No Name - The Perique Dancer
The Perique Dancer
Mixture: No Name
Type: VaPerBalk
Blender: Wayne T.,
@OnePyroTec
Pipes: Barling smooth canadian and Mastro de Paja sandblast lovat (2nd bowl)
No Name. That is the name of this mixture that was made and kindly sent to me by forum member Wayne T., who supplied the it with its formula, as if to imply that one could simply duplicate the mixture when desired, but that would be most difficult unless you had a magic wand and some genuine, aged St. James Perique from about 2000.
Ideally, a blender has a concept about the mixture that they’re trying to create. What leaf will be showcased, what tobaccos will be used in support and how the flavors will interact as well as how it will burn. No Name, by formula, has similarities to the original, McConnell made, Rattray’s Red Rapparee blend, having orientals and latakia but No Name has more perique. Ken McConnell considered Red Rapparee to be a Balkan mixture with perique and I smoked enough of it to fill a bathtub. Red Rapparee is a legend so any comparison to a mixture so humbly named would seem to be unfair. Or would it? The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
A mellow sweetness with a hint of pungency hits the nose when opening No Name. It’s a short ribbon cut that’s mostly medium brown with highlights. I’m color blind so the physical description often escapes me.
The cut is conducive to easy loading and it packed easily in both pipes with a smooth draw. The charring light was fast with an immediate spicy, sweet taste. There were no burn issues in either bowl to note.
The smoke quickly settles into a warm sweetness with a firm line of perique that moves, like a spinning cornucopia of spicy ripe figs and plums, over a mild but fluid background of latakia that’s only obvious if you care to notice. The sweetness was more pronounced in the Barling than the Mastro but in both, the firm line of perique danced from the onset to the dottle with vivid and exciting flavors. When a blend changes flavors radically during a smoke I tend to think that it’s inconsistent rather than complex or else it’s me messing up but this was, most assuredly, not the case with No Name.
There was little change in taste other than the revolving spicy dried fruit that ranged from fig to apple and many others in between, but that firm line of the perique danced unabated with a rich, spicy snork throughout. I did garden and relight the dottle and only then did the latakia come into focus with a smoky finish but the perique never wavered, always rich, sweet and full of spice.
C&D Exclusive and AJ’s VaPer are tobaccos that are similar in cut and intent with the former claiming to contain a full 50% perique. No Name is closer to 10% but the difference is the 15 year old St. James perique and No Name is one of the best expressions of this venerable Louisiana product that I’ve ever smoked.
From the standpoint of how successful Wayne has been in his efforts they are, in a word, remarkable. Consistently satisfying, smooth, even burning and with near perfect flavor articulation. By every measure of the blender’s art, No Name meets and exceeds the blenders goal.
McConnell made Red Rapparee is the only valid comparison that would be in my lexicon. No Name is brighter, sweeter and better showcases the perique but it has less body and dimension. Don’t ask me to choose between the two, they’re both wonderful.
So why, you may ask, do I write a review about a tobacco that has a component too difficult to allow it’s general production? Why, because it is a masterpiece and though it’s time will have been short and I was privileged to have smoked it, No Name sets a standard that perhaps, (and I hope), you will someday encounter and say to yourself, “I wonder if this is better than No Name?”
