I have heard the same thing. Good things about P&C perique but not good about Sutliff perique. I have some but have never used it. I’ve heard good things right now about Whole Leaf perique which of course is sourced from Mark Ryan. I’m thinking about picking some up.
Sutliff Perique TS-20 vs Blender's Bench Vacherie Perique?
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+1 on whole leaf perique. Just make sure that if you are not storing OPENED bags in fridge to dry it out of case or it will continue to ferment. Some people peel the individual leafs apart to process, others just chopped the shit out of the block (aka granulated). Took me about a week to dry it out on oven trays before jarring up
In about 2007 I bought three pounds of whole leaf perique from Percy Martin's family. When I called I realized from back round noise that I had interrupted the family process, but the Martin to whom I spoke was amiable enough but disappointed that I only bought three pounds.
When it arrived my thought was that my perique should not have stems, so I proceeded to strip them. After hours and hours of work I thought there must be a better way, so I called Craig Tarler who said that stems were part of tobacco, at which point I was relieved to only have to mince the perique before jarring.
I think I was intimidated to use it in tweaking blends or those of my own creation, especially as my earlier experiments doing this had not yielded splendid results. So the jarred perique went undisturbed until 2012 when I "quit" smoking and was sold along with the rest of a sizable cellar, including some 15 pounds of Dark Plug, and 70 pipes.
When it arrived my thought was that my perique should not have stems, so I proceeded to strip them. After hours and hours of work I thought there must be a better way, so I called Craig Tarler who said that stems were part of tobacco, at which point I was relieved to only have to mince the perique before jarring.
I think I was intimidated to use it in tweaking blends or those of my own creation, especially as my earlier experiments doing this had not yielded splendid results. So the jarred perique went undisturbed until 2012 when I "quit" smoking and was sold along with the rest of a sizable cellar, including some 15 pounds of Dark Plug, and 70 pipes.
The Jewel of St. James [1], made from Percy Martin Farms perique, is still available from Matt Nichols (mentioned in this New York Times article [2] about perique).
His perique is a moist, funky and fermented black shag. It's sweet and savory, and very deep and complex. All the commercially available bulk perique I've ever had doesn't come close to this stuff. It damn near is 'the caviar of tobaccos' as it says on the label.
[1] Jewel of St James - Perique - Tobacco Reviews - https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/5643/jewel-of-st-james-perique
[2] Tobacco Lovers Discover Mystique of Perique (Published 2013) - https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/us/tobacco-lovers-discover-mystique-of-perique.html
His perique is a moist, funky and fermented black shag. It's sweet and savory, and very deep and complex. All the commercially available bulk perique I've ever had doesn't come close to this stuff. It damn near is 'the caviar of tobaccos' as it says on the label.
[1] Jewel of St James - Perique - Tobacco Reviews - https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/5643/jewel-of-st-james-perique
[2] Tobacco Lovers Discover Mystique of Perique (Published 2013) - https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/us/tobacco-lovers-discover-mystique-of-perique.html
In reading through these posts, the one thing that gets shaken at its foundation is what the hell does it matter who the farmer was that made it. I did really enjoy the RO series that Russ made, but as I discussed with him, how much of the differences those different blends gave us was from the different types of Virginias and blended leaf, and how much was really from just from differences in the perique itself? The reason so many companies rely on casings with set proprietorial casings is because of inconsistencies between years the leaf was produced. It's a wonder that a VaPer could even be created for more than a decade without playing around with the flavors for consistency.
Wine is similar. I can make six gallons of a wine, starting with them all in the same primary fermenter, and then separate them all into six individual one gallon carboys and have six different tasting wines. You see this all the time in the wine world. I can't imagine relying on rustic old barrels to make a nasty thing like goopy tar-like perique and getting consistent results, with so many factors that can change from batch to batch.
This is all why it bugs the hell out of me when a hobby homegrower makes a perique and people immediately jump to the conclusion that "it can't possibly be perique" that they are making. Which perique is the real deal, really depends on who's marketing blabber you've bought into.
Wine is similar. I can make six gallons of a wine, starting with them all in the same primary fermenter, and then separate them all into six individual one gallon carboys and have six different tasting wines. You see this all the time in the wine world. I can't imagine relying on rustic old barrels to make a nasty thing like goopy tar-like perique and getting consistent results, with so many factors that can change from batch to batch.
This is all why it bugs the hell out of me when a hobby homegrower makes a perique and people immediately jump to the conclusion that "it can't possibly be perique" that they are making. Which perique is the real deal, really depends on who's marketing blabber you've bought into.
If both are from one source, it's all the same, but I'd be inclined to D&R since they seem to specialize in minimally processed leaf. Though sable' reminds us from time to time that Sutliff is the source of tobacco for many premium blends that pipe smokers haughtily smoke instead of Sutliff. If you are perfecting your own blend, you might want a small quantity of each, since if there is a difference, even slight, one might fulfill your blend more than the other.
From my point of view, Semois, the burley variant grow in Belgium, doesn't need to be made into anything!
cosmic, never underestimate the importance of marketing blabber. It's like a placebo pill. If the customer is moved to delight, mission accomplished.
cosmic, never underestimate the importance of marketing blabber. It's like a placebo pill. If the customer is moved to delight, mission accomplished.
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