Acadian Black Rimboché (Perique) - NEW

[admin]

Before getting to the news I want to put things into historical perspective. Now many of you are fans of D&R's current Perique blends, the G.R. Rimboché Green River Acadian from Kentucky and the S.J. Rimboché from Saint James Parish, Louisiana. I believe these Perique blends were introduced in late 2005 or early 2006, and have been popular enough to get Mark Ryan's creative juices flowing to come up with a new Perique blend.

Late in 2007 one of the upcoming D&R brands was expected to be Cajun Black Rimboché. In fact my first Master MSA Compliant Brands List had C.B. Rimboché listed as 'coming soon'. We later learned that the name would actually be Acadian Black Rimboché. There's no better way to fully understand the name change than to read what Mark Ryan himself wrote in a post at the SYO forums (I've added some formatting to aid readability)

effective 1/3/2008, i have bought out my former partner in the poche' perique tobacco business. (i am now 100% owner and can better control future growth). part of the buy-out agreement included me giving him the name "cajun black". as a courtesy to my former partner, i have decided to register the name "acadian black" and use the name a.b. rimboche' for our new blend rather than the original c.b. rimboche'.

nothing else has changed - we will use the same barrel of tobacco in the blend. my former partner will continue to market the cajun black. the acadian black (as it will be called by d&r) consists of the highest grade dark fired tobacco, processed in the perique method.

fyi, our acadian perique is a blend of st. james parish perique and "green river" (type 36) tobacco. they are processed separately and then blended together in the final "turn". we could not sell straight green river and call it perique (and there would not be a market for pure green river). historically, the other two perique processors from the last century also used blends to stabilize quality and supply - one closed around 1950 and the other closed around 1980. poche' perique tobacco has been the only perique processor since this time and most customers/manufacturers prefer the consistent quality and availability of acadian perique. some of you may know (from all the pipe tobacco rumors) that one of the farmers had a falling out with mr. poche' in 1999 and has sold directly to a manufacturer since that time.

we had a great year for perique in 2007. our farmer in paulina (at the point of the traditional wedge of land where perique is grown, closer to the river), dudley leblanc, grew perique that he believes is some of the best ever. in grand point (located beyond paulina where the triangular wedge of perique land spreads out, farther away from the river), grant martin, grew 20,000 plants for me that are again reported to be some of the best ever grown. these are the 2 perique growing towns in st. james parish and we got the best perique from the best farmers from both areas.

last year (2006) was a disaster for perique as a tropical storm destroyed the entire crop for 7 out of 9 of our farmers - and the 2 remaining farmers did not even get a full barrel each. (we were saved by a large perique purchase in 2005).

hope that clarifies any concerns and i can be reached directly for more info or questions if necessary. thanks.

So we've known since the 1st of the year the new Perique would be called Acadian Black Rimboché and recently one of our members (Dave Z) asked for and received a sample of the whole leaf Perique a couple weeks ago, which he mentioned in a post here viewtopic.php?f=13&t=76&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=acadian+black#p282

Which brings me to the recent News!
Once again, this is straight from Mark Ryan (posted here with his permission) to one of our forum members in an Email. He mentioned that he will be travelling to his cutter sometime in the next 4 to 6 weeks..

...they will be cutting the next vintage release of the s.j. rimboche' and i will also develop and cut the new a.b. rimboche' while i am there. i plan to also bring a small amount of latakia with me to experiment with as part of the a.b.r. blend.

So it sounds like the new Acadian Black Rimboché should be available in late April or May and will likely contain some Latakia in the Blend!

In that same Email, Mark mentioned something else that I'm pretty certain has not been reported anywhere! This one is a bit of a shocker, in fact after careful consideration we've decided to make this news item available to Members Only for now. I will however give you several hints.

D&R has acquired the trademark name to an old cigarette brand that hasn't been available for a number of years, and in recreating the blend it's likely that Mark will be using tobaccos like those mentioned earlier in this post, and those associated with several European brands which are no longer available in the U.S.

So, with those hints you can try to guess what Mark is up to now, or If you want the rest of the story, become a Full Member of these Fourms.
[edit: added in July 2008]
These new blends will be available for ordering as of July 21, so I've posted the details about the other new blend in this forum topic

[kl61]

Isn't Latakia a Turkish kind of tobacco historically for pipe smokers blends ? That sounds cool, so your saying then that possibly the Acadian Black Rimboché blend might have a touch of Latakia in it ?
I wish I knew of a place where I could get some Latakia for home blending.

