Substitute for Original Bells Three Nuns

Like others will likely tell you, nothing will come close to the original, but here's a thread that may interest you.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/a-real-three-nuns-substitute

The closest blend to the old Three Nuns made today is Savinelli Doblone d'Oro. There are differences between the two, but there are more similarities between the two than anything else you'll find.

"Original" Bells Three Nuns? Well... From John Lorings "Dating English Tinned Tobacco"
"Bell's Three Nuns
Bell's Three Nuns tins may be found in five flavors.
Prior to the 1980's Three Nuns came either in an orange bordered solid brown (or earlier, sold black) 'coin twist' tin or through the 1960's in a 'knife lid' tin or prior to World War II in a hinged rectangular tin.

In the 1980's the 'coin twist' tin was changed from orange bordered solid brown to an orange bordered brown wood grained and marked Made in Scotland although there are some 50 gram tins without that latter marking.

In the 1990's production was shifted to Denmark. The Danish production came in both orange bordered solid brown and wood grained tins but all tins regardless of size or color are marked Made in Denmark either on the top or side of the tin top."
According to Basil Sullivan, a lover of Three Nuns, the last really good vintage was the orange bordered solid black tin, with the orange bordered solid brown acceptable. The later wood grain pattern top was, too him, ruined, even though made in Scotland To my taste, it was noticeably milder, perhaps less nicotine, also. I found lots of old tobacco in my travels in the 80's and gave almost all of the really old Three Nuns and pre Murray's Elizabethan I could find to him. A wonderful man.
Savinelli Doblones D'Oro is outstanding. More like the really good old style Three Nuns than anything I have found. Of course, no one knows how it will hold up at great age as it was only recently introduced.

Another vote for Savinelli Doblone d'Oro! Nun nicer!

Nun nicer!

Click to expand...

Jesse, you said that before, and the allusion went completely over my head! :crazy: OK, now I get it!
Since the OP mentions liking the current version of 3N, maybe Newminster Superior Round Slices will scratch the same itch.

Good to know

I'm glad I purchased 3 tins of the Doblone d'Oro...Because I can't say I enjoy the current Three Nuns. I can't say that replacing the Perique with DFK did it a favor...

Pipebuddy: You have to blame Orlik for that. They were the ones who substituted Kentucky (not dark fired) for perique in 2004, when they took over production of Three Nuns. MacBaren licensed that formula, not knowing about the switch, and used their own source tobacco, not any of the previous versions. MacBaren did their best to duplicate the VaPer Nuns for Savinelli Doblone d'Oro so that version would be on the shelves without breaking their license agreement. That's why we are where we are.

Thank you for the insight into these blend Jim. I like to learn about the history of new and old blends and how they've come about. I just ordered some Doblone d'Oro and look forward to trying what you guys think is the closest thing to an older version of Three Nuns.

The change happened early in 2004 when Orlik took over production. Perique was expensive so they cheaped out. In the Spring of that year, I bought a pound from Synjeco. The blend was all Virginia and Brazilian lights.! I was surprised when I saw it. I complained, and they offered to take it back, but I would have had to pay the freight back to Switzerland, so I kept it and mixed it with perique. When I wanted to try it again in 2005, they promised me that it a VaPer, so I bought a pound. They lied. Kentucky (not dark fired) was substituted for perique in approximately the same amount the perique had been. It wasn’t bad, but not what I ordered. I jarred it, came back to it a few years later, and it was fantastic, but it wasn’t the same as what I spent years smoking.
I tried it again in 2011. It was still a Va/Kentucky blend. That’s the formula MacBaren licensed when they took over production, and under the rules of the contract, they cannot alter the recipe, even though MacBaren is using their own source tobacco instead of the previous sourced varietals.
As for keeping the name, it is marketing. It's also a contractual obligation.

I wish Three Friars came in the cool little curly cuts.
Companies do not understand how important continuity of quality and distinctiveness of product is. It's vital, and infuriating when they do otherwise, even when the replacement is also good.
I have to throw in another vote for Savinelli Doblone d'Oro. Delicious and calls to mind why people would have loved Three Nuns back in the day.

I have personally seen in the factory in Germany the three nuns European version which is supposedly the original, branch off and put in three nuns tins and the exact same tobacco go into Peter Heinrichs curly cut. Take it for what it’s worth.

That does indeed look tasty:
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/9705/peter-heinrichs-curly-block

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1810/peter-heinrichs-curly-special
This looks like a tasty alternative:
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/560/gawith-hoggarth-co-curly-cut
A quick search also brought this up:
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1917/wessex-sovereign-curly-cut
Here's the search string for a list of tobacco blends similar to Three Nuns.

Didn’t the original Three Nuns have a light cinnamon topping? I haven’t been in the world of pipes and tobaccos long enough to have been lucky enough to try the original but I could have sworn I read on several different occasions that it had a cinnamon topping. If that’s true does Doblone d'Oro have the same topping?

If Three Nuns ever had cinnamon in the topping, it must have been there in earlier versions before I smoked it. I started smoking it in the 1980s and on through until it was no longer a VaPer, and never detected any cinnamon, though I always suspected the spice may not have just come from perique.
Wessex Sovereign Curly Cut has a cider topping that distracts from the tobaccos, which attempt, but fail to match Three Nuns.
Paul Olsen's version of Three Nuns suffers from the same differences that the Wessex blend does, though there's no cider, plus it's a little sweeter, and lacks the light sour note of the original Three Nuns.
PH Curly Special is fairly reminiscent of Three Nuns, but has less perique and less punch.
G&H Curly Cut is a pretty decent blend, but has no perique, so it's not a Three Nuns alternative.