Recreating the Original 3 Nuns - Perique + G&H Curly Cut? How Much?

beastinview · May 27, 2016

I have an interest in recreating (as closely as possible) the old Three Nuns pipe tobacco, principally because it was a supposed favorite of author and literary scholar C.S. Lewis.
I have heard that the new Three Nuns, unlike the original, does not contain perique, but instead Dark Fired Kentucky.

I have also heard that C&D's Three Friars, although a great blend, is not much like the original either.
One blend I have heard compared to the original Three Nuns is G&H Curly Cut, and it even seems the blenders and G&H achieved this resemblance purposefully:

When I smoked it the first time, I thought it is the perfect substitute for the OLD Three Nuns, but something was missing. Later I learned from Mr. Gawith that it was indeed made with the orginial Three Nuns in mind, but because they don't have Perique and never use it, Curly Cut does not contain any.

So, I was thinking of purchasing Curly Cut some blending perique. My question is, does anyone have an idea as to how much perique I would need to add to approximate the old Three Nuns? 20%? Or should I go higher? (I really have no idea, since I haven't tasted the original.)
Other suggestions on recreating original 3 Nuns are also welcome. Thanks.

beastinview · May 27, 2016

I may have just answered my question. From Kevin Godbee--

Three Nuns, at one time had 22% Perique tobacco in the recipe, and now it does not.

And actually, that is not totally correct. One-third of that so-called 22% is "Manufactured Perique"! So there was really about 14% actual Perique tobacco and 7% of another tobacco with added flavoring…"23.5 lbs of casing per 100 lbs of dry weight strips". (Who knew I’d have to do math for a tobacco article?)

Source: http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/kevins-blog/three-nuns-the-shrieks-of-no-perique/

northernneil · May 27, 2016

The information from Kevin's article would be a good starting point. You will probably want to break up the coins into ribbons so it will mix better with the perique. Also, I'd recommend letting the compomens, once blended, to sit together for a couple of weeks to allow the flavors to marry.

beastinview · May 27, 2016

The information from Kevin's article would be a good starting point. You will probably want to break up the coins into ribbons so it will mix better with the perique. Also, I'd recommend letting the compomens, once blended, to sit together for a couple of weeks to allow the flavors to marry.

Thanks... it had occurred to me that it'd be a good idea to let it marinate for a while!
What about cut of perique? Ribbon, granulated, or long cut? I'm assuming not long cut, but don't know if there is a preference between granulated or ribbon.

markus · May 27, 2016

In my mind there would be definite difference between the granulated (very fine cut) and ribbon cut. I would go with the ribbon cut.

BTW, I'm curious about this as well, so please update us on your findings.

beastinview · May 27, 2016

Will do! As I never tasted the original Three Nuns, I'm not certain I'l be able to gauge my success, but I figure I should at least get as close as I can based on the information available.
I have heard different logic regarding the perique: some same since perique is a small portion of overall tobacco, granulated is more evenly distributed bowl to bowl. Others say the granulated can sift through the tobacco and settle at the bottom, and the ribbon mixes more evenly.

iamn8 · May 27, 2016

I'm in the south. Take that mixture, dip in flour and deep fry. Nummy Deep Fried Three Nuns!

deathmetal · May 27, 2016

You can manually cut the ribbon perique to the same length as other ribbons in your blend, and then it fits together better. The Perique that I have found available online has all contained "manufactured Perique" or at least been blended with Burley dipped in Perique juice or something like it.
My cynical opinion is that your best option is to find whole leaves and roll some ropes. Then you can cut curlies and get the same effect ol' C.S. did when he packed his pipe and talked about eternity.

beastinview · May 27, 2016

I'm in the south. Take that mixture, dip in flour and deep fry. Nummy Deep Fried Three Nuns!

I'm in the south as well, so I may do this.

You can manually cut the ribbon perique to the same length as other ribbons in your blend, and then it fits together better. The Perique that I have found available online has all contained "manufactured Perique" or at least been blended with Burley dipped in Perique juice or something like it.
My cynical opinion is that your best option is to find whole leaves and roll some ropes. Then you can cut curlies and get the same effect ol' C.S. did when he packed his pipe and talked about eternity.

Thanks. Looks like ribbon cut it is! At least it seems the original Three Nuns also used partly manufactured perique.
After reading this below, I think I'd have to do a bit more than that to reproduce Lewis's smoking environment...

Lewis was a bit of a slob when it came to smoking. His favorite thing to do was have a nice, smoky coal fire, then eithier puff away at a pipe or chain smoke cigarettes untill the atmosphere in the room was transformed to, in his words, "a proper fug". He liked to save up the little bits remaining from his pipe when he knocked it out, untill he had enough for a pipefull. Untill he married Joy Davidman, he used to always wear trousers whose cuffs were pouched out by tobacco ash, and the rugs in both his home and Oxford digs were grey with ground in ash, which he was convinced was good for them.

deathmetal · May 27, 2016

The man was a Petri dish!

beastinview · May 27, 2016

Yeah, the Curly Cut has coins of a sort in it, but I don't think I can really mix the Perique thoroughly without breaking them up. Hopefully I can approximate it in flavor even if not in cut. It will actually be a fathers' day gift for my dad, and I'll probably snag an empty vintage Three Nuns tin off eBay to put it in.

mikestanley · May 27, 2016

I suppose you could take something along the lines of a spent bullet casing, puch out the center of the curlies and fill the void with perique. The thing about 3 Nuns that made it different was the casing. I've heard it said it was prune juice but I have no idea personally. I miss three nuns and I'm speaking about the Danish made version. The Scottish was a seldom found treat in the beginning of my pipe smoking. Best of luck though, maybe you're onto something.

Mike S.

mikestanley · May 27, 2016

I suppose you could take something along the lines of a spent bullet casing, puch out the center of the curlies and fill the void with perique. The thing about 3 Nuns that made it different was the casing. I've heard it said it was prune juice but I have no idea personally. I miss three nuns and I'm speaking about the Danish made version. The Scottish was a seldom found treat in the beginning of my pipe smoking. Best of luck though, maybe you're onto something.

Mike S.

beastinview · May 27, 2016

Now there's an idea, re: cutting the center out.
I believe the G&H Curly Cut does has a top note like the original Three Nuns, as several people seem to mention a unique top note in their reviews when referencing the similarity to Three Nuns. I'll have to go back and look.

jitterbugdude · May 28, 2016

The original recipe for 3 Nun's is floating around somewhere on the internet. I have a copy, the chemicals and tobacco but haven't had a chance to experiment.

beastinview · May 28, 2016

Yeah, I saw the recipe here:

http://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/2013/kevins-blog/three-nuns/bat-1971-recipe.pdf
It looks a little above my ability to try to spin ropes and flavor it, but I'd love to see a more experience blender have a crack at it!

hawky454 · May 28, 2016

Okay, why or why has someone not used that recipe to actually reproduce it? Call it 3 Priests by the Standard Tobacco Company of Pennsylvania... I'm just sayin'.

iamn8 · May 28, 2016

OMG Seriously? Even flavor a can marry now? Is nothing sacred?!

jitterbugdude · May 28, 2016

Okay, why or why has someone not used that recipe to actually reproduce it

The rumor, from back a few years ago was that the supply of Perique was almost non existent so why bring back a blend that would soon become extinct due to lack of Perique?

shutterbugg · May 28, 2016

I smoked the original 3 Nuns back in the day. Today I smoke Dunhill DNR and/or Escudo and never look back.

Recreating the Original 3 Nuns - Perique + G&H Curly Cut? How Much?

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