The Flavors of Perique: Fruity vs. Spicy -- FIGHT!

[BriaronBoerum]

While I was just enjoying a bowl of Rouxgaroux on the terrace (right before a thunderstorm cut things a bit short), I was thinking about the different flavors that come up in blends with significant perique in them: the plum, stewed fruit, fig, raisin, etc. sweet notes, and the red hots, chile, pepper, woody spice notes. Does anyone know what makes a blend skew one way or another, does it depend on the interaction with other tobaccos in the blend? And what are your favorites on either the fruity or spicy side?

 

[Scrapyard Ape]

I think it may depend on the physiology of the tongue. I always get "spicy" tastes with perique, never fruity.

 

[Waning Embers]

Does anyone know what makes a blend skew one way or another

Age

 

[BingBong]

More spice with age, in my experience. I like the figgy flavours and the hot spice, so there's an optimal age of maybe 2-3 years for something like SG Cabbies.

 

[khiddy]

Perique also has different notes based on handling & processing done at the blender. For example, Sutliff's perique had different notes than C&D's, and both are different than G&H's or STG's. Some lean toward the plummy, pruned, raisiny flavor, while others lean toward spice and pepper.

 

[Hutch Piper]

It’s a great question. Some blends give me spice and others figs. I love them both.

 

[K.E. Powell]

I find, for myself at least, what flavors I pick up on depends on which other tobaccos in a blend dominate. If I am smoking a blend where the virginias are dominant, then I find it easier to pick up the fig-like notes. If it is the burleys/DFK, then definitely the pepper/spice notes are easier to taste. But that is just me.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I get tangy chocolate brownies, which is why I'm not to be trusted with tobacco reviewing.

 

[Merton]

Perique, certainly an acquired taste. However, like Broccoli Rabe, once acquired , forever loved and appreciated!

 

[sablebrush52]

Perique grown in different parts of St James Parrish will develop different profiles. Different years will affect flavors. I got a number of Periques from D&R as well as La Poche, and they were all different.

There’s no “perique tastes like this”.

So, there are differences to begin with, and then there’s the alchemy that takes place when it is blended with other varietals.

For me, aged Perique tends to be less peppery and more fruity.

YMMV.

 

[Sig]

I dont like the spicy Perique.
But love the fruity Perique.

Bayou Morning = spicy = yucky
The Beast = fruity = yummy

 

[Waning Embers]

The Beast = fruity = yummy

That has a lot to do with the rum. Rum soaked perique by itself is fantastic.

 

[irishearl]

Never got fruity. Always peppery.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

According to one (and our only) analysis, Perique tastes like 330 different molecules. See a list of them all here (pp. 6-16):

http://www.leffingwell.com/download/Volatile%20Constituents%20of%20Perique%20Tobacco4.pdf

Pepper and plum flavors are okay, I guess. Personally, I’m in it for the beetle pheromone.

 

[Sig]

According to one (and our only) analysis, Perique tastes like 330 different molecules. See a list of them all here (pp. 6-16):

http://www.leffingwell.com/download/Volatile%20Constituents%20of%20Perique%20Tobacco4.pdf

Pepper and plum flavors are okay, I guess. Personally, I’m in it for the beetle pheromone.

View attachment 415740

No wonder why all these Japanese beetles are buying me drinks lately when im smoking Perique!

 

[anotherbob]

I think part of it's percentages. The little bit of mixing perique I've had seemed to be more peppery when there was a large percentage and more fruity when in smaller percentages. All with Va by the way. Made me think about adding certain mushrooms to a sauce and how that effected flavors.

 

[anotherbob]

No wonder why all these Japanese beetles are buying me drinks lately when im smoking Perique!

nah it's the fact you look like Charles B. That's some chiseled features that cross species lines. Or that's my theory.

 

[Strange Quark]

I'm not up to date on the current perique production especially how C&D is involved but years before there were two general Periques: the rarer pure St. James parish and Acadian Perique which was a blend of the St James stuff and Greenriver leaf that was processed in a similar manner. St. James was more peppery, musty while the Acadian was sweeter and fruitier. I liked the sweeter Acadian blend.

 

[sardonicus87]

I won't begin to speculate on why they sometimes taste spicy and sometimes fruity (too many potential factors, could be age, what it's mixed with, something in processing, relative proportions, etc).

What I can say is, I hate the spicy/peppery perique, I only like it when it's fruity.

The majority of va/per blends I have tried were peppery, though a few had the fruity taste. I'm already not the biggest fan of most virginias to begin with (though a few I love, like C&D's "Steamworks" and "Sun Bear", and several va/or bkends), so making a va-based blend peppery is even more of a "no thanks" for me.

The only va/per I had that I can remember that wasn't peppery was WCC Rouxgaroux (which, is hit-or-miss in that department, most of the time it's fruity, but occasionally I'll have a bowl or a few puffs in a bowl that are peppery).

But, the va/per style isn't the only place it's used and so far, none of those non-va/per blends have been peppery to me as far as I can remember.

 

[skydog]

Perique grown in different parts of St James Parrish will develop different profiles. Different years will affect flavors. I got a number of Periques from D&R as well as La Poche, and they were all different.

There’s no “perique tastes like this”.

So, there are differences to begin with, and then there’s the alchemy that takes place when it is blended with other varietals.

For me, aged Perique tends to be less peppery and more fruity.

YMMV.

This is the answer. Along with the varieties that D&R offered, the differences could also be tasted in the P&C Golden Triangle series where the perique from different parts of St. James Parish were highlighted. I never had the chance to get too many different batches of perique from La Poche outside that Golden Triangle series and a few other offerings I stumbled across over the years, but it was always fascinating to taste the differences in the perique.