Hacker's Book Fibbed on Perique!

[maxpeters]

I agree with you philo, his books were very helpful to opening up the world of pipe smoking for me too. Before the internet there were very very few books about pipes and pipe smoking. I remember searching all the libraries and used books stores I could find to see if they might have anything relating to the hobby. Came up with a few out of print books, but Hacker's was the most enlightening. Now days the internet makes everyone an almost instant expert. On almost everything. How easy it is to sit back in your chair and click a few buttons and have instant access to every facet of whatever interest you.

I guess someone should ask him about this discrepancy? Is he still around?

I still have his Ultimate Pipe Book, Rare Smoke, and his Christmas Pipe book. Before his Christmas Pipe book, no one that I know of wrote anything about them. Just as an aside, he also wrote many fine articles and books on firearms and black powder hunting. Not to mention his books and articles on alcoholic beverages, and cigars. The guy traveled around the world talking to the people involved in these businesses, and asking questions. I enjoy his interviews with them very much.

I guess everyone is entitled to an error. It would be interesting to find out why he wrote what he did about Perique though.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I know perique has teetered on the brink of extinction.. Maybe at that time, it was sketchy and producers were faking it by fermenting it with fruit juice? It would be interesting to find out, which is really why I started this anyway.

 

[warren]

Email him and ask: richardcarletonhacker.com

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I'm on it. I will report back with my findings.

 

[warren]

Good man you are! I'm a bit curious also.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Package delivered. Hopefully I hear back soon.
Surely, there HAS to be a reason for the change in description between his books.
Anyone knowledgeable in perique have a clue as to what might have been going on in 2000 that would cause someone to believe it was soaked in juice? Was it at some point in its history? I've searched my memory for other mentions of plum juice and can't come up with anything.
I love me some perique, so if there is a bit of info out there I don't know - I'd like to.

 

[doctorthoss]

Speaking as a professional writer, we might also want to consider the possibility that an editor or some peon in the long process from manuscript to print and distribution edited in a factual error. It's happened to me and plenty of others. And when it comes to books -- unlike a web site or printed periodical -- you cannot just issue a correction. It doesn't take much -- just someone in the chain who thinks they know better and decides to "fix" the writer's work.

It's also possible, as several have pointed out, that perhaps there was a point when perique was flavored. My memory is certainly sketchy here, but I vaguely recall that at one point -- possibly the 90s - perique came pretty close to exinction.

I hope we hear back something definitive soon.

Personally, I find it a little strange (and have felt this way for a few years now) that many smokers now seem to be disappointed or incensed at the possibility of our tobacco being "flavored" somehow. Even if it was soaked in plum juice or some such, I don't see what the big deal would be. Pretty much everything we smoke has been cased at some point along the line, as well as processed in many other ways. I mean, Latakia is a flavored tobacco at least as much as the alleged plum soaked perique would be, and I'm pretty sure that stoving, pressing, and fermenting add flavors that don't occur naturally. I'm a little befuddled by what seems (IMHO, of course) this trend over the past few years toward preferring (or professing to prefer) "natural" tobacco flavors or asserting that cased/topped tobacco is somehow inferior, when it just isn't. Heck, I doubt anyone on this forum who hasn't actually worked in the tobacco industry has ever smoked 100 percent unflavored pipe tobacco. Most of the grand old classics (and contemporary ones even) are far from being all natural products. There's obviously a huge difference between, say, FVF or 1Q, but I think of it as a difference in degree rather than in kind. Sugars, anise, cocoa, almond, and a host of alcoholic spirits have been integral parts of our favorite blends for generations with no one giving it a second thought. It's always been the case that some smokers prefer more naturalistic styles and don't like goopy cavendish aros (I once read some fascinating internal industry reports and surveys on smoker preference) but tobacco that isn't cased somewhere along the line without at least some sugar water is darn near unsmokeble. Anyhow, forgive me as I step down from my soapbox -- I've found myself more and more fascinated by these types of discussions in recent years than anything else, and don't personally care all that much about casing or topping so long as the end result is tasty.

