Pipe tobacco: Perique
Perique is a flavoring tobacco like Latakia, with which it also shares its color.
It is perhaps the most unique pipe tobacco: it grows only in a small plot of land in Louisiana, and its long and complex production process makes it very expensive to produce.
History of Perique pipe tobacco
Perique is obtained through a special curing of a variety of Burley. We are talking about Red Burley, which grows exclusively in the alluvial soil of Saint James Parish, Louisiana.
The story is told of how for more than a thousand years, the Native American Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes cultivated this variety of Burley in this small land.
In the late eighteenth century, a tobacco farmer named Pierre Chenet learned about the special curing process used by the Native Americans, who used stumps and hollowed-out logs as containers to ferment tobacco.
Chenet improved the process, making it more modern, until it became the flavoring tobacco we know today.
Not surprisingly, Perique (little Pierre) is named after the diminutive of Chanet.
Currently, much of Saint James's Perique is grown by Percy and Grant Martin.
Planting the same seed elsewhere will never result in tobacco suitable for the treatment necessary to make it Perique.
On the other hand, planting any other variety at that area will yield Perique within a couple of years.
It is probably the most terroir-influenced tobacco plant ever, being inextricably linked to a portion of land of only 6.5 hectares.
The characteristics of Perique pipe tobacco
Today, Perique is a rare tobacco with significant production costs.
This has led tobacco producers to experiment with alternative solutions, subjecting other types of tobacco to the same treatment, with little result.
The only satisfactory result is Green River Kentucky Burley, which can be grown outside the Saint James area. Mixing it with Saint James Perique yields the cheaper Acadian Perique.
Currently, it is easier to find Acadian Perique in a tobacco blend than Saint James one.
Acadian, while spicy and enjoyable, is different from real Perique.
Curing of Perique pipe tobacco
As soon as the leaves sprout, those in excess of twelve are removed.
Near summer, when they turn a color tending to dark green, whole plants are harvested and stored in special rooms to dry.
After about two weeks, when the leaves reach partial desiccation, they are wetted, gathered into bundles and put under pressure inside whiskey barrels, using blocks of wood as weights.
Once a month, the pressure is relieved and the tobacco is pulled out to let it air out. After a year has passed, the Perique cure ends, although it can sometimes last much longer.
At this point the tobacco achieves a dark brown color, tending to black, a high moisture level and a fruity, slightly tart aroma.
How Perique tobaccos affect smoking
Perique is a classic flavoring of American and English blends, to which it lends a spicy, tangy aroma.
It burns slowly, but is not a particularly full-bodied tobacco. Nevertheless, we do not recommend smoking it alone.
Perique can be considered a flavoring even more than Latakia, in fact it should be used in very small amounts (maximum 5-6% of the blend).
Ultimately, Perique has a distinctive and very recognizable aroma, due to the special curing process it undergoes, which makes it an absolute protagonist within the blend.
What are the best Perique pipe tobaccos
Let's look together at some of the best pipe tobaccos with Perique:
- Robert McConnell Regent Street (formerly Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture);
- Robert McConnell Old London;
- Robert McConnell Black Parrot;
- Rattray's Brown Clunee;
- Rattray's Marlin Flake;
- Rattray's Old Gowrie;
- Samuel Gawith St. James Flake.