PERIQUE TOBACCO
Dig deep into the rich soil of St. James Parish, home to one
of the rarest blends of tobacco in the world
has a humble beginning – the
tobacco starts out as seeds
so small that one thimbleful
will plant nearly one full acre.
These seedlings are planted
in mid-March and grow for
three months and once
mature, produce leaves more
than 18-inches long which are
harvested in June. Harvesting
perique is back-breaking
work, done by hand using
cane knives during one of the
hottest months of the year.
Leaves are hung on wires in
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open air barns before being
placed in oak whiskey barrels
to age for four months.
Perique is a labor of love,
as the farmers are required
to pay a copious amount of
attention to the details of the
fermenting to achieve the
rare flavor. Every six weeks,
the barrels containing the
leaves are opened, the liquid is
drained off and the leaves are
turned so that they continue
to ferment. The result is a
flavor that fans define as
spicy, earthy and rich. Perique
is most commonly used as a
blending tobacco due to it's
pungent characteristics.
Agricultural research reveals
that perique is able to thrive
best here due to breaks in
river levees throughout the
years which has pumped rich
sediment into the soil.
Pick up a perique cigar at
Matherne's Supermarket on
LA-3125 in Paulina.