 

[beefeater33]

Well said Doctorhoss!---- I couldn't agree more. Glad to see you back in the ring and posting... You out of the Hospital now?,

I hope all is well!.... ::

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I agree doctorhoss, to the level that I've made many a post arguing the same point. I certainly don't hold "natural" tobacco in higher regard to cased or flavored.
How perique is made is something I thought I knew though, and to hear something completely different confused me!
That an editor changed it seems unlikely, to me at least. I get the feeling Hacker has quite a bit of positive control over his content, but I'll leave it open as a possibility.
Hopefully we hear back soon.

 

[robwoodall]

I don't know anything about the history of Perique or the Hunter book, but...
Fermented tobacco soaked in plum juice and fruit pulp sounds mighty tempting! If that's not a thing, someone needs to invent it!!!
Baccyfart, I'm counting on you!

 

[sablebrush52]

I was reading one of Pease's articles wherein he states that all tobacco has some kind of topping or processing applied as it's otherwise essentially flavorless. That includes the so called "natural" tobaccos Doctorhoss mentions. Fads in the Hobby? Quel surprise.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Oh, yeah for sure. I read the same one I think. If I remember, he said something like "if you have to ask, I've done my job."
Fermenting in its own juices I suppose is an added flavor. So is plum juice. I'm cool either way, just want to know to satisfy my own curiosity and desire to know things that don't actually affect my life in any appreciable way haha

 

[northernneil]

all tobacco has some kind of topping or processing applied as it's otherwise essentially flavorless

I disagree with this. I agree that 99% of tobacco available on the market today (maybe more) has some kind of casing applied. That being said, natural tobacco has a wonderful flavor with no casing required. How do I know you ask? Well, I had to grow my own, ferment it and age it over 3 years to find out for myself!
Are casings required to add flavor to tobacco? No, at least not in my little experiment. Are casings required to maintain humidity, discourage mold and assist in transportation? Yes. I lost about 65% of my crop to natural disaster, then about 85% of the remaining yield to mold during fermentation and aging process. If I was trying to make a living, I would have been screwed.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Ok
*all commercial tobacco that is to be sold for consumption and hopes to maintain any freshness or consistency.

 

[jitterbugdude]

"natural tobacco has a wonderful flavor with no casing required"
Agree 100%!

 

[phil67]

This might be just a simple case of Hacker spreading himself too thin over a vast array of subjects:
Books:
The Ultimate Pipe Book
Pipesmoking: A 21st Century Guide
Rare Smoke: The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Collecting
The Christmas Pipe
The Ultimate Cigar Book
Articles:
Hacker on Single Malt Whisky
Hacker on Irish Whisky
Hacker on Tequila
Hacker on Rum
Hacker on Bourbon
Hacker on Vodka
Hacker on Cognac
Hacker on Gin
Hacker on Wine
Hacker on Port
Hacker on Cocktails
Hacker on Champagne
Hacker on Restaurants
No one can claim to be an expert and know every minute detail about such a plethora of subjects, nor should they attempt to do so. That’s not to say that his information on Perique is wrong, albeit I have serious doubts that it is, but then again I’m not writing a book about pipes and tobacco and I don’t claim to be knowledgeable on the subject.
On the subject of editing it seems quite odd to me that an editor would suddenly decide off the top of their head that he or she would, for some unfathomable reason, decide to correct that Perique is soaked in plum juice! Sorry, but I just can’t buy that explanation. Then again, for all I know, which isn’t squat about the intricacies of tobaccos, it now might very well be soaked in plum juice. What would be great is if perhaps G.L. Pease or Russ Ouellette could possibly jump in here and describe how Perique is made as who would know better than they! Mind you, I’m in no way criticizing Hacker’s book as I found the Ultimate Pipe Book pleasurable and informative reading, and in the whole grand scheme of things it’s no big deal. However, and for what it’s worth, I’m just one who happens to believe that no information is better than wrong information. :wink:

 

[pipesmokingtom]

No reply as of 5:53PM PST. I'm about to call St James Parish, Louisiana and clear this up!

 

[warren]

That won't clear up Hacker's comments though. Hang in there, concerned smokers want to know the truth. Perhaps he was addressing plum wine in a planned article and "cut and pasted" a line into another article, being prepped, about Perique. I doubt it, but stranger things have happened on my computer.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Ooooo, maybe that's what he did. Maybe he called them up doing research and they were just like.. "we gotta eff with THIS guy!"

 

[sablebrush52]

Given the amount of crap that circulates in the Hobby, prune soaked tobacco would be a blessing.