Samuel Gawith's Pure Louisiana Perique - Any mixing tips?

[David_Lawrence]

Not what I expected would be an understatement! I've heard perique described as having fruity fig and plum like flavour/aroma and while I can pick up the dark fruit elements at the base of the scent, overwhelmingly this hits me with the far less desirable smell of fish food!

I don't know whether this is more unique to the SG variety but man it doesn't smell pretty! I bought it to mix with but my inclination is to use as little as possible because it's so off putting to my nose; does anybody have experience with this tobacco and perhaps any suggestions on what it might blend well with?

I've heard people mention the Virginia/perique combination and thought I'd give that a go with my Gawith Hogarth Pure Virginia Flake and a touch of Latakia to drown out that queasy fish food scent and thankfully I couldn't taste it but I'm thinking this pretty much defeats the object of using any in the first place so I'm hoping someone might know of something it actually compliments.

I get the feeling this isn't what most periques smell like though as I've never heard that mentioned and it really is overpowering! Cheers.

 

[B18]

Perique is a fermented tobacco and it also smells as such. I have a some C&D Bayou Morning (i think +5 year age) and the smell isn't the most pleasant, but the taste and roomnote is great. Perique is used sparingly in a normal VA/Per blend as perique has a really strong taste. So if you have pure perique, it will smell extra strong.

I have a theory that perique taste(peppery-ness)/smell diminishes when it it is shipped via plane (due to atmospheric pressure and lower temp).

As for blending, depending on the perique cut, a 1-3 strands of ribbon cut per bowl may be enough. And you can mix with with whatever you want.

 

[retrogrouch]

My understanding is that SG perique is the real Percy Martin, made in Louisiana, stuff.

 

[artvandelay007]

My understanding is that SG perique is the real Percy Martin, made in Louisiana, stuff.

I don’t think so, that farm supplies American spirit exclusively. Mark Ryan processes all the perique used in pipe tobacco.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I pay scant attention to what a tobacco smells like if it's unpleasant. How it smokes and tastes can be very different, often amazingly good.

 

[Bengel]

The first few times I smoked Peterson Irish Oak it was astringent and almost unbearable. Don't know if time in the jar changed it or I changed, it is now a favorite

 

[raybrown55]

Yes Perique sometimes smells like dirty feet, but thanks God this doesn't translate in the smoke...

 

[David_Lawrence]

Thanks, that's put me at ease and it what I was hoping. I didn't want to waste the other tobacco I mixed it with if it actually did carry some of that odour into the taste and had to be carefully matched to balance out that flavour.

It just surprised me that I'd not heard that description, even of the tin's scent, anywhere before. Not that I'm very well travelled at this point of course, and I'm quite enjoying feeling like a 14 year old asking question after cringey question on a newsgroup all over again.

The road to understanding is a humbling one; cheers.

 

[davek]

Perique smells like sweaty socks, but it tastes like pepper. You can very easily use too much. Pinches of Perique literally go a long way. Used sparingly, it is delicious.

 

[krizzose]

Straight perique smells pretty nasty. Everyone likes different amounts. Most VaPer blends have a fairly small amount of perique, I would guess (others may disagree) around 10% or less. There are obviously exceptions to that (Cajun Kake comes to mind). I’ve made home blends with 7% that I thought were too perique forward.