What Do You Look For In A Va/Per?

[cosmicfolklore]

Great post, Deathmetal. Are you cooking up something new?

 

[andrew]

Nice tits, pretty face and can hold a conversation.

 

[sablebrush52]

I like the balance between the citrus and/or tang of the Virginias and the pepperiness/fruitiness of the Perique. The range of flavor profiles of this type is extraordinary.

 

[deathmetal]

Are you cooking up something new?

Yes. So far, results are encouraging. Lot of good ideas in this thread.

I like the balance between the citrus and/or tang of the Virginias and the pepperiness/fruitiness of the Perique.

The b-word (balance) is, in my view, the defining trait of a good example of this blend type...

 

[kimbiker]

Just been smoking my first ever va/per the last couple of days......fantastic, G & H Louisiana flake.
Sent for a few samplers of va/per's now. St James, Dunhills, Rattrays etc.

 

[jackswilling]

Right now Reiner Long Golden is at the top of my list. VABURPER. Light topping and, you can tell, top of the line tobacco. I don't care for a heavy hand on the Perique. I want to taste it, but in a back-up supporting role.
"A very special blend of golden Virginias, a little "white" Burley, and a touch of Perique to make things interesting. Pressed into long flakes, sliced, then rolled in the tin in long strips.
Notes: From the Kohlase & Kopp website(translated from German):

Golden Virginia, some white Burley and a pinch of Perique . Long flake tobacco rolled.
The website also confirms a honey/orange flavoring is added:"

 

[jackswilling]

BTW

For me it is never about strength +/-

It is all about the taste

And never about the room note

 

[B18]

What i look for in a VA/Per is pungent/ strong taste and a peppery feel. I do like milder VA/Per, it all depends on the mood i'm in.

 

[fitzy]

Plum, apricot, or bread. Sometimes the pepper is pleasant, but not always.

This is right on the money. Fruity or bready and not much pepper.

 

[clickklick]

I've sworn off perique for a decade after I've found it not agreeable with my palate. I've sampled a few VA/Pers here and there over that time and same result.
Then in walks a revisit to Orlik Golden Sliced on Tuesday. Wow! This states it is a Va/Per, but there is either just a tiny amount of perique, or it's the fake burley kind of perique. This stuff is MONEY! That is all .

 

[kane]

I'm still trying to figure it out. After only smoking English blends, and tried some straight VA's and really liked them. Then tried my first VA/Per, Bayou Morning, and it was too much for me. The pepper seemed overwhelming and the nic hit was too heavy. Maybe I had an unusual batch, it had about 4 years on it when I tried it. I was surprised after reading reviews, but I couldn't taste the fruit notes, it seemed very much pepper and ash. Then I tried Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls and I got it. I got less pepper, more fruit, and could taste the VA pretty well, and a decent and pleasant nic hit. Right now I am smoking Three Friars, and while this is called a VA/Bur, it tastes to me what I imagine many want from a VA/Per: nice present VA sweetness, with a good balance of the raisin/fig and pepper. Not really sure what the Burley is doing other than giving it some body. I think it's a balance thing between fruit and pepper and giving the VA room to shine.

 

[stvalentine]

After having smoked a lot of English, Balkan or Lat-heavy tobaccos I am on a search for something different. In the past I was thinking Per is not for me, too peppery and such. But I found out the Per changes its taste in relation to the tobacco it is mixed with. The one that turned me around completely was SG´s Cabbie´s Mixture - man, what a great tobacco! While writing this I am smoking DTM´s Ascanian No 1 Riverside Blend, a VA/Per. The bite of the VA is absent and the Per brings in a nice sweetnes, like plums or apricots. I have the Ascanian No 2 Castle Blend with more Per here and will try it next. In the end I could easily live with SG Cabbie´s Mixture but I like to try out blends.
So well, it´s a counterweight to the smoky Lat blends and I like those antipodes. ::

 

[simong]

In a va-per, I look for Scottish cake/escudo/Marlin flake. There's hundreds more great va-per blends out there, but these three are that good (IMO) I can't be bothered to keep trying all them others. Sorry! Forgot Beacon by mclellands.

 

[jacks6]

I like a little bit of rum topping and a lot of Perique.

 

[toobfreak]

I haven't really met a VaPer I didn't like right out of the tin or bag, but most seem to benefit even further from a bit more aging. This seems to bring out the fruit and tang of the Virginia even better as the sugars ferment and mellows out the Perique so that it blends in better. Maybe a little baking is in order here? But I keep some separate perique on hand (both McClelland's tinned perique as well as their bulk blending perique) so that if and as needed, I can bring the pepper up just a little or a lot to get the right kind of spice as needed to balance the kind of Virginia I have. Once found, they can be pressed in a block and left stored for a few weeks to marry the flavors even further.

 

[jackswilling]

"I like a little bit of rum topping and a lot of Perique."
Anniversary Kake is a prime example here. One of my favorites. Got a lot of 8 oz tins and bulk stacked up.

 

[ophiuchus]

Virginia and Perique :nana:

This, and as absolutely little as possible beyond this.

 

[shutterbugg]

What Do You Look For In A Va/Per?

A tin of Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls.

 

[saltedplug]

Chant's Cake. Has 2 burleys, I believe, and was developed from Exclusive, a Craig Tarler blend. 35% perique, so ya gotta love it!

Escudo, that I've always loved, full taste, with the perique vying for attention every bit as much as the VA. I like humdinger nicotine, but VA/perique blends are my next favorite.

Sooner or layer I'm going to pay the nut of $16.50 for 50g of Salty Dogs. I adore plug tobacco, and it's a shame so little of it is made.

 

[papapauly]

What do you guys recommend for a first step into pure Virginia tobacco's? I have some blends such as bayou night that I enjoy but I have always been a burley smoker, I love some Latakia, and have recently discovered the amount of perique I like vs the amount that was to my taste buds unsmokeable (straight picyuane from d&r was like drinking hot sauce to me, I have never been burned by a tobacco that bad in my life! It is great for blending though) I want to try the Navy flake and rolls that I see bit I don't know where to jump in, I have always heard Virginia's can burn very hot and is very different than smoking burley based blends