Cornell & DIehl Small Batch - "The Beast"

[bigpond]

DM Said:

As I understand it, outside of terroir, Perique is a technique and so should produce similar results elsewhere from St. James Parish as well.

Similar certainly, but not identical. I haven't read the entire thread for lack of time, but in the off chance that this hasn't been mentioned already Acadian Perique is a mixture of Green River burley and St James perique all of which undergoes the perique process.
The fascinating aspect of perique blends for me is despite the mixing there is a lot of variability from one blend to the next. Sometimes I may pick up a lot of olive and the next tin the blend may lose the olive and reveal pure prune. Interesting stuff though I do find a lot of blends over sweeten it.
Leacha said:

Why would that be? Does he an agreement with Ryan and every small producer?

Mark Ryan controls all perique used in the production of pipe tobacco. Russ is working with unblended SJ Perique provided by Mark for the production of several blends that will highlight the character of perique grown from individual Perique (the leaf) farmers.
Leacha also said:

I can only speculate. I'm assuming production has increased to meet demand and some blenders are using SJP and Russ doesn't have a monopoly.

The monopoly is the other way round. SJP overwhelmingly goes to the cigarette market, particularly American Spirit.
Scarface said:

I've had the McC blending Perique and it does not taste as good or as "genuine" as the perique in the Gawith Blends. I'm not sure if it's a myth that all the perique we smoke is Acadian perique...I kind of suspect the blenders who use Acadian sell this story because it's cheaper to use Acadian, but I could be wrong. I'd like to find out what Gawith uses though, considering they say Cabbie's has "St James Perique"

Certainly SJP is far more expensive a constituent but do keep in mind Acadian perique has been SOP for over 100 years. As to Cabbies, you might want to ask Mark because Gawith will not answer (I've tried lol). I'll lay odds 100:1 that it's Acadian despite product lit. As far as the quality of blending vs tin leaf stock, IME the single largest determinant of what I consider perique quality comes down to moisture. Perique seems to really imho loose it's mojo when exposed to air.
Perdurabo said:

Acadian Perique gets bashed, some fool thinks he's got the real deal. Because we consume so much perique, it has to be blended like a wine or whiskey. Gawith may have a batch of 100%, it may be vintage. I need to crack that Cabbies Mixture and find out if there is a difference.

It does get bashed, wrongly I think. After all, what other leaf gets such illustrious treatment? I can't remember where I read this, but I think Greg Pease wrote our perception of perique changes depending upon the other constituents. suspect this may be the case with Cabbie's but do report back after cracking the tin.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Perique by itself doesn't have one specific flavor that it adds to tobaccos. It seems to be like salt, it amplifies certain parts of flavor that already exists within a blend. Add a little and it sweetens the sweet flavors or perks them up a bit, add a lot of perique, and it starts to get peppery, if peppery is a constituent of the leaf that it is being added too.
Also, all perique is blended with another burley before it is packed for shipping. And, all perique has been blended since the 30's (if my memory serves).
Not all perique comes from Mark Ryan, and he has his hands in all three types of perique. Some small batch farmers have been producing a product called perique as well, but Mark says it all sucks, ha ha. Mostly farmers trying to do it all themself. They lack the same cultures of microorganisms that Mark has had on that farm for centuries. Also, to illustrate how small the world's production of pipe tobacco is, I could easily fit the entire St James Parrish perique production into my garage if I stacked the barrels. I would probably still have room for my weedeater and lawn mower. Pipe smokers are not a very large industry.
Also, the perique produced for American Spirits has had all of the ribs left on the leaf through production and they've cut corners so much that I would barely call that crap perique.
Eh, but I'm not going to split hairs. Some guys will say McC's perique tastes nothing like C&D's or SG's, but Mark says it all comes from him. Maybe these companies do something different to the perique they sell, how long the perique was in the tin, or maybe our taste buds are just not very reliable. I never trust something posted based on just what someone reports their tastebuds say. Ha ha, how I can I argue with someone's memory of what they tasted once? But, anyways...
How did this come up in conversation anyways?
I've really got to spend less time on the forum. The Beast doesn't even sound remotely like a blend that I would really enjoy much. And, here I've ordered a bunch of it. Like GLP's crappy Virgina Cream. Something quirky happens on forums, mob rules mentality or something. I buy stuff just to try it, even though by the reviews, it doesn't sound very appealing. Anyways, I hate rum or any liquor added to my tobacco, as even the smell of liquor makes my stomach turn. Now, I have wasted money on GLP's and now C&D's crap, which are Virginia based, and I can't even stand the Virginia swill these guys use, ha ha. They're marketing has out maneuvered my common sense. If I ever really had any common sense to begin with.

But as with all blends ever released, everyone will rave about how much they love it and will smoke it every day, just to get a big brown nose... until the next thing is released.
Meanwhile,Mike and Russ actually make a new blend that is worth the effort to try, and no one is saying anything. ::

Oh well, it's just money, right? Can't take it with us.

