McClelland Blending Perique

If this is indeed pure 100% St James Perique, then it is the best there is to be had, anywhere. I am a bit confused by the ratings on this. If it is, indeed, St James Perique. There are perhaps other "perique" imitations out there, and of course there is the Acadian, which is a blend.

Note: There are only two types of actual perique: Acadian, and St James. Acadian is not made using 100% St James Perique tobacco, but a blend using other tobaccos along with St James perique, St James is made from 100% perique tobacco from St James La.

McClellands seems to be the only entity that currently sells 100% St James perique to the general public (unless the wording is designed to connote pure St James and they are really selling Acadia which was, as it says, simply sent from St James). Most tobacco blenders buy and use the Acadian because it is consistent and so they can produce more accurate blends year after year (e.g. C & D). I've also heard opinions that some years the Acadian is simply wonderful. All of this is subjective I suppose. One is going to spend more for St James Perique than they would Acadian. At any rate, if you like real 100% Perique, which is St James (there are no others), then this should be 4 stars. If, on the other hand, you prefer Acadian (I'd wager most people can't even tell the difference when it is in a blend unless they are actual blenders), then ok ... but there is no way to compare this with "another" perique ... unless of course you are talking about a different year. It only comes from one source.

That said, I need to contact McClelland to see if this is indeed Acadian, or pure St James. If the latter, do they blend the St James Multi year (or plan to) .. or if this is from a large lot that they purchased from a single year, or if it is different every year (if so, they should advertise the years as they do with CC).

I have smoked both Acadian and St James straight. I did not like either experience, as both left a strong shitake like mushroom flavor on my palate for about an hour. I did notice a difference between the two (basically the St James offered a slightly more grotesque experience having been smoked alone without any other tobacco. However, I love both if blended properly with a VA, or a VA Lat, and frankly, both were delicious with all types of VA's I had tried. I don't like it with Burley, but some may. I want to add that the Acadia was in bulk form when I bought it, and the St James was of the Jewel Jars that one can find from time to time if they know the right folk. The marked difference I noted might also be in part to the age of what was in the jar, or something else. These were two different tobaccos. When I smoked this tobacco (that I am reviewing now) I did not have opportunity to compare it to the Jewel St. James nor did I take the time to compare it to the bulk I had purchased several years ago. As for what I remember, it would be impossible to tell. I only tried it "raw" once again, because I wanted to see if my tastes had changed and also for the purposes of reviewing VA/Per blends and determining Perique levels. This particular tobacco gets 4 stars, since it is either a St James, or an Acadian, there really is no other current standard.

For those of you who have never tried to smoke Perique straight, I can tell you that it's like smoking a maduro cigar dipped in pure Habanero pepper extract with a few hits of LSD dropped in. After being able to hear colors for an hour while my tounge was sizzling and popping like overcooked bacon I stuck to using this solely as a blending ingredient.

Moisture content remains intact in the tin, the leaves are shredded and a bit sticky. There is a very strong smell of fruity wine upon opening the tin.

When using this perique in your blend always use it sparingly as it is extremely strong. A large percentage in a blend will provide a strong, peppery, bitter cigar-like flavor that will bite you harder than a pitbull terrier.

When used properly it can create a wonderful adventure in smoking...a whole exciting chapter in the complete story of the perfect smoke.

Yeah, ok, this is a blending tobacco. But if you're gonna blend with it, you should at least know what it tastes like straight. Right? Right... but just once... and not too much!

I managed about a dozen puffs of this straight before I was overwhelmed. Even that little bit ghosted my pipe to the point where I need to alcohol-cure it to get the taste out, to say nothing of how much my palate was ghosted. But I did get the gist of the tobacco. I found it both peppery and salty - almost briny. It's clear that a little goes a long way with this stuff. Smoking even 12 puffs of this straight is akin to eating a 12 oz bowl of mustard.

Case in point: I put about 3 grams of it in with 3 oz of Rattray's Black Virginia and the perique taste completed overwhelmed the BV's stoved virginia tang (which is very light, to be fair). Cutting back to 2 grams in 4 oz of BV proved to be the right mix, as the two jet black tobaccos then merged seamlessly after a week. I've also put a pinch in with a couple oz of Cornell & Diehl's Haunted Bookshop but it was pretty bad, which I think says more about the C&D than the perique. If you have a blend lying about that is dull and needs some spice, try this in a small batch. I'd experiment with 1/8 gram of this to 1/2 oz of other tobacco to start, and you can even break that down further. Maybe I'll never be a blender like McClellands but it's fun to experiment and sometimes it'll keep you from throwing those boring blends away... and sometimes it'll force you to throw 'em away sooner! If at first you don't succeed....