[admin]

Yes it's a fire cured 'spice' tobacco, mainly grown in Cyprus and northern Syria. Apparently their are two distinct types of Latakia tobacco. Here's a pretty definitive article about their differences A Tale of Two Latakias

G.L. Pease's FAQ has some good info as well and rates their Latakia Pipe Blends in order of "fullness".

[Alist]

Isn't Latakia a Turkish kind of tobacco historically for pipe smokers blends ? That sounds cool, so your saying then that possibly the Acadian Black Rimboché blend might have a touch of Latakia in it ?
I wish I knew of a place where I could get some Latakia for home blending.

Try some pipe shops. I was fortunate enough to find both Latakia and Perique in a pipe shop. The owner agreed to sell me half ounces of each, instead of ounces. I can't remember which cost $10 per ounce, but a half ounce of each was 9 bucks and some change.

[kl61]

I'll give that a try. Buffalo tobacco traders in Grand Rapids, MI. might have some, they are a pipe tobacco dealer

[AusD]

Does anybody here use latakia (for pipes) in cigarette blends? I have heard of it as a potential seasoning for Ramback and Ramback Balkan in the one blend to re-create that old Balkan Sobranie style flavour.

In my experience latakia is a particularly thick cut and sticky pipe tobacco which would be very tricky to cut fine enough to use in a cigarette blend without causing distinct and overpowering flavour bombs in the smoke.

I am interested in hearing some experience of using this in cigarettes before spending a lot of money on an ounce of latakia from my tobacconist (who do sell it pure along with Balkan pipe tobaccos).

['B']

Does anybody here use latakia (for pipes) in cigarette blends? I have heard of it as a potential seasoning for Ramback and Ramback Balkan in the one blend to re-create that old Balkan Sobranie style flavour.

AusD...
I have crumbled tiny bits of dried latakia ( less than 5% ) into cigarettes. A little goes a long way. It adds a smokey incense like flavor.

Balkan Sobranie Smoking Mixture (for pipes) had a good dose of latakia, but I don't believe the BS cigarettes did. I mainly remember them being extremely mild for an unfiltered smoke (never smoked a lot of them... those tins were pretty pricey).

I bought an oz each of latakia and perique at a tobacconist recently...have blended the perique into cigs (even smoked a few straight), but have only mixed the latakia in blends for the pipe.

Your earlier post ( and davez's even earlier one) concerning mixing Ramback with a halfzware (I found that like a touch of Ramback Balkan also) helped to point me toward a taste that I had been looking for (without any success) so I thank you.

Best of luck with your experiments... keep us informed of your progress.

B

[AusD]

I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the Ramback and halfzware flavour it trully is exceptional. I also have blended these two with the Ramback Balkan. Great minds think alike. An exquisite cigarette. A touch of your favourite bright virginia adds an extra dimension to the smoke also. Kendal Gold is what I have used and it has a particularly tasty, sweet fresh hay aroma.

Cheers for the tips on the latakia. I have often smelt that stuff smoked in a pipe and tasted a few pipe blends using latakia, and from that I actually believe it's not something that I'd personally enjoy in a cigarette.

Once I have fully pinpointed my favourite Turkish/Balkan based blend I'll post it in the custom blends section.

Best.

[db]

Mark is introducing the new A.B. Rimboché and Picayune at the IPCPR Annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas this week and they should be available for ordering next week (although you won't find them on the D&R website). Also, if you're placing an order, ask for samples and they will likely set you up.

I highly recommend the AB Rimboché it has a strong smoky aroma from the combination of fire-cured tobacco and the Latakia (so strong I was a little bit afraid of it) but it's quite smooth with no harshness. I found the flavors to be complex yet balanced, definately a must try for any Latakia fans. I'm not a connoisseur so I'll leave it to others to explain the sensations and taste of this unique Perique blend.

Here's what the A.B. Rimboché label and tobacco looks like;

[mrscsi]

just ordered this morning from D&R, and was curtly told, "AB Rimboche " is not available. was also told that they had no way of knowing the difference between old windsail tubes and new windsail tubes, when I explained the difference, primarily taped box, I was then told they have what they have.

So I'll know Friday