I like Perique.
I have smoked pure, unadulterated Perique.
I have smoked St. James Perique and I have smoked Acadian Perique.
I have smoked it in a wide variety of blends which container Perique.
What gets me are all the myths, mysteries and misinformation surrounding Perique tobacco which persists to this day even though numerous articles have been written explaining it:
“Perique fell out of favor because at one time there was an overabundance of it on the market.”
“Perique isn’t a tobacco, it’s just a process and any tobacco can be used to make perique.”
“You can get perique made anywhere and it will taste the same.”
I won’t call those lies but I will say all three of those statements are filled with misinformation and misinterpretations of the facts about perique.
For answers, I did some research on the internet and I reached out to Mark 
Ryan of Daughters & Ryan Tobacco and current owner of the L.A. Poche Perique facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana to answer some of the questions and to refresh my memory of what I learned during a tour of the facility in October 2015.
Is Perique a processing technique, a species of tobacco or both?
The answer is yes.
I found a reference to perique on line in a book named “Tobacco Leaf” J.B. Killebrew, AM., PH.D and Herbert Myrick, B.S. published in 1897. It discusses the tobacco and the history of the process. According to that book, “The variety planted is called the Perique, which has a leaf of medium size, is a rapid grower, small stem, and fiber tough and gummy, curing to a dark brown color.”
If you go to victoryseeds.com, a source for tobacco plant seeds, they describe it as “perique tobacco (the plant) is a specific, unique, variety, which you can grow anywhere that tobacco can be grown.”
According to “The Perique Tobacco Industry of St. James Parish, Louisiana: A Wold Monopoly.” published by the New York Botanical Garden Journal Economic Botany. (William C. Rense Economic Botany Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun., 1970, pp 123-130) perique is a “pink flowered tobacco classified under miscellaneous type 72.” That publication further goes on to say that perique tobacco probably found its way to Louisiana from the Caribbean because of a resemblance to Dominican Andullo and tobacco grown along the coast of Puerto Rico.
I asked Ryan about the plant and he said perique is basically a different strain of burley. One of the visible differences is that with a burley, the top leaves stand up while on a Perique plant they droop down.
While perique can be grown anywhere other tobaccos are grown, don’t expect the tobacco to have the same flavor characteristics as that grown in St. James Parish. Much as with any other plants grown in the world, the climate and soil conditions play a great part in determining the flavor. Ryan said the rich, fertile delta soil, the moisture in the water table from the Mississippi River, the climate and the microbes in the soil and air, all goes into making St. James Perique the tobacco that it is. Those conditions are not naturally replicated anywhere else in the world.
But, there is also a Perique Tobacco process. Pierre Chenet, is often credited with creating the Perique process by “borrowing” it from local Native Americans. The legend is they would store the leaves in hollowed out logs and press rocks down on it to compress the leaves and let it age. Chenet’s method involved rolling up the leaves in linen and then wrapping it with rope and keep twisting it to apply pressure. Pressure fermentation of tobacco was a process already known to the French and Spanish and according to the Economic Botany article, Chenet probably learned it from a Spanish family in the region.
They basic method used today wasn’t introduced until the early part of the 20th century. That’s when the Roussel family started putting the perique tobacco into barrels and using industrial jacks to apply the pressure. That is the method Ryan continues using today.
[references: http://www.saveseeds.org/library/books/Tobacco_Leaf/tobacco_leaf_1897.html
http://www.victoryseeds.com/nicotiana_perique.html]
Is the tobacco being processed cased, topped or treated with anything other than water? Some have suggested that its “rubbed with fruit mash or puree.
The answer here is a qualified no. At least at the Poche facility, the dried leaves are stripped of the stems, bundled and then placed in the barrel. Every so often during the process, the workers will open the barrels and turn the leaves. Nothing is added to the tobacco. Ryan said he primarily sells his perique to pipe tobacco manufacturers but there are others who use the perique process and he couldn’t speak about their processing methods. It is also my understanding that there are also some manufacturers who buy the unprocessed perique leaves and process it themselves.
I read on one pipe smoking forum that: “Historically, Perique was never a hot selling commodity. There was always a big surplus of it so there would be no need to try to adulterate tobacco to make a faux Perique. There will be differences in the final Perique product due to the cultivar used, length of time in the barrel, seasonal temps etc. but probably the biggest factor is the sauce that each blender adds to their blend.”
Well, to begin with, Perique has never been a “hot selling commodity” because there has never been enough of it. The things that makes St. James Parish Perique so unique is the environment it is grown in. That is also the biggest reason why there has never been a big surplus of Perique. Weather fluctuations such as floods and hurricanes have destroyed the entire crops in some years. Ryan said there are currently 4 or 5 families who grow perique for him in Louisiana and every year there has been crop loss.
Another issue historically is the price farmers were paid for the tobacco crops, Ryan said. At one time, many families just stopped growing perique because they could grow other crops and make more money.
I’ll address the question about faux perique further down.
Is Perique made in places other than St. James Parish? Is it “real” Perique?
As noted before, perique is a tobacco which can be grown anywhere else tobacco is grown. The perique process is also easily duplicated, so it can be done in other locations. But, the question is, “Is that real perique.” The answer, in my opinion, is no.
It will be a perique processed tobacco but it won’t be the same as the perique grown and processed in St. James Parish. As I wrote earlier, the environmental and soil conditions are vital in what makes perique taste and smell the way it does. If you change those, then you change the flavor of the tobacco. Ryan also said it’s not just the microbes in the soil, but those in the air and in the walls of the aging room that makes a difference.
Ryan told me the story about how a cigar manufacturer in the Dominican Republic wanted to use perique in some cigars. The manufacturer started buying a Perique grown and processed in Brazil. He then ordered some St. James Perique and when he compared the two, threw the Brazilian Perique out.
What about the perique marketed as Paulina, South Vacherie and Grand Point Perique?
For the most part, those are all areas in or around St. James Parish. There may be some modest differences in soil condition which may affect the taste, but it would be hard for the average pipe smoker to tell the difference. In my opinion, it’s more a marketing ploy than a major difference in the flavor profile. (That’s the opinion of the writer, not Mark Ryan.)
How long has Perique been a blend and not a pure Perique?
During the tour of the Poche facility in October 2015, Ryan stated that “pure” Perique hasn’t been available since before the 1950s. Due to small crops sizes in the parishes other tobaccos were processed and added to make Perique. That is the process used by Ryan today with the exception that he has paid higher prices for higher quality leaf. Ryan said he has bought tobacco from Canada, Kentucky and Tennessee. These tobaccos are then mixed with the perique grown in St. James Parish and processed. Are there any pipe tobaccos sold that are “Pure” Perique – tobacco grown in St. James Parish, processed and not blended with other tobacco?
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