Aging Effects on Perique

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EricTKT

EricTKT

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After having had a good deal of perique over the years, I've come to the conclusion that it is one of those tobaccos that, for me, hurts to smoke.

Then I had a thought, a few years ago, I was at the GKC Pipe Show and someone opened a tin or 40 or so year old Dunhill Nightcap. I don't remember it biting me at all, but I could be mistaken.

I have heard (as I am not extremely knowledgable in this area) that different pipe tobaccos age differently. Which, leads me to my question. What changes in Perique as it ages? Does it mellow?
 
EricTKT":blmikoto said:
After having had a good deal of perique over the years, I've come to the conclusion that it is one of those tobaccos that, for me, hurts to smoke.

Then I had a thought, a few years ago, I was at the GKC Pipe Show and someone opened a tin or 40 or so year old Dunhill Nightcap. I don't remember it biting me at all, but I could be mistaken.

I have heard (as I am not extremely knowledgable in this area) that different pipe tobaccos age differently. Which, leads me to my question. What changes in Perique as it ages? Does it mellow?
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Sometimes, it does, but not always. I find the perique in Solani 633 stays rather peppery even after twelve years. I've smoked some 1980s Three Nuns in the past year, and noticed a little mellowing out of the perique. The 1990s Three Nuns I smoked earlier this year hadn't mellowed as much. I think it takes several years before the mellowing begins. It probably depends on how it is processed, re: Acadian perique versus St. James perique, and what else is in the blend. Acadian seems to mellow faster. If there's a lot of Virginia in the blend, its aging may mitigate the perique, causing one to think it's mellowed more than it has.
 
JimInks":c9unz6rk said:
Acadian seems to mellow faster. If there's a lot of Virginia in the blend, its aging may mitigate the perique, causing one to think it's mellowed more than it has.
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Yep. Especially red virginias - to me, they get sweet and dark enough that they can mask some of the pepper in the perique.

But, as a general answer to the OP, there are a lot of variables but I find that aged perique is really, really good stuff. It begins to lose it's peppery edge and a dark fruit (date, raisin, etc) sort of quality starts to come out. Personally, I'm a huge perique fan and love it young or with some age to it, but time can do a lot to change it.
 
It's tough to tell because Perique is such a chameleon. In some blends it's fermented fruity, yet with others it's spicy and peppery. I think it has to do with what other components are in the blend. Grassy, lemony Va seems to bring out the peppery Perique. The sweeter, mellower red VA and dark fired burley seem to make it stewd plummy. Age just seems to meld the flavor more. The individual components aren't so pronounced. That's just my take on it.

Two popular Stokkebye blends are a good illustration. Navy Flake is spicy, whereas Bullseye is sweet and fermented fruity. I'm not positive, but I'd bet it's the same Perique used in both.
 
It could just be that your body doesn't like the chemistry associated with Perique. Age could help, but it's hard to say how much and with what other tobaccos. Sometimes there are just tobaccos that don't agree with the smoker for whatever reason. For me it's heavy Burleys. I love the smell and taste, but I can't feel my tongue after a few puffs...

 
This is great insight gentleman! Thanks for the input, I went ahead and lit up a bowl of the "new/fresh" Dunhill Nightcap, and while it did have a bit of bite on the tongue it wasn't as bad as many blends I've had that contained Perique. So maybe it's just blends that are heavy on it.
 
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