Three Nuns - No Perique - Why Not Add It

from the article the was posted you need 7% perique and another 6-7% manufactured perique blended in there. so if you want to try it then go for it.

Perique is quite expensive. Would make the profit margins much smaller - especially considering the large amount of Perique that's supposed to go into a "real" 3 Nuns. These days it's all about buying the rights to a well known "old school" name, and producing it cheaply, riding the viral marketing train to make some $$.

Give this a read very interesting article

Well as Kevin writes:

It seems most likely that Three Nuns has not had actual Perique tobacco in it for at least 14-15 years. In that case, do we really need all of the "Shrieks of No Perique!" forum threads and comments?

I say "NO. We do not." This is old news that people are talking about like it happened yesterday. Individuals are referring to the current Three Nuns, as the "New Three Nuns". The "New Three Nuns" recipe is 15-years old ladies and gentlemen!

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Yet, the current production is marketed as "A favorite of C.S. Lewis" and a "time tested recipe". If I want to smoke what C.S. Lewis liked, then I would most definitely want to smoke a blend fashioned after the recipe as it was in the 1940s and 1950s, not the perique-less 1980s version...

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Sam +1.
smokertruck's OP is pretty much what I was thinking too! Why not just tweak the 3N with some blending Perique?

Of course, you would have to rub out the coins, but that's not a big deal. My objection would be that it's a PITA to do,

and there are plenty of fine VaPer's on the market already -- maybe that's what Mac Baren was thinking anyway.

Adding Perique to the current version of TN will in no way resemble the original blend. There are so many other things that go into a blend as Kevin's article so eloquently pointed out. The original for now is lost and if it comes back some day, I would certainly try it.
There are so many other great Vapers on the market that I have no problem staying happy with those. I have one last tin of the last version with Perique that I will probably crack when my first daughter gets married. I cracked my second to last last summer and it was delicious. It had turned jet black and the smell of prunes, figs and raisins was tremendous.

@hfearly - I think the OP was suggesting only to blend your own, not to have perique added by the blender. The answer to the other case is the recipe is trademarked/licensed and must be produced according to that recipe. The article is very interesting, and seems to suggest the blend was not only made with those percentages of perique mentioned above, but with flavorings/casings also. IMO, it will be quite difficult, if not impossible, to replicate the old Three Nuns flavor, as the flavorings alluded to in THIS DOCUMENT are mentioned under other names. However, add perique, if it pleases you, that is all that really matters.

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Sam, if it pleases you this is the decoded (read "secret") recipe for the manufacture of 1lb of Three Nuns
1lb Three Nuns (Pre WW2-1971 recipe)

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P1 15% Imported Perique (Louisiana)

P2 7% Manufactured Perique

P3 31% Filler (Burley)

P4 47% Wrapper (Bright Virginias)
Casing (F14) for the Production of Manufactured Perique P2

(23.5 lbs casing to 100 lbs of dry strips ob tobacco)

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1.5 lbs BICARA (Rep Ref. 13A)

7.0 lbs MOLON (Rep Ref. 1A)

10.0 lbs CELANDO (Rep Ref. 5A)

5.0 lbs Water
Casing (M4) for the Treatment of Filler P3

(5.25 lbs casing to 100 lbs of dry strips of tobacco)

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4.0 ozs CELANDO (Rep Ref. 5A)

5.0 lbs Water
Flavoring (215) for the Treatment of Imported Perique P1

(1.0 lbs of flvaoring per 100 lbs of wet tobacco leaf weight)

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1.0 lbs BUTITE (U108)
Flavoring (208) for the Treatment of Manufactured Perique P2 and Filler P3

(5.25 floz per 100 lbs of whole blend)

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0.25 floz of HALTRONER (Rep Ref. B3.1)

0.25 pint of BUTITE (U108)
50% of Flavoring 208 applied to Filler

50% of Flavoring 208 applied to Manufactured Perique
NOTE: Wrapper P4 leaves are unflavored
Decoding of Ingredients

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1A "MOLON" = Reducing Sugars, Good quality invert sugar

5A "CELANDO" = Humectants, Glycerine

13A "BICARA" = Biding Agents, Gum arabic

B3.1 "HALTRONER" = Spices, Aniseed, Anethole

U108 "BUTITE" = Flavors, Demerara Rum, 40o O.P.
Manufacturing Notes

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The Perique is imported in strip form in a manufactured state, having already

been processed in North America, where it's grown. All that has to be done is

to open up and separate the strips and to apply flavour by "spray in bed" form.

