Praise to Peretti

[nathaniel]

Ive been mostly subsisting on Sutliff and Stokkebye bulk english blends but recently tried LJ Peretti after hearing their praises for so long. Well im joining the cult now.

I've been smoking 5 different blends exclusively for the past 2 wks and my enjoyment of them continues to grow. Holy smokes... Those guys know how to make some fine blends. I can't wait to stock up more and try some more of their blends.

I've currently tried Tashkent, Oriental #40, Royal, Omega, and Cambridge Flake. I plan to buy enough of each to drown in. Thanks so much to everyone's suggestions on these blends!

 

[jbfrady]

I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed their Thanksgiving blend.

 

[FurCoat]

Quality stuff for sure.

 

[Auxsender]

#8 Slices is one of my favorites.

 

[Ash Cooper]

Can’t say I’ve tried any yet. Do you have any suggestions on which would be the first one to try?

 

[PipesandPups]

I went there back in May and grabbed a few oz of 5-6 things, including an 8 oz tin of the Cambridge Flake. I finally opened up that tin over Thanksgiving and smoked some with my dad and brother and have been just blown away, but definitely also have enjoyed the #8 slices. The Ampersand is also very tasty.

 

[SBC]

IMO Omega is among the greatest latakia mixtures of all time.
I can't choose between it and Magnum Opus for greatest affordable/available latakia mixture.

 

[nathaniel]

Can’t say I’ve tried any yet. Do you have any suggestions on which would be the first one to try?

If you like english/balkan/oriental blends start with any i mentioned above. I cant speak yet for theor other stuff. But i cant wait to try!

 

[kcghost]

A lot of people enjoy Peretti's offerings.

 

[crusader]

I ljp. Their English blends can't be beat. The burley is .
150th flake is one of my favorite VA since the flew away.
I haven't dove into the cavendish yet though.

 

[scloyd]

I enjoy their Tashkent. Thanksgiving blend...not so much. I don't know why, gives me tongue bite every time.

 

[LotusEater]

Ive been mostly subsisting on Sutliff and Stokkebye bulk english blends but recently tried LJ Peretti after hearing their praises for so long. Well im joining the cult now.

I've been smoking 5 different blends exclusively for the past 2 wks and my enjoyment of them continues to grow. Holy smokes... Those guys know how to make some fine blends. I can't wait to stock up more and try some more of their blends.

I've currently tried Tashkent, Oriental #40, Royal, Omega, and Cambridge Flake. I plan to buy enough of each to drown in. Thanks so much to everyone's suggestions on these blends!

Great choices!
Glad you got some Cambridge Flake and Oriental#40. These are two of my favorites that don’t get mentioned too much here.
Enjoy!

 

[rsshreck32]

Tashkent is great. I also love #8 Slice and Ampersand Flake. I don't want to think about smoking a pipe in a world where LJ Peretti Burleys don't exist: Blend 333, 52, BPC, and Cuban Mixture are all great. 333 is GOAT.

 

[stearmandriver]

Royal, Tashkent, and Oriental 40 are fantastic. Cambridge Flake is my favorite tobacco of all time. I'm in my late 40s and I've got enough Cambridge Flake cellared already to guarantee I'll have some to smoke in retirement, even if it goes away tomorrow (granted I'm just a few bowls a week guy.). I have a lot of blends I like, but if I had to choose between a stash of Penzanze or Cambridge Flake, I wouldn't even have to think about it.

Also, I'm not really a Virginia or VA/Per lover but Peretti's London Flake is great - in it, I can actually taste all the things I read about people finding in other Virginia . I figure it's a testament to just how good Peretti's is at their craft.

 

[jerry]

Living in Massachusetts, and having attended college in Boston, I’m very familiar with Peretti’s blends. I used to smoke “Lexington” in college, which had a grape flavor — a play on Lexington and Concord. I do smoke Thanksgiving Day in November, but Tashkent is my favorite.

 

[chilllucky]

An open question, should anyone here know - do "local B&M blenders" (Peretti, Watch City, Country Squire, Uhle's, etc) order and process their own raw leaf? Or are they just combining and topping bulk tobaccos from the main suppliers (Sutliff, C&D, etc)?

 

[Briar Lee]

An open question, should anyone here know - do "local B&M blenders" (Peretti, Watch City, Country Squire, Uhle's, etc) order and process their own raw leaf? Or are they just combining and topping bulk tobaccos from the main suppliers (Sutliff, C&D, etc)?

From everything I’ve read, the recently harvested and USDA graded leaf is unfit to smoke.

The vast majority of tobacco is raised on contract with large manufacturers. Not all of it, but nearly all.

The good news for us is that the cost to those bigger tobacco companies is negligible per ounce. When you read the agricultural college reports on the profitability of raising tobacco the contract prices are about two dollars a pound break even. The federal tax is $2.83 a pound.

2022 Tobacco Budgets | Agricultural Economics

agecon.ca.uky.edu

Good, smokable (RYO grade) pipe tobacco is sold retail in Missouri every day at $12 a pound. The premium grade is about twice that.

This is excellent pipe tobacco, at $20 per 12 ounce bag.




All those “storefront” blenders have to contract with the majors to do most, if not all of their blending. That’s especially true because of FDA regulations.

There is still a lot of profit margin in tobacco.

The cost of the leaf and the federal taxes are about 35 cents an ounce and the retail price for premium pipe tobacco is about ten times that from the smaller shops.

If you adjust for inflation pipe tobacco is about as cheap today than it was eighty years ago when there were ten million pipe smokers in America instead of maybe a million as there are today.


And today there just are no bad blends to buy. All those died years ago.

The cheapest stuff goes into cigarettes.

We smoke the best.

 

[Peter Turbo]

An open question, should anyone here know - do "local B&M blenders" (Peretti, Watch City, Country Squire, Uhle's, etc) order and process their own raw leaf? Or are they just combining and topping bulk tobaccos from the main suppliers (Sutliff, C&D, etc)?

Heres a really interesting interview with the man himself, he answers that and more.

 

[rsshreck32]

Heres a really interesting interview with the man himself, he answers that and more.

@Peter Turbo, thanks for sharing! Mr. Willett mentioned something that caught my attention. He said years ago they had Penzance sitting on the shelves, it didn't sell much until the Internet market came around. JM Boswell shared a similar observation with me. He said they didn't sell much McClelland tobacco, he said it sat on the shelves forever until they went out of business and then everyone wanted it. Not to say those aren't good tobaccos, I've never had any of it, but it's interesting how demand can shift based on different variables.

 

[lochinvar]

Tashkent is a real treat, there's nothing quite in its league out there. I think Royal is best Sobranie White style blend out there. Park Square is a nice, piquant Virginia.