 

[perdurabo]

Thanks Cosmic.

 

[jefff]

I bought some and I think I am going to like it. But when it's gone it's gone. The last thing I need in my life is something either unobtainable or atainable at ridiculous prices.

 

[perdurabo]

All righty...no need to make another thread.
DM sent me a sample, here's what I think. To much cavendish, not enough Kentucky, and not enough perique. This is not a power house. It is a dark, mushroomy, cocoa, toasted dried fruit kind of smoke. Not overly spicey at all. I've dried it for about thirty minutes and believe the flavors are more pronounced than straight from the pouch. The rum of course dissipates when dried out some. I personally believe it is better when DGT'ed for about 15 minutes half way through the bowl. If you want it rummy smoke it straight from the tin. The soaking of rum changes the character of the perique, so when the perique dries back out, it's a completely different animal than smoked straight.
I spent the weekend smoking Rumper, and I can say Rumper is better. But, with that said, The Beast is a tame cousin. I think The Beast needs a bit of age on it, So my tin will be aging a bit. If you want strength, your go to needs to be Old Joe Krantz, Haddos Delight, Big N Burley and Royal Yacht.
I have to give it to C&D, they put Crowley's name on a tin. Next time, put nothing but perique and rum in the tin. Thanks Deathmetal.

 

[perdurabo]

Oh, forgot to mention, this shit is good with sweet iced tea.

 

[pipedreamin]

I went camping for the weekend, thought about ordering a tin or two before leaving but nah, not enough pipe smoking Crowleyana fans out there to go through 777 tins in a few days. Ooops!
I agree with perdurabo though, perique should be caused to soak in the rum of one's choosing, in accordance with one's will as a tribute to the spirit of the Beast himself. But...if anyone found it not to there liking and wants to unload a tin at less than 2X your cost send a pm.

 

[deathmetal]

Rum/Per mixed 50-50 with Dark Burley is a pretty tasty smoke, but it is not as smooth as The Beast. The blenders streamlined and smoothed out the raw Perique effect but kept that weird fruity, fermented, peppery flavor.

 

[perdurabo]

Smooth, that's a better adjective than tame. I'm on my third bowl in the past four hours. Stuff is tasty. Wonder how it would taste with red Virginia instead of all that cavendish? I would love to taste the different prototypes. Maybe they will do a To Mega Therion(name of the next run) and use one of the prototype recipes, for us perique fiends.
93/93

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Just got home to my tins awaiting me at the door. Smoking first bowl now. Crappy C&D Viginias. Of course I will give it a good ol college try, but so far, kicking myself for falling for the hype. Damn, I should have stuck to ordering more McClelland.

C&D, needs to get to the tobacco auctions early to get the good stuff, or ask Mike and Russ for some Virginia schoolin'. So far, dissapointed.

 

[mcitinner1]

I just popped my first tin, and my immediate first thought is to let some dry for about an hour. It has a unique smell in the tin.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ok, second bowl, microwaved for ten secconds and smoked in a Hilson chimney. It's not as bad as I initially thought. It does remind me a bit of GLP's Virginia Cream. The rum, and the perique sizzle, but lacking any sweetness outside of the rum topping. The Virginias are a cavendish, which is usually very sweet, but my guess is that it's cased in rum. Just not sweet like I like my Va's. The Dominican Republic cavendish is interesting and adds a bit of stregnth, as does the Kentucky. But, come on blenders, get off the Kentucky Dark Fire. I do love it, but there is a bunch of more interesting burleys to play with. How many more dark fired blends do we need? The perique is its most redeeming quality.

Overall, it's tangy, rummy (not my favorite taste but...), and dark and earthy. I'm interested to see how age fairs with it. But, all in all, it's probably not a good all day smoke, nor a strong last day smoke. Maybe an after dinner smoke for some. But, if you didn't make the cut, and didn't get any, I wouldn't sweat it. There are better blends. This one at least is unusual enough to make it a good short run limited edition tobacco for them. But, as for a regular run... nah. It doesn't knock Haddos in the dirt at all.

 

[jefff]

I have a couple of tins coming, Ill open one and the jar it. The other I'll cellar. C&D Va's are definitely made to cellar.

 

[deathmetal]

How many more dark fired blends do we need?

Has it become "the new Latakia"?

 

[jefff]

I hope it is better than Haddos...... but that's just me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It gets even better if you add more perique, about half and half. Increases the "zing, zip zip." Know what I mean?

 

[jefff]

Thanks for the tip!
Whos perique did you use?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The McClelland tins are always moist and gooey, and starts working as soon as you get it on your fingers. Mmmmm....

 

[perdurabo]

My thoughts exactly Cosmic, adding more perique and/or mixing it with your favorite blend.
I use C&D Granulated perique, but you know that shit is swill. Stay away from those C&D guys. In fact, be glad they only made 777 tins of this crap. What a world.....

 

[perdurabo]

ALW=123