From: Christopher Brown <????????????????????> 
Subject: Perique tobacco

Dear Pipe Smoker Friends:  Please allow me to introduce myself and my
small company.  I am a botanist by training, and my partner is an
anthropologist and epidemiologist.  Together we have formed Nichols &
Brown, Ltd. to promote the cultivation and use of real Louisiana
Perique, which is almost extinct.  At the present time there is only one
full-time farmer still growing and processing Perique the traditional
way, Mr. Percy Martin, of Grande Pointe Ridge.  Two of Mr. Percy's
neighbors grow a little tobacco, too, but they both have day jobs. Total
production is barely 5,000 lbs. a year, sometimes considerably less in
bad years, as 1998 and 1999 were. The harvest this year, 2000, was
better.

Anyway, those of you interested in the history of Perique tobacco are
invited to check out our web page, www.perique.com.  We have articles
from old publications on the history of Perique, as well as an update
explaining the present situation.  We also have a series of slides
showing the details of growing and processing Perique at Percy Martin
Farms.

We mainly sell wholesale, but we are actively working to develop retail
outlets for genuine Perique.  We hope that within a few months small
vacuum-sealed tins of pre-cut genuine Perique will be available in
stores. At the present time the bulk of the stock of genuine Louisiana
Perique is being sold to the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, for use
in their American Spirit Perique blend hand rolling tobacco and
cigarettes.  This is a new product on the market.  We also sell some
Perique directly to pipe smoking aficionados and clubs for local
distribution and sale at shows.  Finally, there is a new line of premium
cigars, blended with genuine Perique, which is about to enter the
market, under the name of "Le Roi de St. James".  All this new activity
is very good news for ensuring the future of Perique cultivation in St.
James Parish, Louisiana, which until recently was nearly extinct.

We ourselves do not grow any tobacco, except for helping out on the
farm. We are essentially agents for the farmer, representing him and
promoting this unique product, the world's rarest tobacco.  We invite
you to visit our web page and learn more about the legendary Louisiana
Perique.

				Sincerely,
                                 Christopher Brown, Partner
                                 Nichols & Brown, Ltd.


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