Virginia Perique cigars

[Hermit]

I had to get a box of these. Haven't tried one yet.
Cigar Review: StillWell Star Bayou No. 32 » Leaf Enthusiast | Reviews for Cigar & Pipe Lovers

StillWell Star is the newest line of cigars from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. Brand owner, Steve Saka, went into this project with the specific intent to blend the experiences of pipe and cigar smoking at a higher level than had previously been executed. He worked with Jeremy Reeves, the head blender for pipe tobacco maker Cornell & Diehl, to get the best results from the four different StillWell Star blends. In previous installments of this series, I looked at the Aromatic No, 1 and English No. 27 blends.

Today I’m taking a look at the Bayou No. 32 version of StillWell Star. Like the others in the series, it uses a high-priming, Grade A Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a San Andres Negro binder. Bayou No. 32 uses starts with a medium-bodied Nicaraguan filler and adds Bright and Red Virginia leaf, along with “select St. James Parish Perique pipe tobacco.”

 

[urbino]

Not sure I'm a big fan of seeing perique go into cigars. If cigar smokers decide they like it, it'll be very difficult to get in pipe blends anymore.

 

[Niblick]

Hey Hermit, let us know what you think of them and thanks for the heads up.

 

[Hermit]

Hey Hermit, let us know what you think of them and thanks for the heads up.

I'll probably let em sit awhile before I open the box, but I'll let ya know.
They're kinda pricey; hope they're good.

 

[Carlos]

I bought a couple Tabacalera Incorporada 1881 series from Mark Ryan at Chicago a few years ago. At least I think that's what he was distributing at the time. I smoked the first one to the nub and then stuffed that nub in a pipe and smoked it to ash. That's how good those were.

 

[Natch]

Carlos, that is hardcore! I used to hang out at an old Italian "dive" bar in Milwaukee years ago, there was this old guy, who barely spoke English, but he loved those cheap, dry-cured Italian cigars, (you know, the ones that look like black dog turds and are hard as a rock). When he got it down to a nub he did the same thing. But they were so damp and oily that in the pipe they would pop and crackle, and he went through a whole book of matches just to relight them each time. They smelled like wet oak leaves and rubber bands cased with kerosene. He looked like he was in his late 80s after a hard life, but he may have been half that age. Smoking those probably doubled his age. But then, when I think of what I smoked and put in my body back in the 70s, that explains when I look in the mirror each morning I see my grandpa on a really bad day.


Natch

 

[Blackhorse]

Cigar Roaches…classic!

 

[DoverPipes]

Saka used to work for Drew.
Drew uses "pipe tobacco" in many of his sticks.
Saka just started doing the same after he started his own line.

 

[Jevverrett]

Not sure I'm a big fan of seeing perique go into cigars. If cigar smokers decide they like it, it'll be very difficult to get in pipe blends anymore.

I’m not sure that’s a bad problem to have long term. I think the largest producer of perique is now exclusively working for a cigarette company. I wanna say Martin? American Spirit black label, one of the few cigarettes still worth smoking, imo.

 

[Blackhorse]

So far as I understand there has been and is now only ONE producer of Perique in recent years. I think the guy is Mark Ryan…principal owner of the Daughters and Ryan RYO tobacco business. He is reputed as singlehandedly saving Perique tobacco by purchasing the entire operation and continuing when it was nearly closing down. Or something like that. Others likely known the accurate story better than I.

Agree with the American Spirit line being “the one”. It’s either that or RYO with the D&R Three Sails tobacco. Quite excellent. But I don’t smoke those evil things any longer. Except for a very brief reacquaintance I haven’t for forty years.

And now, locally at least, cigarettes are going for around $10 per pack! OMG. What a world! I’ve rented apartments for that kind of money. Admittedly it was a while ago though.

 

[Natch]

"And now, locally at least, cigarettes are going for around $10 per pack! OMG. What a world! I’ve rented apartments for that kind of money."
I'll assume that wasn't in downtown Manhatten? For $10 these days you might get a dumpster behind Walmart.

 

[Blackhorse]

Yeah…well…Manhattan…sure. But it’s a really nice dumpster.

 

[Jevverrett]

I thought the American spirit company bought out the Percy Martin operation, and Mark Ryan bought into (or out) the other smaller farmers. I seem to remember hearing something like that when Mark Ryan was on the Pipes Magazine radio show telling his tale. I don’t remember which episode, but they are all kept evergreen on the podcast apps. He was talking about making cigars and vape products in the future also. I think.

 

[Blackhorse]

Tobacco is certainly a convoluted business.

 

[Jevverrett]

Yes it is lol. If you’ve never heard that podcast, they have had most of the major players from the last 50 yrs on to talk about the business.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Carlos, that is hardcore! I used to hang out at an old Italian "dive" bar in Milwaukee years ago, there was this old guy, who barely spoke English, but he loved those cheap, dry-cured Italian cigars, (you know, the ones that look like black dog turds and are hard as a rock). When he got it down to a nub he did the same thing. But they were so damp and oily that in the pipe they would pop and crackle, and he went through a whole book of matches just to relight them each time. They smelled like wet oak leaves and rubber bands cased with kerosene. He looked like he was in his late 80s after a hard life, but he may have been half that age. Smoking those probably doubled his age. But then, when I think of what I smoked and put in my body back in the 70s, that explains when I look in the mirror each morning I see my grandpa on a really bad day.


Natch

We used to sell the heck out of those at the tobacconist where I worked. It could have been the company we kept at the shop, but they had so much folklore. I can't remember much of it now, but I believe one of the stories was that they were invented via a flood in a winery basement where tobacco somehow ended up in a vat or barrel of wine. Instead of throwing the tobacco away, they dried it out and rolled cigars out of it. I remember liking the first couple of minutes smoking them, but then they got sort of rancid powerful not-good tasting. I'd let them go out and then just chew on them a bit before I'd throw them away. I tried using them as my backpacking/hiking treat at the end of a long day. Seemed more convenient than lugging around a pipe. Only did it a few times because they didn't do it for me.

Back when getting Cuban cigars was a pain and a rare treat, I'd save all the butts and end clips. Trim off the burnt part of the roaches and save the rest in a tin until I had enough for a full bowl. Some of those bowls turned out to be great smokes (probably the ones with the most clippings and not as many roaches), but more often than not, it was an exercise in futility. I don't really care for cigar leaf in a pipe, but after you have a wonderful cigar, it felt criminal to throw any of it away. When we would get Cuban Montecristo No2, those torpedo tip clippings were even good to chew. I think the only non-Cuban cigar clippings I'd save were the original Henry Clays. Those cigars were so wonderfully acidic and robust.