

cosmicfolklore · Sep 9, 2016

The one thing that stood out to me, was that at L.A. Poche, all of the St James perique for that year could easily fit into my two car garage. The whole factory was in a neighborhood like setting on the banks of the river. It could have easily fit, along with the old farm house in any suburban neighborhood, with room to fence in a few dogs. It was that small. I used to think of the pipe industry, as 18 wheelers full of Escudo rolling out of a factory every day, but in actuality, we are a tiny tiny market. That blew my mind.

pappymac · Sep 9, 2016

Cosmic, It was Mark Ryan who mentioned that. One other farm in the area who doesn't sell to Mark was growing and producing their own Perique and selling it to the cigarette companies. He said it was an inferior leaf and wasn't cleaned to his standards.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 9, 2016

Thanks Pappy, yeh, the guy wasn't de-stemming the leaf, right?

True Perique

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