For this, the leaf is taken from the trollies and spread in layers in a bed on

a tiled floor. A previously measured amount of spray and water is sprayed on

each layer as the bed is made up layer by layer. This ensures even flavoring

throughout the bed. The flavored leaf is then picked up from the bed into

trollies that are covered with a stout canvas sheet and allowed to rest for at

least 24 hours. This allows the flavoring and moisture to permeate and even out

throughout the trolley contents (process known as "bulking"). The flavoured

Perique strips are then picked up into trollies and held until the filler and

wrapper portions are ready.
The filler grades are taken and by being passed through a conditioning machine

are pliable and capable of being handled so that all stems can be removed. After

stem removal, the filler strips are again passed through a conditioning machine

that gently warms them and makes them receptive to the flavour, which is applied

by sprays in a rotating cylinder through which the warmed strips are passed. The

flavored filler strips are discharged into trollies and bulked for 43 hours.
The wrapper leaf is selected by size of leaf, brightness of appearance, freedom

form blemishes, tears and breaks. The especially selected leaves are then

passed through a rotating cylinder fitter with water sprays and brought into a

suitable condition for stemming, which is done very thoroughly by hand. It is

then placed into trollies to await the amalgamation process where the wrapper

is combined with the Perique and the filler mix in a spinning process.
The spinner takes strips of Perique and rolls them into a very tight roll or

"string", keeping the diameter continuous by adding more Perique strips as

needed, as long as the rolling continues. The central core "string" is wrapped

with the filler strips and then wrapper in the wrapper leaves. The leading end

of the roll is then fed into a set of motor driven rollers which reduce the

hand rolled spun down to 7/16s of an inch in diameter, and at the same time

causing the tobacco to roll to turn on its axis and pass into the machine. This

turning and traversing action facilitates the spinning as the operator

continues to maintain the feed of Perique filler and wrapper by overlapping

further supplies as the ends pass through the spin machine.
The spun tobacco, known as "rope", is automatically wound onto reels or

bobbins, each holding 300 feet of an approximate weight of 25 lbs. These reels

are set aside and held for 48 hours. The rope is then unwound, cut into 4/5'

lengths that are take to a cutting machine and cut at 22 cuts to 1 inch each.

The cut tobacco is carefully placed into trays without damaging the flakes and

the trays are placed in a trolley and into a drying oven (265 F, 9 minutes).

The flakes are dried to the final desired packing moisture content (19/20%). On

removal from the drying oven, the flakes are allowed to cool and then (in the

same trays) is placed into a store and held for 24 hours, such that the

moisture is allowed to even out before the finished product is sent to the

packaging room.

The point I'd like to make though is that merely adding bulk (equivalent to Imported Perique) after the fact won't do it, as:
1) The "Perique" in 3 Nuns was actually a composite of a specially manufactured and flavored perique, and a flavored imported Perique

2) The flavors and casings are applied before spinning, adding then after the fact to the finished product won't help.

Since I never had the original, am not a perique fan, and like the current, I won't bother.

Adding Perique to the current version of TN will in no way resemble the original blend. There are so many other things that go into a blend as Kevin's article so eloquently pointed out. The original for now is lost and if it comes back some day, I would certainly try it.
There are so many other great Vapers on the market that I have no problem staying happy with those. I have one last tin of the last version with Perique that I will probably crack when my first daughter gets married. I cracked my second to last last summer and it was delicious. It had turned jet black and the smell of prunes, figs and raisins was tremendous.
Harris

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Harris, make sure i am in the invite list!!!!!!! ::

Standard tobacco in my cellar/rotation:

Perique

Problem solved.

::

Captain Obvious comment perhaps, but what is there to lose? Perhaps the casing/top dressing is already similar, so maybe Perique will add a bit to the mix for those who remember the classic. Not the same of course, but maybe slightly more similar with the addition of Perique? If not, little harm done. Cheap experiment in any event.

For me, Three Nuns was perfect in every way ... finding it in 1972 was the equivalent of reaching the Holy Grail.
I realize that it may not only be difficult, but impossible to re-create it ... adding some Perique to the current blend might in some way help, but since the current blend is NOT Three Nuns minus the Perique, adding it isn't going to be the answer.
My take is that there are a number of VaPers on the market that are, to one extent or another, satisfactory. And, at some point, someone, somewhere is going to be able to create a blend that will be a very good replacement, though not a true re-creation.

Since the original had no Kentucky, it wouldn't taste like the VaPer version anyway. I know because I tried it before on the European VaKen version. I liked it better with the added perique, but it still wasn't the same.

Having never tried the original, and after hearing all the clamour on the boards, I decided to order a tin of the current version. I enjoyed it immensely. It is very subtle and I definitely get a little hit of pepper that I assume comes from the dark fired. While I understand the concern over the recipe not being the same, I for one find the "new" version to be fine tobacco. I guess if I'm looking for a high end vaper I'll just have to stick with some Escudo, but consider me a fan of the current incarnation of Three Nuns.

Since I never had the original, am not a perique fan, and like the current, I won't bother

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+1

Was just perusing the MacB website....they don't even list Perique as a tobacco they use in anything. Can anyone name a MacB blend with Perique. My guess is they don't add it because they don't use it!

Oh my goodness Roth....I knew that completely too.
*face slap*
Here I thought I was so smart.
They do use it pretty infrequently. I like MacB blends quite a bit.

Three Nuns-a fantasy of mine for years, likely wont experience that or the tobacco blend.