Tried one small bowl, and survived. It's not meant to smoked straight, of course. As a blender, it's very good, giving you the spice (a bit of it), and deep raisin, fig and date sweetness you want from perique, though it's not plumy like the kind used by several other companies such as Hearth&Home. When experimenting, remember that it's easier to add than to subtract from whatever mixture you are designing, so start with less than you think you'll want to use, and work your way up as your flavor profile indicates. In my opinion, it's the best way to discover what percentage works and which doesn't.

-JimInks

I use this regularly to boost McClelland's #5100 Red Cake. Red Cake is a pleasant smoke that offers a straight, natural sweet Va. flavor, but is one dimensional. I mix ten pinches of Red Cake to one pinch of McClelland's blending Perique in an old McClelland tin and give it a good shake. The ribbon cut of both tobaccos marries well and produces an even blend. The end product is a unique and excellent smoke, just enough sweet Va. and just enough Perique tang. Paddy.

On it's own: Tastes a bit like stewed figs to me. Fairly rich in flavor. Spicy, but not as spicy as I had expected. I don't inhale, but I can tell this has a substantial nicotine kick. My nasal passages absorb enough for me to really feel it.

As a blender: I've used it to beef up some VaPers that I thought were too mild in Perique. Works perfectly. Really adds some nice flavor. Can't ask for more.

Medium in body. Medium to full in flavor. Needs drying time for a good burn.

I am not any kind of tobacco blender, and this is the first 'straight' perique I have tried. So I cannot comment on whether this is 'good' perique for that purpose or not.

Like DK I wanted to know what this legendary tobacco tasted like by itself. Well, now I know...sort of. Sort of because this tobacco is ineffable. It is as much sensation as taste. Many of the descriptors already used: mushroom, pepper, plums- they all apply. There is something of the beef tea about this tobacco. I can only assume it is oozing with umami.

Can it be smoked straight? In my opinion: yes. It is imo no more extreme an experience than a huge lat bomb or some of the more wretched aromatics. In my cigarette days I smoked tobacco harsher than this. (White Ox comes to mind.) It is a bugger to keep alight tho and will command all of your attention the whole time. It will also make your head spin. The effect on the tongue is also worth noting, rather like black pepper, the effect of which endures beyond the smoke itself.

Good for blending and very strong so little is needed. Like Sir Thomas Beecham once siad “Try everything once except folk dancing and incest.” so i put some in a pipe and got an education on Perique. Some days later my tongue is starting to heal but i now know what Perique tastes like.

I'm something of a Perique junkie. Even if admitting so is kind of like shouting, I LIKE TO BE SPANKED while waiting for the teller...I don't care.

A wise man once counseled, "All things in moderation" but what we often forget is that he added, "Including moderation." In the spirit of that wise man, I occasionally load up a small bowl of the stuff on its own and puff away. It is, as others have said, a pain in the a$$ to keep lit, but it's a sure cure for tongue bite, depression, constipation, indigestion, butt zits and fungal nails. Really.

As a blending tobacco, I think it's a stupendous gift. I put it in all kinds of things, especially anything that I've had bite me in the past. It's the muzzle on the pit bulls of the tobacco world.

Even though I haven't gotten around to trying anyone else's pure Perique blender, and so I have no real frame of reference, I have to give this the highest recommendation. It's dark as a swamp night in the tin and tastes like two-hours-on-the-turlet-Teddy's prune breakfast, but it does amazing things in the mouth and in the mind.

I've called up McClelland directly to ask them about the source of this tobacco. It is indeed manufactured in St. James Parish, LA by a family there. But there's not enough of the genuine perique leaf grown locally to meet demand so only a portion is used in the actual product. The rest, oddly enough, is brought into St. James from other areas. McClelland says the resulting blend is as close to the original as possible, and has performed very well.

My calls to Nichols & Brown, LLC, the outfit that rescued the last true perique farmer a few years ago, have brought up a disconnected signal. They were based in NOLA and I dont know if they survived. This throws into question whether there is any true Lousiana perique at all anymore.

But in the mean time, I can't knock McClelland's product. It's perhaps as close as you can get now.