C & D Perique - Funky!

[badbriar]

I'm a fan of blends that have a bit of perique in them - usually can discern a bit of plum or other slight fruit essence along with the rewarding tingle. To spice up some of my current pipe tobaccos, I bought some C & D Perique. Upon opening, I expected spiciness and a bit of fruity aroma. Instead, I was greeted by a totally funky, offputting smell. I've not smelled blending perique like this before. Honestly, at first I thought it was somehow spoiled. Nope - not much moisture, no mold, mildew or any other issues. This stuff just smells kinda houndish - like when your mutt gets out, sweats up a storm and then climbs into your lap and gets it all over your clean duds. Is this normal...the perique, not the dog???

 

[canucklehead]

Straight perique smells like something that got damp and was left in an old barrel in a shed for a year. It's kind of stinky.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm a fan of blends that have a bit of perique in them - usually can discern a bit of plum or other slight fruit essence along with the rewarding tingle. To spice up some of my current pipe tobaccos, I bought some C & D Perique. Upon opening, I expected spiciness and a bit of fruity aroma. Instead, I was greeted by a totally funky, offputting smell. I've not smelled blending perique like this before. Honestly, at first I thought it was somehow spoiled. Nope - not much moisture, no mold, mildew or any other issues. This stuff just smells kinda houndish - like when your mutt gets out, sweats up a storm and then climbs into your lap and gets it all over your clean duds. Is this normal...the perique, not the dog???

I've been given to understand that both C&D and Sutliff do some proprietary processing of the Perique that they buy. That said a very earthy, even wet earthy smell is not uncommon with Periques. Mine came from D&R or directly from LA Poche and some of them exhibit this scent.

The magic is what happens when Perique is combined with other components, which help promote those peppery, plummy, or fruity qualities in the Perique.

 

[mingc]

My experience is with Sutliff blending perique. Dried up old gym socks is what I smell.

 

[krizzose]

Old mushrooms that used to hang out with horse manure. And that smell means you’ve got good perique.

 

[Chalaw87]

Old mushrooms that used to hang out with horse manure. And that smell means you’ve got good perique.

Nailed it

 

[Snow Hill]

I've not smelled blending perique like this before.

I had the very same experience with a C&D perique. However, it wasn't a straight perique for blending, it was a C&D blend with a good amount of perique (bulk purchase). The first year or two, the smell was so unpleasant I didn't want to touch it. Not with a ten foot pipe. However, around year three THAT smell faded away to the background. It was still there, but less in my face.

 

[Indygrap]

Old mushrooms that used to hang out with horse manure. And that smell means you’ve got good perique.

THATS what that smell is!!! I got a tin of The Beast & that scent is what hit me when I popped the tin. Didn’t stop me from smoking it.

 

[kcghost]

Perique has a usual smell that most find unpleasant.

 

[MattRVA]

Smells terrible smokes wonderfully.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That pluminess, spiciness that you say that you expected is not pure perique. That is the reaction of the virginias with the perique.
Pure perique smells like ass. Ha ha, and when I visited La Poche, those barrels boiling over with black tar goop of perique smells even more concentrated.
C&D get theirs directly from La Poche. The real deal.

 

[mingc]

C&D get theirs directly from La Poche. The real deal.

Not anymore. C&D now has an exclusive deal with 31 Farms: Cornell & Diehl on Instagram: "Not all Perique is the same. While most pipe enthusiasts know that genuine Perique is grown in St. James Parish, Louisiana, many are not familiar with the meandering and sometimes inconsistent route taken by some blends touting “genuine St. James Perique.” Often blended from mixed crops and harvested from an array of farms, a lot of Perique changes hands many times with different entities and individuals handling only pieces of the overall process. With the launch of Anthology 1992-2022, we announced our exclusive partnership with 31 Farms and the Roussel family in St. James Parish, Louisiana — a relationship that provides Cornell & Diehl with an exclusive source of authentic St. James Perique, promising dependable continuity from seed to tin. Every blend in our portfolio that contains Perique is now made with genuine St. James Perique — grown, harvested, cured, fermented, and processed by one family-owned farm with generations of experience. The advantages of this partnership can’t be overstated: At C&D, we now have a trusted single-source for the most historically accurate and highest-quality Perique, promising consistency in our blends and a reliable, predictable supply of this precious leaf — the rarest tobacco in the world. #cornellanddiehl #pipesmokingcommunity #pipesmokers" - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChNE-QtLRqc/

 

[ThermionicScott]

Meanwhile, my jar of Sutliff Perique smells like unfrosted chocolate cake to me, and it doesn't burn my face off when I smoke it straight. If I hadn't gotten it from a reputable online store (SP), I'd swear I got the wrong stuff.

 

[badbriar]

Yep, like many here have said, the stuff really adds to a blend and smokes great!
Interesting that blends with perique rarely ever smell anything but amazing!

 

[coys]

I have opened perique-heavy tins and thought I smelled a cow pasture nearby or somesuch. Sometimes plummy, sometimes just pungent.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

Smells terrible smokes wonderfully.

When it smells the way you describe, you know you got the good stuff.