Virginia/Perique (VaPer) Showdown

[Slow Triathlete]

C & D Bayou Morning Flake

I cannot believe that I missed this one in my Showdown. I have had an unopened, bulging tin of this for quite some time. I had not opened this one partly because I was afraid that because of the bulging then I was probably going to shoot my hand off when I opened it or something like that. So with my trusty dishtowel I grabbed the tin and popped the seal. There was a loud boom but not nearly the force to which I had expected.

Now with bulging tins you can expect two things. One - some great fermented tobacco, or two - a rank tobacco that is infiltrated with either bacteria or fungus. Fortunately for me it was some great fermented tobacco. The smell that came out of the tin was a bit earthy and peaty (is that even a word?). The tobacco was already starting to show my sugar crystals.

When this blend is rubbed out it comes to be really long ribbons of tobacco. I had been forewarned that this blend usually comes extremely damp so I spread the tobacco out on some newspaper and proceeded to let it dry for about 2 hours. Even then it was still a bit damp. But it packed really nicely and lit up great.

It is hard to describe this blend but I have to say that it was very, very earthy. It was almost like smoking dirt…..but in a good way. I believe that this dark flavor comes from the stoving of this blend. It has the dark fragrance and taste of Kajun Kake but it has a lot more sweetness to it that Kajun. Despite this blend still being a bit damp it burned very well and required only a few relights.

About halfway through the bowl a bit of spicy sourness came up through this blend. It was a nice mix of sweet and sour. This blend is pretty heavy and probably will not be good on an empty stomach.

This is a great overall blend. There is plenty of perique in this blend to go around. This blend is unique in that it is a VaPer but it is also stoved which you do not find frequently in the VaPer realm. I like it for a “change of pace” tobacco but it will not be in my regular rotation. This one goes in slot #15.

1)McConnell Scottish Cake
2)Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3)Escudo
4)GL Pease Filmore
5)H & H AJ’s VaPer
6)Low Country’s Waccamaw
7)Peretti’s Park Square
8)John Patton’s Cool Hand Fluke
9)H & H Rolando’s Own
10)H & H Anniversary Kake
11)G & H Louisiana Flake
12)Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture
13)C & D Night Train
14)H & H Louisiana Red
15)C & D Bayou Morning Flack
16)Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
17)Treasures of Ireland - Limerick
18)Dorchester
19)Solani #633
20)Luxury Bullseye Flake
21)McClelland Bulk 2015
22)GL Pease Telegraph Hill
23)Kajun Kake
24)Luxury Navy Flake
25)Dan Tobacco's Tordenskjold Virginia Slices