Here at Peretti’s we are constantly being asked to create new blends. I have always found this curious since we have eighty-plus standard and over 250,000 private blends that we have created for individual customers. With the prospect of impending FDA regulations that could restrict the our ability to blend new tobaccos, I decided to forage through our formulas of discontinued blends.
Until about 1960, we offered blend 52. This mixture was created by Robert Peretti in 1947, after he returned from his Navy duties in WWII. Blend 52, like other Peretti burleys, is based on the premise that American burley is the noblest of tobaccos. As the Major, Mr. Peretti’s father, once told me, “sooner of later, everyone smokes burley.”
Blend 52 is created to showcase the deep flavor of the burley. The nuttiness of the burley is somewhat moderated by the addition of a smooth red Virginia that naturally sweetens the blend. Then, a small amount of the finest Dubeck is added. The Dubeck, from the upper leaves of the plant, is the mellowest form of Turkish. When combined with the burley and red Virginia, the Dubeck opens the blend to a combination of sweetness and subtle piquancy. Blend 52 adds a new dimension to the Peretti portfolio of burleys. Here is a tobacco that is mild, mellow, and offers a new variety of tastiness. We urge you to explore all of the many Peretti burley tobaccos. For indeed, burley has long been neglected by the pipe smoker.
S.L. Willett, Blender and Proprietor